New O2 Academy App Breaks Ground with 'Artist Reality'

New O2 Academy App Breaks Ground with ‘Artist Reality’O2 creates first ever comprehensive artists ‘experience’ map of the UK5th September 2011: - O2 today announced the launch of an innovative new mobile app in support of Academy Music Group’s O2 Academy venues and Live Nation’s O2 Apollo Manchester.  In addition to exclusive content from artists playing at the venues, access to Priority tickets, photos, comments and social integration with Facebook and Twitter, the free O2 Academy App also contains a unique Augmented Reality feature.   Dubbed ‘Artist Reality’, the feature gives fans the opportunity to view the UK through the eyes of hundreds of their favourite bands.The development of the O2 Academy app began when O2 invited artists to populate a map of the UK with their own personal experiences – from on-the-road video diaries to audio tours of their home town and virtual busking. The interactive map enables artists to hide tickets to shows in secret locations, give clues to win exclusive prizes and even place geo-located unreleased tracks for fans to discover.Once activated within the O2 Academy App, users simply hold up their phone and look through the viewfinder to see virtual markers representing specific geographical locations e.g. O2 Academy Bristol, or an artist’s hometown. They can then click on the location to listen to audio, and view video, images and links all personally created by the artists performing at O2 Academy venues.The O2 Academy app follows the recent launch of O2 Academy TV, a dedicated YouTube channel, and represents the next step in O2’s music sponsorship strategy.  Working together with artists O2 aims to use innovative technology to further extend the music experience to benefit both artists and fans.  Over the last 18 months, O2 has worked with over 400 artists to enable greater engagement with fans and add new dimensions to gig goers’ experiences at O2 Academy venues.The first artists laying down their footprint include MOBO award winning hip-hop trio N-Dubz, Charlie Simpson as he embarks on his solo career, Cardiff rockers Kids in Glass Houses and folk-punk legend Frank Turner. These will be quickly followed by a host of other ‘explorers’ from just some of the thousands of acts who pass through O2 Academy venues every year. Hundreds of leading artists are expected to sign up over the next 12 months creating an evolving musical map of the UK populated with unique content.Jasmine Skee, Head of Music Sponsorship, O2, said: “The new O2 Academy app is yet another way that we are extending the gig experience, not just for O2 customers, but fans of live music and O2 Academy venues. We understand the importance of technology in music, and the role that mobile plays in people’s lives, so this app gives everyone 24/7 access to the venues and a unique opportunity to get up close to some of the artists playing them.”Commenting on the app, Simon Lewis, President of Marketing Partnerships International at Live Nation Entertainment said: “As fast as mobile technology evolves, the more live music fans will enjoy an ever advancing array of meaningful experience enhancements beyond the show itself giving artists and fans even deeper interaction. Through our ongoing relationship with O2, the Live Nation and Academy venue attendees will always be at the forefront of fan led innovation.”The O2 Academy app has been developed in conjunction with [PIAS] Media, who previously worked with O2 on the Gorillaz Augmented Reality app, ‘Escape to Plastic Beach’.The free O2 Academy App is available to download now from the Apple App Store.-Ends-[PIAS] Media Press OfficeHugo Mintz – Name PRhugo@namepr.co.uk020 83577305O2 Presst +44 (0)1753565656e: pressoffice@o2.comAbout [PIAS] Media[PIAS] Media operates at the nexus of brands, talent and technology – redefining how brands work with music to provide a value exchange that works for both parties.It was formed in 2010 as a stand alone business unit within the wider [PIAS] Entertainment Group, Europe’s leader in the provision of specialist services for the licensing, distribution, sales and marketing of music, film and comedy.Working at the heart of the music industry gives [PIAS] Media an unrivalled insight into creating fulfilling artist partnerships, meanwhile the agency’s strong links across the business, and repertoire-agnostic stance ensures that strong creative ideas are mixed with great technology, delivering the right artist for each campaign.Clients include The O2 and The O2 Academy venues, Vedett and Duvel beers, clothing brand Comptoir des Cotonniers, Philips, Kelkoo and Raymond Weil as well as a host of music clients.About O2·       Telefónica UK Limited is a leading communications company for consumers and businesses in the UK, with 22.3 million mobile customers and over 700,000 fixed broadband customers, as at 31 March 2011.·       Telefónica UK Limited is part of Telefónica Europe plc, a business division of Telefónica S.A. which uses O2 as its commercial brand in the UK, Ireland, Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic, and has 56.9 million customers across these markets.·       O2 is the naming rights partner of The O2, the world-class entertainment venue.·       O2 employs around 11,000 people in the UK and has 450 retail stores.·       In October 2010 O2 was voted the UK’s best mobile network by the readers of both What Mobile and Mobile Choice magazine.·       O2 was ranked highest in customer satisfaction for both UK mobile and fixed broadband customers according to the J.D. Power and Associates UK Mobile and Fixed Broadband Studies 2010.·       O2’s UK 2G mobile network provides voice and data services which are available to 99% of the UK’s population.·       O2’s UK 3G (HSPA+ 900 / 2100 MHz) network currently provides voice and high speed data services of up to 14.4Mbps (21Mbps in the coming months) which are available to over 84% of the UK population.·       O2 was the first UK operator to deploy a 4G/LTE trial network which has demonstrated peak speeds of over 100Mbps to a mobile device.·       Telefónica Europe also owns 50% of Tesco Mobile, which operates in the UK and Ireland, and 50% of Tchibo Mobilfunk in Germany.·       For further press information about O2 go to www.o2.co.uk/news

About Live Nation Entertainment:Live Nation Entertainment is the world’s leading live entertainment and eCommerce company, comprised of four market leaders: Ticketmaster.com, Live Nation Concerts, Front Line Management Group and Live Nation Network.  Ticketmaster.com is the global event ticketing leader and one of the world’s top five eCommerce sites, with over 26 million monthly unique visitors.  Live Nation Concerts produces over 20,000 shows annually for more than 2,000 artists globally.  Front Line is the world’s top artist management company, representing over 250 artists.  These businesses power Live Nation Network, the leading provider of entertainment marketing solutions, enabling over 800 advertisers to tap into the 200 million consumers Live Nation delivers annually through its live event and digital platforms. For additional information, visit www.livenation.com/investors.About Academy Music GroupAcademy Music Group (AMG), whose shareholders include Live Nation Entertainment / Gaiety, SJM Concerts and Metropolis Music, is the UK’s leading owner and operator of multi-award winning, nationwide O2 Academy venues in Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Brixton (London), Glasgow, Islington (London), Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Oxford, Sheffield as well as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire (London). AMG is also a majority shareholder in O2 ABC Glasgow and has successful management agreements with Students’ Union venues in Hertfordshire, Bournemouth and Liverpool.