If Paul McCartney has you in the mood for romance during his Lollapalooza set later this month, a Chicago-based app wants to play matchmaker.
FanMatch, which is available in beta on both Apple and Android devices, is designed to help festival goers find, chat with, and meet other people attending the same music festival. Users note the festivals they are attending in their profile, indicate their relationship interests (friendship, dating, hook-ups), and then browse from the list of people at the same festival.
The app works similarly to Tinder; two users are connected when they "like" each other's profile, and are then able to chat within the app. Chatting is free, but not unlimited, the company says. Unlimited chatting costs $3.99 for 7 days, $9.99 for 1 month, and $19.99 for 3 months.
You might think that a "Tinder for music festivals" app could be outperformed by Tinder itself, with its much larger user base and brand recognition among the music festival demographic. But FanMatch Co-Founder Ellona Ferson said that Tinder and other dating apps don't show you specific events or venues a person is attending, making FanMatch an even more hyperlocal online dating tool.
"Until now meeting new people at concerts has pretty much been left to chance in the beer line," Ferson said in a statement. "Dating apps like Tinder aren't wired to show you who else is attending specific events, or to make plans in advance. FanMatch is designed to do exactly that."
FanMatch isn't Ferson's first stab at a relationship app. She also founded Lovendar, an app for couples to create shared lists for future date plans, anniversary gift ideas, and grocery items. The app recently partnered with OpenTable so users can request and book a table at a restaurant through the Lovendar app.
The challenge for FanMatch, like all new dating and social networking apps, is to cut through the clutter of apps people already turn to during live events. But Ferson believes her app meets an unmet need among festival goers.
"We're using mobile technology to enhance the social nature of music festivals and the people who attend them," Ferson added. "Our hope is to turn festivals of strangers into playgrounds of friends."
Image via the App Store
