Software Development
Apps / Arts / Baltimore Innovation Week / Investing / Startups

Wham City Lights seeking investment for crowdsourced light shows

Wham City Lights is a Baltimore-born tool that national concert promoters are using to let fans be part of stadium-sized light shows.

Technology from Wham City Lights at work during a Brad Paisley concert televised on CBS. Photo courtesy of Wham City Lights.

The only thing better than attending a concert is helping to create it.
At least, that’s according to the developers of Wham City Lights, the smartphone app that puts concertgoers in the middle of the action with a synchronized light show beaming straight from their phones. The lighter-wavers of yesteryear are finally getting an upgrade.
Baltimore-based musician Dan Deacon, visual artist Alan Resnick and software engineer Keith Lea brainstormed this now-hit technology, hoping to further engage the audience at their shows. The app debuted in July 2012, and has since sparked light shows on Brad Paisley’s Beat This Summer Tour and the 2013 Billboard Music Awards.
The Wham City Lights team — a crew of fewer than 10 employees — also works with musicians to develop their own apps, which use audio signals to link the phones without connecting to WiFi, piercing through outside noise.
“None of us are business people,” Lea joked, though the company has added customers and interested brands, thus far without venture capital or marketing of any kind. Though word-of-mouth has been effective, Lea said, the team is ready for investment so they can execute new ideas.
While many startups are building apps that use audio signal, Wham City’s unique model is uncharted territory for live events, and they haven’t found serious competitors yet.
“We’re always experimenting with what our app can do… That’s what really drives us — how can we push this,” said Lea.
See Wham City Lights in action at Friday’s Innovation Celebration at Under Armour.

Companies: Wham City Lights
Engagement

Join the conversation!

Find news, events, jobs and people who share your interests on Technical.ly's open community Slack

Trending

How venture capital is changing, and why it matters

What company leaders need to know about the CTA and required reporting

Why the DOJ chose New Jersey for the Apple antitrust lawsuit

A veteran ship's officer describes how captains work with harbor pilots to avoid deadly collisions

Technically Media