I used to work for a music management company, helping with public relations and event planning. One thing we often discussed was how to get fans more involved with the band, giving them a unique experience during concerts and at home.

The first step for almost every band was establishing an identity on Twitter. From the beginning, Twitter has offered fans a way to stay in touch with what bands are doing, find out what songs are being played at shows and develop personal connections with their favorite musicians. The next step was taking advantage of additional social media networks, like Instagram.

More recently there have been a few apps that have offered more unique band experiences. Case in point: Vine. The new feature on Twitter lets you create short, gif-like videos to share with others. These videos not only offer behind-the-scenes access to the band’s life, but also more about the band members’ personalities.

In order to take his concert experience to the next level at the American Country Music Awards, Brad Paisley used an in-concert light show app to include the audience – Wham City Lights. This app will sync the audience’s cell phones together, without an internet connection or using data, and turn them all into an automated light show.

Although this was the first time Paisley was using the app before he takes it on tour this summer, DJs and artists like Dan Deacon have been using it since it launched.

Simply put, this app is brilliant for any musician — whether your selling out huge arenas or playing at a small venue. No longer is the crowd there to only watch the concert, they are there to take part in it as well.

Not only do all of these things help fans get “closer” to their favorite bands, it creates more dedicated followings and can ultimately increase ticket and record sales. Who knows if Wham City Lights will catch on with more artists, but the trend of bands offering a more intimate experiences to their fans is something that’s here to stay.