How many times have you discovered a new band, followed them on social media and forgot about it, only to find out the next week that they played a show down the street from you and you missed it?  In an era where you’re not even expected to have your best friend’s phone number memorized because it’s in your phone already, it’s pretty commonplace to get distracted online. Personally, living in a touring destination city that breeds amazing indie talent and where music venues practically outnumber public schools, BandsInTown is one of the most useful apps I’ve adopted in years.

If I haven’t encouraged you as an artist to get on the BandsInTown bandwagon (see what I did there?), this should: BandsInTown has  just announced an awesome update wherein artists can communicate directly with fans who RSVP for their shows via targeted push notifications that land right in their hands. Got a new release? Did the show’s start time change? Want to run a cool merch giveaway? This is the perfect tool to remind fans before or after the show! Read more from BandsInTown about the update:

“Our research shows that fans want to hear from artists they track and are more likely to take action when you communicate with them personally. For artist managers or publicists, these personalized notifications appear on concert-goers phones as if they’re coming from the band or DJ directly. It’s free to message RSVP’s as often as you like, which is a great way to alert fans of breaking news.”

Pretty sick, right? Read more about the update’s uses and steps to take advantage of it here. And if you’re reading this as a music fan who hasn’t downloaded the app yet, you’re welcome.