July 26, 2010

By By Antony Bruno

The location-based mobile social game Foursquare has, to date, held more promise for the music industry than actual results. But, that?s beginning to change as Foursquare and VH1 have teamed for a sweepstakes running through Oct. 10.

Foursquare users can now unlock the ?VH1 Fanatic Badge? by simply ?following? VH1 through a custom landing page on the Foursquare site: foursquare.com/vh1. Joining gives users access to the sweepstakes which offers the chance to win VIP access to an unlimited number of concerts, from an as-yet unnamed participating venue. Signing up also provides music tips from artists like Kelly Rowland.

It?s unclear exactly how VH1 plans to further integrate Foursquare into live events. VH1 is a media sponsor of the upcoming Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, where all stages will be check-in points on the service. However, the press release announcing the news didn?t list a single participating venue. Bigger news will come when popular local venues integrate Foursquare into their promotional strategies for pre-event, in-show, and post-event activities.

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