Mickey Avalon performs at the Standing Room in Redondo Beach on Dec. 11. The show was booked with the new mobile app FanFlex

The Internet has destroyed a lot of music industry wealth, but mobile app FanFlex promises to help bands earn some of that money back.

FanFlex provides a platform for bands to post tentative tour schedules to gauge interest from fans. It also allows fans to request that their favorite musicians come play in their town.

The app will place a hold on a fan’s credit card until a minimum number of tickets are requested. If there isn’t enough demand, the concert is never booked and the would-be attendees get their money back.

The idea is to reduce risk for bands and venues that are worried about selling enough tickets in out of the way locales.

“We’re trying to bridge the gap between fans, bands and demand,” says founder Erik Nelson, who lives in Bubank and held the first FanFlex concert at The Standing Room in Redondo Beach last week.

Rapper Mickey Avalon and Erik Nelson, founder of the concert-booking mobile app FanFlex, share a moment backstage at the The Standing Room in Redondo Beach on Dec. 11.

Music as a marketing tool

Another big part of FanFlex is about helping bands capitalize on their large fan base. Fans don’t buy albums any more, which is why bands need to come up with new revenue streams.

Music is not longer a commodity. It’s a marketing tool.

“Bands aren’t looking to make most of their revenues through music anymore,” Nelson says. “They produce music to get themselves out there, but their income now is generated mostly through live shows, through merchandise, through brand partnerships.”

FanFlex helps bands create VIP experiences at live events to help boost revenues.

“With the rise of social media, everyone wants to be in the middle of the action, take a picture and publicize it,” FanFlex co-founder Gian Perugini says. “There’s a value to that for the artist.”

Fans paid $400 for a one-hour party bus ride with Mickey Avalon before the LA rapper’s concert at The Standing Room in Redondo Beach.

The Standing Room owner Jason Baran said FanFlex is great for booking shows during low-turnout nights.

“The app allows for an artist that usually wouldn’t have considered or known (The Standing Room) as an option,” Baran said in a text message.