UTSA senior Joseph Zambrano is the brain behind the groundbreaking new app called “Fandemic,” a feature for music lovers that will be available in two weeks.

In addition to promoting the app at South by Southwest this year, Zambrano and his team held an upscale kick-off party at Endless Music on March 24, a celebration that included appearances by several local musicians.

The app, a music-lover’s dream, is a database designed to let its user access information about live music in their area. The user can type in anything—the name of a band, a date, a location—and be given upcoming show times.

Fandemic’s purpose is to keep its user in the know about all the live music in the area: information about the artist or band, about the venue—even directions!

It comes as no surprise that Zambrano loves all music genres. The whole concept of Fandemic originated when Zambrano left his apartment one evening in search of live music and wished he had some sort of instant guide as to what was playing and where. Zambrano, a business management major, put his skills to work for a cause that he thought was very important.

“Music,” he explains, “is a big factor in everybody’s life.” “Everybody should have access to it.”

But Zambrano created Fandemic for more than just music listeners. Fandemic’s website is designed as a kind of marketplace for local bands, making it easier for them to spread their names.

He says the website will be even more interactive than the app because it will feature postings, recent videos and marketing tools for small bands. In short, Fandemic’s website will be a social network specifically for independent artists.

“We wanted a way for local bands to communicate with their fans,” Rochelle Gonzalez, Zambrano’s main assistant, said. According to Zambrano, “music’s heading back to the local scene.”

As South By Southwest demonstrated this year, the indie music world is rapidly growing in popularity. Fandemic seeks to assist and capitalize on that popularity.

It’s hard to generate an iTunes app from just an idea. After all, how does one make an app? Zambrano, who admitted he had no background in computer science, quickly assembled a team of about six or seven equally dedicated music enthusiasts who knew their way around software programming.

After all the paperwork, the app really just needed information. Gonzalez said most of their information comes from iTunes’ database. A good amount of the information, however, will come from users once the app is put on the market.

Like the name implies, Fandemic, a fan-driven pandemic of local music enthusiasm, will spread by electronic word of mouth.

Zambrano speculates that, in a year “this app will be the most comprehensive guide to local music in the country.” And he’s already on his way there. San Antonio is just the birthplace.

In a few months, another opening party will take place, this time in Los Angeles. By then, Fandemic may spread like a real pandemic.