In January I wrote about how Jack Dorsey is one badassmuthaphucka. The guy invented Twitter and Square. Square is a company, and an electronic device, that literally plugs into your headphone jack and magically turns your smart phone into a point of sale.

You can process all credit cards with this amazing device and it’s available for iPhone, iPad, and Android. Sign up for Square here and you’ll get your free card reader in the mail (USA only).

Obviously this is going to change the game for many independent musicians. Ever have a fan come up at the end of the show who’d like to buy something but only has plastic? Now you have Square.

Square charges 2.75 percent plus 15 cents for swiped transactions, and slightly more if you type in a credit card number. For $100, that translates to a $2.90 service charge.

What Jack Dorsey and Square want to do is change the way people purchase things, and not just in the obvious way, but really change the whole experience of purchasing products.

Do you think you can replace the register?

Dorsey: “Yes. They are terrible.”

How?

Dorsey: “It’s a pain, and it takes forever.” Long lines are created in cafes, and waiters must come back with the check. “We aren’t just accepting credit cards, we are simplifying the friction from the payment system. No one has done this.” Square is looking at making an all-in-one payment and point-of-sale device that could be as simple as an iPad. And, with one swipe of the card, a patron could broadcast his or her location on Twitter and receive loyalty points. (AllThingsDigital)

For touring musicians this will be a huge boon. Fans can now become fans that night no matter what kind of money they have in their pocket. The future is now.

Music Consciousness
Voyno