Last week, Gigstarter was extensively featured in the popular Flemish Businesses paper De Tijd. Some highlights from the article!
CEO Paul de Kuyper about the goals of Gigstarter
"Gigstarter is a platform that wants to make the market for music performances more transparent and accessible. Back in the days contacting artists used to be mainly via word-of-mouth advertising and classic booking agencies, Gigstarter now partially occupies that place. After a successful start in Gigstarter’s home country, the Netherlands – where Gigstarter states that they have a market share of 10 percent in terms of bookings – the start-up now also initiated in seven other countries."
Noteworthy, Gigstarter’s primarily focus is not yet on big professional events but on small-scale privat parties. In the future this will turn around as the existing professional circuit will integrate into our system, states Paul de Kuyper, who started the company with his brother Erik.
CEO Paul de Kuyper (left on contrabas) also plays in a band, Nootmuskaat from the Netherlands
The experience of the Belgian DJ JOKI at the platform:
"Finding a booking agent for private events is not evident as a part-time DJ, without large installations. Moreover, I do not play the commercial music that many agents are waiting for. I found Gigstarter online and could test it for free immediately. The free version of Gigstarter can be used by musicians as a kind of display window, after which they are approached by interested customers. In addition there are paying accounts, with which the artists can respond to open calls from potential customers. If you want to keep working, you need that paying function."
Paul about the growth potential of Gigstarter
"We want to make live music accessible to everyone. In the short term, we hope to scale up the break-even point that we have already achieved in the Benelux to all of Europe. The offer has grown considerably. In the eight countries where Gigstarter is active, more than 5,000 acts have been connected to the platform, compared with over 2,000 a year ago."
"For the time being the platform works on its own strength, but an internal investor who can help to scale up Gigstarter faster is ‘very welcome’. Gigstarter is not a Cash cow but a platform that is going to change the live music market. Gigstarter first wants to create an impact and add value."
The original Dutch article in the Flemish newspaper De Tijd
Other Blogs from Gigstarter:
Find live music in London
Three strategies to find your Unique Selling Point as an artist
About us
Curious about the most popular Gigstarter artists?
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