There are “Uber” of horse carriage, “Uber” of waterways, and now there is the “Uber for live music” too. Sofar Sounds is a start up that is touted as the “uber for live music” that lets you book live music where musicians turn up at your location of choice for a private performance. It is strange that this is even a legit business model and even more stranger, it has recently closed a $25 million round of investment. Like, don’t we already have something like this?
Actually, we do, but mostly those musicians do proper events, like company dinners, wedding functions and whatnot. Sofar Sounds is for you, well, or just about anyone who is willing splurge $1,100-1,600 for a private live performance. Wow. Sounds like it is benefiting the musicians and probably not so a good deal for Sofar Sounds, right? As it turns out, it is the other way around. Like, how else did you think it managed to convince the multi-million investment?
According to a report, Sofar Sounds gets to keep most of the money for the each gig with the musicians being paid only $100 per gig. There’s not much cost involved as far as the organizer is concerned. The venue is on you, as are the refreshments. The musicians provide the entertainment and presumably, the audio equipment required, and so, Sofar Sounds basically pays for nothing, doing nothing more than administrative works but getting a large cut of the earnings.
Then again, if you are a struggling musician who desperately need to pay the bills, get the exposure and experience, it might a good place to start. Maybe?
Image: Sofar Sounds.
Source: boing boing.
