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Business News Live Business Management & Funding
Stornaway members seek to raise £300,000 for new show-booking platform
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 18 November 2015
Members of indie folk band Stornoway are in the final stages of a Crowdcube fundraising campaign to further develop an online gig booking business they began last year after winning a £20,000 prize from the Oxford Business School.
The start-up business, called Tigmus (or This Is Good Music), provides tools for artists to book and manage gigs at 750 “unusual venues across the UK and Europe”. The band’s bassist Oli Steadman, who is co-leading the new venture, says: “We’ve played on some of the biggest stages all over the world, but the gigs that stand out for me are those intimate ones in slightly crazy spaces. The fans absolutely love it because they get right up close to the music and get to be part of the action. That’s what inspired us to create Tigmus”.
Tigmus describes itself as being similar to Airbnb “where live music spaces are listed for artists to book one-off shows or entire tours. Social media analytics on the site guide artists on when and where to play and also recommends appropriate local support acts, to maximise audiences and revenue for each show. Acts can set their own fee and entry price, monitor ticket sales and connect with fans direct”.
Tom Hodgson, trumpet player for the band and CEO of the Tigmus company, adds: “We want to revolutionise the live music scene, from the very biggest bands to the newest acts. Tigmus is a music community that uses smart data to help bands and fans interact. We have already found that, using Tigmus, artists earn an average 30% more per show and fans are paying around 30% less for tickets”.
Just over a hundred shows have so far been booked via the platform, which is now seeking up to £300,000 to fund expansion. Details of the Crowdcube campaign are here.
