With the return of live music, how are you tackling the market and what is the potential for a product like this?

The return of live music is very important for our business model. The live sector is what our product is modelled around and therefore with the return of live shows, there is a growing appetite for our offering within the market. We are working with a range of different partners ranging from artists, ticketing companies, festivals through to venues.

Our product is simple - we are providing a new revenue stream for the live sector to utilise as part of their overall marketing mix to capitalise upon a live show and commercialise it beyond the performance. We believe in adding genuine value to the music ecosystem, which translates to a fair and transparent revenue share model. Wherever there is a live show happening, then Exit Live can be considered as an extension to it and given we are available globally, there is great potential for our platform.

Sum up what your company/product does in one sentence

Exit Live is a global platform for artists and bands to sell current and historic live show audio recordings - designed with an artist-first approach that allows for full transparency and a fairer revenue model.

What makes it unique?

In the past, live music recordings used to be a major release platform, but streaming has refocused the industry and the fans onto studio recordings. Today there are no good places to find quality live recordings. The CD at the door and the bootleg cassettes are gone, with nothing to replace them.

We created a platform that is 100% focused on celebrating the best audio recordings of Live Music, and have done it with a passion for the “artist first”: performers and songwriters are in control, receive 70% of all proceeds, and can receive this immediately through our ‘pay me now’ button. Once a transaction is made the funds are available immediately. Artists do not have to wait to be remunerated, they can be rewarded instantly. We believe the artist deserves full control and that is our ethos.

Tell me more about the fair payout model for artists

Our fair payout model is easy to understand and is very transparent in how it works. Basically, once the artist uploads a live show recording and is then sold to a fan, the splits are favoured for the artist. They will receive a direct cut of the sale.

Performers and songwriters receive 70% of all proceeds after taxes and payment charges. Approximately 12% for songwriters/authors and their publishers (mechanical rights), and the remainder is directly for the performing artists. Artists, promoters and venues can make a further 10% if the sale happened as a result of their promotion. There are no hidden fees or costs.

Who is your product aimed at and why?

Exit Live is a tool that exists for any type of artist worldwide, no matter what the genre or type of artist. The platform has been designed with the artist in mind and offers full control to maximise live shows commercially.  Therefore, emerging talent through to established acts from any kind of genre of music can utilise Exit Live as a way to offer fans a memento of their shows - or even for those that missed the performance. If an artist has a live music recording, then Exit Live can support it. This is at the heart of what Exit Live does, to help talent share live show recordings to fans globally, no matter what the genre or type of artist.

Secondly, fans can access Exit Live to browse a growing catalogue of live show recordings - which can be accessed anywhere. For fans wanting to relive a magical live show or even experience a show they were not able to attend, they can now own a unique recording of the show via our platform. With more shows being continuously added, Exit Live will soon become the global home of live shows - perfect for any fan passionate about live music.

How did you cope during the pandemic when live events were not taking place?

The live music industry has been hit hard by coronavirus with performances cancelled or postponed. Given our business model is focused upon the live sector, we were not able to function as we wanted to. The pandemic has given us a chance to re-evaluate what we do as a business but also truly appreciate how valuable the live sector is to the industry.

What the pandemic has shown us is that live shows are very important to artists and the music industry. As an artist, it is within the live show where a real connection with the fan is made. This cannot be replicated in any other format. With the return of live music, we are excited to support artists and share content with fans and audiences once again.

What type of artists can consumers engage with via Exit Live?

So far, we have worked with around 50 artists. One of the most renowned of whom is James Morrison, who published an older pre-covid recording to the sheer delight of his fans all over the world. However, we are also working with all types of artists and promoters at varying levels; from grassroots through to the established acts, as well as venues and festivals.

We are growing and establishing Exit Live as the dedicated global destination for all live show recordings for fans to enjoy. Our platform welcomes artists from all genres of music, ranging from classical, rock, indie through to pop - and therefore fans can engage with Exit Live knowing that they can enjoy music from a variety of artists.

What are your future plans?

We are talking to promoters and venues who are interested in the 10 percent they receive from bundling and promotion to their audiences, we’re talking to artists and their managers who are interested in this new revenue stream, and we even have active discussions with labels who want to make us a standard part of their agreements: for their artists to record their shows and monetise them on Exit Live. Our model benefits the entire industry fairly and we’re hoping for a fast ramp-up as live music is coming back.

For fans, we are building the global home of live music. Being a tool that can generate a recording as soon as the artist leaves the stage, Exit Live will become synonymous with live music and establish itself as the dedicated destination for all live show recordings for fans to enjoy through technology.

What advice would you give to any startup just setting out?

My advice is that it’s important to be focused on what you want to achieve. There are so many learnings along the way of creating a startup, so be sure to learn from everything. It will be your passion for what you do which will drive you to succeed. For example, I have always been passionate about opening up the world of high quality live music recordings and creating a more equitable model with fair, direct and transparent remuneration for artists. This is the basis of Exit Live and will always form the ethos of what we do.

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