Have you attended a corporate event to network, learn, or search for a new job? You’re not alone — the industry is picking up, and not solely for professional reasons. 38 percent of guests say they attend corporate events for the live entertainment.
That’s the space that live music booking platform EVAmore is now entering.
When the Nashville-based startup first launched in 2015, co-founders Channing Moreland and Makenzie Stokel focused on helping universities plan live music bookings. They were solving a problem they faced themselves as music business majors at Belmont College.
The end-to-end EVAmore platform directly connects artists to events. The event organizer creates an event, setting a budget
range and entertainment type.
Vetted artists who meet the criteria bid on the job and the planner selects the best fit. The contract and payment can both be completed through the platform.
After a period of growth, EVAmore started receiving more inbound inquiries from corporate event planners. These organizers tend to have higher entertainment budgets, says Moreland.
As the company matured, the co-founders saw the opportunity to pivot to solely corporate events last year.
“We were having a much better internal experience with corporate events as a customer. While we do a few weddings now, corporate events are definitely our focus,” says Stokel.
The EVAmore team began contacting event planning companies that worked with corporations to understand the pain points.
“We weren’t expecting to attract this user type — destination management companies, organizations, and major corporations. We had to learn a lot about how they’re different, yet they still share the same need for finding entertainment,” says Stokel.
One city can have as many as 10 destination management companies, says Moreland.
Now that they serve larger budgets, they can serve large artists as well. EVAmore bookings have shifted from an average of under $10,000 to a ceiling of $50,000. The team has partnered with companies like ReverbNation to access their large artist database and streamline the artist onboarding process.
They’ve worked with clients like Dell, ESPN, BMW, SmileDirectClub, and more.
EVAmore has also added new pricing models based on the level of service. For example, they can help provide personalized recommendations or even a concierge service for live entertainment.
Since the pivot, they’ve expanded to Atlanta and Austin and now are looking to reach an additional 10 more markets in 2020, including New York and Los Angeles.
