The Future of Side Door
In an industry where music companies and careers are fleeting and difficult to sustain, we at Side Door feel incredibly humbled to be entering our seventh year of service to artists, hosts and audiences in creating intimate and unique live performances in Canada, the US, Europe and the UK.
We set out to be the platform and team that helps independent artists and DIY presenters book and ticket shows in non-traditional venues with ease. This year, we surpassed 2000 shows, created nearly 300 new relationships between artists and hosts, and increased the size and scope of spaces we serve.
We also launched our Partnerships arm, allowing us to work with organizations and businesses and help them find great places and artists for their needs. This brings many new opportunities to artists on Side Door, mostly with guaranteed fees.
As we start 2024, we remain focused on what makes artists’ lives easier and supporting our hosts to have more successful shows. This year, we’re launching simple ticketing solutions to serve those without connections on Side Door or those doing self-promoted shows. We’re committed to adding value to our offering while not charging any up-front fees.
Our vision is to be a transparent and fair ticketing company that provides career-building tools for artists through connections to new spaces to play, ratings and reviews on shows to boost your profile, and a third-party record of all your shows to help validate your success to potential collaborators. We cover the performance royalties, offer revenue splitting from the ticket sales, friendly support on every show, and automated payouts right after the performance.
Platform Update: Solo-Party Ticketing
Starting January 9, solo ticketing is now available on Side Door! This ticketing feature allows any user of Side Door to ticket a show without needing to connect to anyone else on the platform. For artists renting venues and self-promoting shows, this allows the opportunity to keep all shows on one platform and maintain ratings and reviews from these shows that help develop more connections with the hosts on our platform.
Equally, we understand that some hosts do their own curation; they will also have access to solo ticketing to retain all of the revenue from the show so they can pay a guarantee to artists.
How it Works
After signing in, click Shows in the left menu and then select Book a Show in the top right. Once clicked, you'll see a new drop-down menu where you can select to book a Solo Show or a Connected Show. Select Solo Show.
Complete all fields with an asterisk* for the details and tickets tab. For a Solo Show, Artists must manually enter and select the show address from the dropdown menu, while Hosts' addresses are automatically populated. Once all fields are complete, click through to the review tab and publish your new Solo Show!
We’re adjusting our Processing fee. Here’s why.
One of our core beliefs is that artists and audiences alike deserve transparent ticketing. Our latest platform update includes a slight increase in processing fees, the first in three years.
This change reflects our significant investment in our platform and will help offset our post-pandemic inflating operating costs.
As of January 9, 2024, we're increasing our per-ticket processing fee by approximately $1, varying slightly by customer location. The world of ticketing has historically not been a very consumer-friendly marketplace, and we're proud to still be well below the industry norms for consumer-side ticketing fees.
The total processing fee will be calculated at checkout and displayed before publishing the show. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our support team at support@sidedooraccess.com.
Now more than ever, we believe in the power of live performance to move you. We strive to serve those who want to create collaborations rather than transactions, creations rather than commodities, and magic rather than strictly monetary gain.
We believe in a future where we can share our knowledge, skills, and resources to benefit everyone involved. We seek to remain accountable and in deep service to those who choose to work with us. We continue to recognize that the artist is at the centre of all we do and that creating environments that bring out the best in everyone fosters deep connections through the shared experience of art.
Thank you for trusting us with your time, your work, and your spaces.. Let’s co–create a future where independent artists thrive.
Sincerely,
Laura, Dan, Leigh, Gianna, Mat, Alex, Isaac, Nicole, Sean, Tori, Sandy and Asha.