Ticket-sales gig heading across the Tasman

A New Zealand venture using crowdfunding to change the face of live entertainment is expanding to Australia.

SuchCrowd, formed in Dunedin by Abbe Hyde, Jacob Manning and Tin Htoo Aung in 2015, lets musicians and artists ‘‘de-risk’’ events by using crowdfunding to secure their audience before touring.

The company is proving to be just the ticket for emerging performing artists, and the owners are launching it in Melbourne today.

‘‘It made sense for SuchCrowd to enter Australia through the Victorian capital,’’ Hyde said. ‘‘Melbourne has more emerging performers than the whole of New Zealand, so collectively it makes sense to go there first.’’

Their business inverts the traditional model of live performance planning by getting potential event-goers pledging to buy tickets first. When a set number of pledges makes an event viable, the tickets are issued and paid for, and the event proceeds.

SuchCrowd’s business model removes the substantial financial risk emerging creative performers currently shoulder when staging events.

‘‘If it flops then everybody involved in putting on the event suffers – from the performer right through to commercial sponsors who risk their funding and reputation.

‘‘Our product enables performing artists to offer their events nationally and internationally and lets fans have a voice in the ones they want to see.’’

SuchCrowd also provides promotional support through user-led marketing to help sell tickets.

‘‘We have a network of influencers who pledge to buy tickets first and then use social media to push their friends and acquaintances to come along.’’

The business boasts an 81 per cent success rate in getting events staged.