Music Ally was one of the first publications to write about Sidestep when it launched in September 2013 as a way for fans to browse and buy concert merch before attending a gig.
We’re not its only admirers though: after working with the startup on her Formation tour, Beyoncé and her company Parkwood Entertainment have invested $150k in the company.
That’s part of a wider $1.7m of funding for Sidestep, with other investors including Troy Carter and actor Jared Leto. The company has sold merch for Guns’n’Roses, Fall Out Boy, Selena Gomez and Weezer among other artists, taking a 10% cut of sales.
CEO Eric Jones told TechCrunch that the appeal to Beyoncé was that of “a tiny scrappy startup doing the biggest tour in the world”.
She’s just the latest musician to invest in music/tech startups – and remember, Beyoncé is also a co-owner of Tidal – but we’re as interested in the Troy Carter connection here.
With Carter now at Spotify, even though its merch-sales partner is Merchbar, could there be an opportunity to tie Sidestep in with the Spotify Concerts feature?
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Tools: Kaiber
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