Halifax’s Side Door Will Face Down The Dragons
HALIFAX — The owners of Halifax-based Side Door made some major changes to their music platform in 2022. So far, it is paying off. Not only is the company seeing growth, it also snagged an appearance on Dragon’s Den. The episode featuring the startup will air on CBC on November 3.
Side Door co-founder Laura Simpson couldn’t divulge the outcome of her pitch but said she is glad that they appeared on the show.
“It was an enjoyable experience. We’ve pitched hundreds of times but it’s a little different when you’re standing in a giant room facing six people under the TV lights,” she said. “Any good company would probably say you’re never not fundraising. You’re always putting your company out there for possible investments.”
“We basically pitched for about 45 minutes and I think it’s distilled into a five-minute television version.“There was a lot that happened that you’re not going to see but I haven’t seen the cut either. So, I’m just as interested in watching.”
Side Door is a platform that pairs music venues with artists. But with Side Door, a music venue doesn’t have to be a club or a dance hall. The platform encourages users to host using their backyards, living rooms, cafes, barns — any space can be a place to gather and play.
Juno-winner Dan Mangan and Laura Simpson started Side Door in 2017. Three years later, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the platform took off after pivoting into hosting online concerts — a concept that trended worldwide when everyone was stuck at home.
But, in February of this year, Mangan and Simpson made the bold move to get rid of the online concert tool of their platform to focus entirely on in-person shows.
“February was when we started to see the drop of interest in online shows. And it has been declining. So, we had to make a choice even though we were in the height of Omicron,” said Simpson.
“[Covid] is still a concern, and not just for audiences. If someone gets sick on a tour it affects the whole tour. People have to leave the tour or they have to cancel shows or it can’t cover those costs. But I would argue that our types of shows which are mostly low-risk, low overhead, and really something that you can do within your own region.”
The platform also made it easier for artists to connect with potential hosts. Before the August relaunch, an artist would have to reach out to hosts individually. But now there’s a way for all hosts within a geographic area to get the same message from an artist.
“It’s less work for the artists and the host when they’re trying to fill a date or they’re trying to book a tour,” said Simpson. “They can just do one posting for one day and it gets to more people.”
Since the changes, bookings for in-person shows through the platform have gone up.
“We’ve already surpassed the sales that we had for in-person shows back in 2019,” exclaimed Simpson. “We’re already beyond that sales Mark for 2022 and we still have a quarter left to go.”
Derek Montague is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].