Introduction

The Gigmasters.com online booking system (Gigmasters), was created to assist consumers in finding and hiring live entertainment for their weddings, corporate events and private parties. The company has over 15,000 musicians in its database. More recently, it has expanded its offerings to include other entertainment services such as comedians, dancers, caterers, photographers, etc.

Gigmaster’s online booking platform uses the Internet’s ability organize and connect the fragmented market of musicians and entertainers to create a searchable database that is user-focused and easy-to use.

Gigmasters is an owned-managed business. Kevin H. Kinyon (co-founder) and Michael J. Caldwell (co-founders) are the two individuals who manage the site. They recently added John Sortino to their Board of Directors. The three gentlemen are highly skilled in Web development, finance management, and business development.

Services

Gigmasters earns a 10% commission every time it facilitates a transaction between a buyer of entertainment services and a seller. The seller collects the fee. In addition to booking commissions, Gigmasters earns revenue from corporate sponsorships of its bi-monthly newsletter. Amazon.com and Emusic.com were past sponsors. RollingStone.com and Bluelight.com were also past sponsors.

Although there are many other websites that allow buyers and sellers to connect, Gigmasters is the only one that focuses on music and entertainment. All of its customers benefit from this. Gigmasters is the only company that provides online press kit, which allows customers to hear and see entertainers prior to hiring them. Gigmasters also has an online bidding system that provides customers with competitive quotes from the entertainers. It is not available from any of its competitors.

In addition to its primary revenue sources of booking commissions and corporate sponsorships, the company also derives revenue through additional fee-based services it offers its entertainers. As the company grows, and has more resources, these secondary revenue streams are likely to become more important.

The Market

Research indicates that the United States spends close to $9 billion each year on music, entertainment, and other media. The wedding industry is the biggest part of this market. Each year there are over 2.3 million weddings. Over $3.2 billion is spent on music. Other components of the industry include corporate events, nightclubs, festivals, Bar Mitzvahs, fraternity and sorority functions, high school proms, country clubs, and hotels.

There are also approximately 13,239 traditional (offline) booking agents in the United States. They make $2.4 billion each year. Many have websites, but few, if any, offer the ability to book directly online. These sites are more like corporate “brochures” and spotlight only a few of their big-name entertainers with little more than a phone number available for further information. These agents focus on the high-end market and tend to overlook the huge number of people searching for bands for their private parties, weddings, fraternity dances or corporate Christmas parties. These are just a few examples of the Gigmasters marketplace.

The company will be looking to develop strategic partnerships with sites such WeddingChannel.com. TheKnot.com. iParty.com. Evite.com. The sites’ customers are people who plan weddings, parties and other events. These high traffic sites will be able to benefit from Gigmasters’ steady stream of traffic as well as increased revenue.

Financial Considerations

Gigmasters is raising $100,000 (representing 5% equity) for the purposes of expanding its business and paying office, salary, website, and advertising expenses. The minimum amount that must be raised is $70,000

The company is expecting to earn solid profits in 2003. These estimates assume a conservative estimate of bookings growth. The company expects no cash flow problems if the funding is available.