advertisement
Billboard is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2023 Billboard Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
advertisement
Popular
Latest News
advertisement
BILLBOARD CANADA FYI
A weekly briefing on what matters in the music industry
By signing up you agree to Billboard Canada’s privacy policy.
advertisement
advertisement
Scott Munn
Side Door co-founders Laura Simpson & Dan Mangan
Touring
Side Door Is Closing: Dan Mangan & Laura Simpson's Intimate Concert Booking Platform Will Shutter After Eight Years
Side Door has facilitated more than 3,300 shows and paid out nearly $2 million to artists, but is now calling it a day at the end of the year. The two co-founders tell us more.
4m
Side Door is preparing to close. After eight years, the Canadian online show booking and ticketing operation, which was build to connect artists and hosts for shows in living rooms and other intimate settings, will shut down on Dec. 31.
The news came this week via a statement from Side Door's co-founders, Halifax-based CEO Laura Simpson and Vancouver-based singer/songwriter Dan Mangan:
"Dearest artists, hosts, audience members and supporters, On December 31, we are winding down Side Door operations. We’ve already disabled bookings on the platform for after December 31, 2025. All shows booked and executed before Dec. 31 will be fully served, promoted and paid out."
advertisement
The founders report that they've facilitated more than 3,300 shows and paid out nearly $2 million to artists since their founding in 2017, with 2025 being their biggest year. "We think it’s fair to say that we have played a meaningful role in daylighting the alternative show economy and normalizing this segment of the music industry."
However, they are still finding it hard to compete, especially when their motives aren't entirely capitalistic.
"It’s extremely difficult to be a community platform and a ticketing service," they write. "Ticketing can generate revenue, but it’s a crowded, complex space. Our free 'Connect' dashboard was designed to encourage booking activity — not profit. We took big swings and raised money to get Side Door off the ground, but startups require either explosive revenue or explosive growth to survive — of which we have enjoyed neither. In short, we don’t have the volume to survive."
The Side Door platform has operated in a different realm from the much larger-scaled Live Nation and Ticketmaster-dominated sector of the live music industry. Side Door focused upon house concerts and intimate, often unconventional, performance spaces. It offered direct contact between artists and promoters, without extra fees, aiming to democratize live music.
advertisement
Founded in 2017, Side Door launched fully in 2018. In early 2019, Billboard Canada FYI then (FYI Music News) published a feature profile. Side Door since received a major financial boost and plenty of attention in Nov. 2022 via an appearance on Dragon's Den. Arlene Dickinson offered $500,000 for part of the company, while the other entrepreneur "dragons" passed but offered praise.
Pitching the Dragons on the show, Mangan stated that “The challenge for artists right now is incredible. There are actually fewer venues to perform in than ever before. It is just too hard to book a gig, but there is another way. Imagine you could attend a show one block over in your neighbour’s backyard, or in your local bookstore.”
Looking back now on Side Door's entry into the realm of venture capitalism, Mangan tells Billboard Canada that "This journey had many segments. Our initial idea was pretty mom-n-pop, and then we got involved in the venture capital world and our ambitions became much more explosive. We didn’t grow the way that venture backed machines need to grow, and at times it felt like we were just failing at everything — but there were little wins along the way."
advertisement
"I think I can speak for both myself and Laura in saying that we’re extremely proud," he continues. "We paid out nearly $2 million to middle class 'carpenter' musicians. We started Side Door to try and build tools that could help the majority of artists have a more sturdy and stable career.
"Another thing I’m really proud of is how I believe we’ve helped to shift the live touring zeitgeist. When we properly started Side Door in 2018, house concerts were taboo — artists wanted to play them because they understood the value offered, but they didn’t want to talk about it publicly.
advertisement
"They didn’t want to announce a tour in alternative venues, and they didn’t want to advertise that they were available to do it. It felt like a step backward in the smoke and mirrors of artistic positioning (almost like how dating sites were seen as cringey for a good 5-10 years, and now are ubiquitous). Today it’s completely and utterly normal for artists to get involved in this world — even well established artists. I think we helped to daylight this segment of the industry, and helped people understand how powerful and undervalued it had been."
Asked to single out some Stage Door show highlights, Mangan says there were a number of special ones, but singles out one in particular from Canadian indie veterans Borken Social Scene.
"Very early on we placed Broken Social Scene at an anarchist-skate-park-slash-punk-organic-goat-farm just outside of Boise. It was before we had a real 'platform' to speak of. I heard from the band that they wanted to do something weird and fun on their day off, and so I called a record shop in Boise and asked them who in town did the coolest underground shows and we had the show booked in a few hours."
Mangan's experience as an independent artist who has paid his proverbial dues played a key role in Stage Door's creation. He tells Billboard Canada that "Honestly, the impetus for Side Door on my end came from playing to small groups in bars to people who didn’t care and getting paid in beer tickets... and then playing to small groups in living rooms who would drive me to the train station the next morning with an envelope of cash.
"As an emerging musician, you’re just aching for anyone to care at all, and we’ve been hearing that Side Door helped a lot of artists feel like they had a chance to get their art out in the world in a real and human way. And if there’s anything that’s been made clear today, it’s the more human on-the-ground effect Side Door has had. We have been completely overwhelmed with messages on all platforms from people with incredible testimonials about how Side Door affected their lives for the better… hosts, artists, and audiences alike. It’s been pretty emotional. And affirming."
advertisement
Mangan candidly confesses that "I will do a big exhale when this is tied up. The writing has been somewhat on the wall for some time.. It’s been hugely rewarding and at times devastating and impossible. A few sleepless nights. A few panic attacks. I have to give nearly all the credit to Laura - she’s the real hamster turning the wheel, and she’s done an amazing job."
He remains in demand as a recording and performing artist, but Mangan hints at other entrepreneurial ambitions.
"If Side Door isn’t taking up space in my brain, I do wonder about what other cool projects might occupy that vacuum. I have begun to dream about other things I’d like to do. If I do start any other projects in tech or business, I sure will have some wisdom to carry forward. We have learned so much."
advertisement
Laura Simpson tells Billboard Canada the thing she's most proud of happened during the pandemic.
"We set up shows for the Sick Kids hospital in Toronto because the families weren’t allowed in to see their kids for a period during the lockdown. A virtual show helped them be together and share something beautiful," she says.
"Every day at Side Door we got to figure out how to connect people through art. The platform was just a tool to give us more power to do that. It is a life-long mission that both Dan and I share. I am forever grateful for all the relationships and memories we made. The team was second to none. Thank you."
keep readingShow less
advertisement
Popular
advertisement
Published by ARTSHOUSE MEDIA GROUP (AMG) under license from Billboard Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Media Corporation.
advertisement