SaveLive, the platform launched in 2020 by former WME music execs Marc Geiger and John Fogelman to “bail out” concert venues that were struggling during the pandemic, has announced its first round of partners, some 20 mid-size venues across the country, with “many more to come.”
The company has also completed its first round of financing, raising $135 million dollars to invest into the independent live music community. Investors include Breyer Capital, Deep Field Asset Management, Raptor Group, and Shamrock Capital.
At the time of the company’s launch in October of 2020, Geiger, who was a cofounder of the Lollapalooza festival, said the plan was to invest in small clubs and build an indie touring network by acquiring a 51% ownership stake in the venues in question, although a rep for the company that is not the case for all of the partnerships and each one is bespoke; a full list of partners and non-exclusive venues, as well as its investors and team, is on the company’s website.
“One of my favorite things in the world is to go to a club, be treated well and see an incredible band,” he said at the time. “So I thought, ‘OK, I’m going to raise a bunch of money and I’m going to backstop all these clubs. I’m going to be a bailout solution for them, and I’m going to call the company SaveLive.”
In Tuesday’s announcement, Geiger says: “When John and I started this mission in late 2020, the live business was feeling pretty hopeless as the pandemic was hitting the sector head on. All I did during this time was listen to music and obsess on ideas on how to help the independent live industry. It was clear streaming services plus the pandemic changed the concert industry for good and web 3.0 is going to change it even more. We used that downtime to raise capital of like-minded and long-term investors, build a music focused team of professionals, and ultimately build out version 1.0 of our partner network. 18 months later, the live business is rushing back to record levels…and it’s time to launch.”
The Alibi’s Liz Garo said, “As an independent booker for Spaceland, The Echo, and 100 other places since the beginning of time, being able to partner with SaveLive is a dream come true. [Alibi co-owner] Melanie Tusquellas and I can stay true to our roots knowing we have their full support, whether its finance, booking, marketing, sponsorship, questions about the bar or just bouncing ideas off the team. It doesn’t hurt that we’ve known some of the people at SaveLive for years – we all came up through the business together.”
“As Ineffable Music continues to focus on bringing top notch national acts to secondary and tertiary markets, getting involved with Marc, John, and SaveLive to re-launch the Golden State Theatre in Monterey, CA was a no brainer,” said Ineffable Music president and Golden State Theatre owner, Thomas Cussins. “At Ineffable, we open new outlets for touring acts, creating a more vibrant live music scene–both for the artists and for the fans who deserve to have great music in their backyard. Having SaveLive in our corner gives us even more confidence to keep growing our business.”
