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Interview with Co-founder and CEO of Sidedoor Access Laura Simpson

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The delivery of music for artists and musicians can be complicated through the avenues that seem by many too hard to achieve. Many artists and musicians are not too familiar with new technology that will not only get their music heard but help them establish their brand. This can be pretty hard for an artist or musician to try and conquer the world with their voice and music. Laura Simpson of Side Door has a way that will give musicians and artists a better trail to blaze and utilize new technology that give them more access to build their brands.. Side Door  is here to create a better environment for musicians and artists to achieve their goals to bring music to the masses. With the popularity of Side Door, I was able to quickly send some questions to Laura to talk about Side Door, what it does, and much more. Be sure to check out their social media below as well as click the links below to check out more about Side Door.

Here is the interview:

What is Side Door?

Side Door Access Inc. (“Side Door”) was established in 2017 by co-founders Laura Simpson and Dan Mangan to connect artists with alternative venue spaces and their audiences through high-value intimate shows. Side Door offers an efficient, friendly, and transparent platform where anybody can perform, host, or present shows for their communities. Through its leading technology and design, the company delivers in-person, virtual, interactive, and broadcast experiences for artists and audiences anywhere, anytime. https://sidedooraccess.com/home. Side Door is always encouraging anybody excited by the prospect of hosting touring artists in their space to build a Space profile and/or get in touch. Side Door provides the tools to produce and ticket intimate shows in non-traditional performance spaces like backyards, bookstores, record stores, and warehouses. To create a Space profile on Side Door: https://sidedooraccess.com/signup/host/space

Do you guys have in person shows or can it be both in person and Online?

Both! In-person shows have the opportunity to sell more tickets to their show by having an interactive and broadcast element. An interactive show gives the audience a direct entry into the virtual room. Most interactive Side Door shows take place over Zoom. Zoom allows for a gallery view of several participants at a time, and grants attendees a two-way audio and video connection which allows everyone to see each other and even opens the option for participants to voice their thoughts and interact directly to the artist. Audience members may even have the opportunity to join the performer in the spotlight and become part of what makes interactive shows so magical. Bottom line, an interactive show is as accurate as an online replication of the back-and-forth between performer and audience (or audience members with each other) gets. A broadcast gives the audience a view of the performers – or whoever the performers choose to display. Most broadcast Side Door shows are embedded directly in the show page. Broadcast shows allow for a high-fidelity stream to be played for the audience. Audience members have the opportunity to chat with one another in a chatbox, if it has been enabled by the artist. However, the experience will be less immersive in a broadcast show.

What kind of setbacks do you have for your company that your currently overcoming?

We were navigating some stress from having worked for months on the SXSW show set for 2019 and then having to shut it all down. There were a lot of questions from the team. Should we try again? Is it worth it? Not all the same people we were working with were still there. They had a huge layoff right after the pandemic began. But they were quite enthusiastic to work with us again. Overall, this year’s SXSW tour was great and we’re seeing the highest artist signups in 12 months!

Have you discovered new music that you been digging from any of the  musicians you all have helped with Side Door?

100%. I book my shows (at my house) via Side Door and listen to new artists all the time via our platform.

Lastly, where can our fans find you on social media to keep in touch with the latest news?

Yes! Follow us on Twitter Side Door (@sidedooraccess)  and Instagram Side Door (@sidedoor.access) 

Laura Simpson https://twitter.com/novascotiamusic
Side Door on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/side-door/
Side Door Website https://sidedooraccess.com

Vic

Editor / Writer / Producer For Drop the Spotlight