SFX Entertainment continued their shopping trip this week but in a different direction than we are used to hearing. Robert Sillerman, SFX CEO and Founder, is stock piling companies at a rapid pace and in a very similar fashion to his ventures during the ’80s and ’90s. Which concluded with him selling his conglomerate of radio stations and concert events to Clear Channel in 2000 for 4.4 billion dollars, Clear Channel ultimately became Live Nation. It seems that history is repeating itself in some sense, however this time around SFX is going to have the luxury of a much more advanced digital world.
On Wednesday three new companies signed agreements to jump under the SFX shade.
The first of the trio is something along the lines of a music experience service provider. Tunezy allows artists to connect with fans in a much more intimate manner: anything from backstage meet and greets, special access to sound checks, dinner, even a Skype conversation. Tunezy is for artists, meaning it allows your favorite artists to monetize these types of VIP access experiences. AKA they set a price, you pay, if you can. Tunezy and SFX will work well together because of their interests in building on the experience. Tunezy CEO told Billboard, “I see huge potential in trying to improve and increase engagement with fans at these festivals. If people are given a more intimate, exclusive experience, I think people would pay for them.” This service has the potential to be really unique, if artists like Bassnectar or Kaskade, people with a track record for philanthropy, start using it as a fundraising source for charities.
Arc90, a digital engineering company, designs and builds applications, services, and platforms. They will take over the entire scope of SFX’s digital outreach and build the new global platforms from the ground up. CEO Rich Ziade discussed in a blog post about Arc90’s role moving forward, “SFX originally came to Arc90 as a client. As the relationship grew, we were incredibly impressed by the scope of SFX’s vision: a vision of one digital framework that connects together every aspect of Electronic Music Culture (EMC). It was clear to us that SFX had plans to build something entirely new and unprecedented: a global, API-driven platform that delivers content, connects people to events (and to each other), connects artists to their fans, integrates with the largest social networks, and works across devices. And those are just the aspects of the system that we can publicly disclose.”
Lastly, Fame House, a company established in 2011 by Michael Fiebach, will round out the cast. Fame House brings digital strategy, social media, web design as well as development services. Fiebach and the Fame House team have worked with artists like Eminem, Tiësto and Pretty Lights. “We see this as an incredible opportunity to expand our capabilities and resources to enable us to offer cutting-edge digital marketing services for our existing clients, for the SFX portfolio, and for a broader client base in the future,” Fiebach said in a statement.
The trilogy of digital providers will continue to build off of SFX’s acquisition of Beatport, continuing to round out Sillerman’s 360 degree vision for the company.
