Imagine booking a band or musician for your private event with the click of a button, no fuss or red tape.
That's what Chance Smith and Ajalon Elliott envisioned when they created GoghNow, an on-demand musician booking platform, in 2017. Smith said he and Elliott met in sixth grade and connected over a shared love of basketball and music. In high school they founded an entertainment company that provided teens with safe environments to socialize and enjoy music.
Though the pair briefly lost touch after college, they both held onto their passion for music, and when the opportunity for GoghNow presented itself, Smith said they couldn't pass it by.
"We saw that something everybody has in common is music. It’s that universal way of communicating," he said. "GoghNow is a marketplace that connects musicians with people who want live experiences. It allows users to get their own personal musician or band to wherever they are in any scenario."
The platform allows musicians to create profiles where they can upload their content and set their own availability. Users will then be able to browse and book musicians based on their location and time, as well as other optional criteria.
GoghNow is set to launch in the Apple Store in late November and will eventually be available in other mobile app stores. Smith said he and Elliott will focus their marketing efforts first in Charlotte and the Roanoke, Virginia, region, where they are both originally from. However, the platform will be available to anyone, anywhere.
"We've worked on proof-of-concept, and we've seen it happen," he said. "We know we have something people want."
Smith said one of the most important aspects of the platform is that the musicians are paid a guaranteed rate per booking, instead of relying on a "pass the hat" concept in which a performer is paid based on tips or the amount of money the audience put into a hat.
"This is a marketplace where we're really going to be able to impact people," he said.
