The founders of Milwaukee startup Dream City Music, a platform that allows freelance musicians to find performance gigs, have launched a second company that helps those same musicians seamlessly handle the administrative tasks that come with managing a freelance career.
Like Dream City Music, the new startup, BookLive, allows independent musicians anywhere to list their services and book performances, but it also allows them to manage everything from marketing to payroll. The founders, Jared Judge and Keaton Viavattine, said Dream City Music and the specific musicians associated with it are now listed on BookLive.
Dream City Music was originally founded in 2016 under the name Dream City Strings, when it focused primarily on matching string quartets to wedding planners. But as the startup began attracting musicians outside of string instruments and into all genres and styles, the founders decided it needed a name that encompassed them all.
“Dream City Music kind of changes the game for musicians. It makes their lives a lot easier,” Judge said.
BookLive, which launched in beta mode earlier this month, provides independent musicians the tools to manage the various aspects of a freelance music career, such as sales, marketing, account management, legal issues, personnel and payroll.
“We are automating administration tasks for any musician who wants to use our software,” Judge said. “We have this huge opportunity to help young musicians who don’t have the business training and really help them grow their freelance music careers.”
Since launching, BookLive has grown to 183 users and has booked about 140 performances. It has users in six other cities besides Milwaukee, including Madison, Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, while still only employing Judge and Viavattine full-time.
Both being musicians themselves, Judge and Viavattine book gigs on the platform and say it has simplified their freelance careers.
“When I decided to start Dream City Music, just like many musicians across the globe, I was faced with some challenges, primarily the fact that they don’t teach you business in music school,” Judge said. “And now BookLive [allows] them to focus on what they love doing, which is the performing, and minimize the amount of [work] that goes into making it all happen.”
