Helsinki, 13th December 2021 The impact caused by the pandemic in the cultural sector goes far beyond the restrictions. In March 2020, the attention shifted to the digital space, where artists, producers and organisations found a way to respond to what was happening. Almost two years later, we look into the future intrigued by the following question: how will people consume culture from now on? In a time where the industry is getting back to in-person events, do we want to return exactly in the same way?
That was one of the motivations behind Eventual, a platform that is changing the model of live events by providing more power to audience members. On a mission to diversify and democratize the arts and entertainment industry, Eventual allows anyone to create, curate and support the events they really want to see in their local areas. For Miia and Uzair Khan, founders of this Finnish start-up, this business model was a solution for their own experiences as members of the audience: “As members of the crowd and live events enthusiasts, we were always feeling that we were not connected with the cultural field, like if it was a different entity separated from the crowd” – says Miia – “We have always felt that we would like to be part of it and express our interests. That was when Uzair started doing that, by suggesting what artists should be performing in the clubs in Helsinki. He was always asking can you bring this DJ? or who’s coming here next month?”. That was the starting point of Eventual, which turns the events model upside down to make crowds the ultimate decision-makers of the events they want to support and attend.
The model of the platform allows users to build up their events from the early stages until the premiere date, as it includes a crowdfunding feature, ticketing system and a venue booking tool. Through crowdfunding, artists and promoters can reduce the risks, once they find a crowd to back up their events in advance. After a successful campaign, culture-makers can also release their own ticketing via Eventual and even use the venue booking tool. Miia reinforces that this model hopes to reduce the risks of live events, by providing a space where the break-even point can be achieved in advance and cover all the production costs – “We started to think that we needed to find a way to tackle the risk, in a more sustainable way. We also wanted the city to be as rich as possible and have all kinds of mind-blowing concepts”, she concludes, “Most of the time, what happens with live events is that it’s too risky to produce an event. People are used to buying tickets at the doors, so they don’t decide in advance that they want to support a specific event. By changing the model and making the crowd support an event in advance, it’s possible to minimize this risk. For artists, promoters and venues, this is a tool that makes the process more sustainable. For the audience, they become part of the creation, which makes them closer to the artists”.
In a post-pandemic world recovering from the restrictions, Eventual believes that it is great timing to change the way we consume live events, by bringing more power to people. For Miia, people working in the arts and entertainment are tired of being frustrated that the governments are not supporting the industry enough – “It’s time to bring more power to the people and develop new tools to support events and culture in a new way”.
Earlier this Autumn, Toni Rantanen – the iconic name of Finland’s cultural scene and one of the founders of Flow Festival – joined Eventual as the co-founder, inspired by the idea of being closer to the audience – “In Flow, we always ask the crowd what do they want to see. That’s very important for us because there are millions of artists out there and we can choose the ones that people want to see, apart from the headliners. With Eventual, it is now easier to do that”. Toni also adds: “I believe we are doing something new and relevant for the sector, especially for independent artists, who can find on this platform a tool to showcase their work”.
For the next year, the team hopes to launch more campaigns and grow internationally. For both Toni and Miia, the goal is to introduce how the platform works while making the industry aware of how this tool can provide more complete support to the sector. “We hope that venues and promoters can find on this platform a tool to minimize the risk. We hope that the performers can find a way to achieve a more sustainable career and secure an income doing what they love. Because when you get the ticket sales upfront, you secure your production costs. You can also test and try out different concepts and understand what the audience likes more about your work. And then, of course, we hope that the crowd becomes so excited about different concepts that they can also initiate campaigns. That way, Eventual can create a new ecosystem that is feeding different players, so that the venues know exactly what people are interested in. They can start building communities and opening the bubbles because now we are so much in our own bubble and we often miss the programming that the city has to offer because there is no platform that connects everything. We want to become that place”.
Inspired by bringing people together and using technology to support the live event experience, Eventual is available worldwide and you can discover more here.
