StarClinch, a start-up launched in 2015, has become arguably the largest online booking platform for artists of all ilks. From their humble beginning a year ago, the company has managed to create the largest database of singers, performers, dance troupes, live bands, photographers and instrumentalists. Its extensive database consists of more than 8000 artists, spread across 14 categories and 100 sub-categories. The company has been able to honour 1000+ bookings, with more than 1700 artist engagements and total bookings approximately worth INR 2 crore in just 11 months.
Recognizing the demand for more diversity in the entertainment business, especially in the recent times and the spiralling growth of the industry, the company aspires to exploit the previous untapped opportunities in order to reach out to new audience across the country.
“It’s a $10 billion market, completely unorganized and controlled by large event management houses,” says Varun Agrawal, Founder and CEO of StarClinch, also a former banker. “Our aim is to make things more hassle-free and transparent, both for the artists and the organizers,” he further added.
StarClinch has almost covered all the facets of entertainment sector in India such as events, weddings, and private occasions. Restaurants and pubs secure USD 0.7 billion whereas weddings and private occasions cover almost USD 6 billion of the Indian market. College fests, musical events, religious functions, etc. collectively stand at approx. USD 2.5 billion
Clients are solely dependent on the middlemen and come across many hitches such as over-the-top pricing, fewer options for payment, and lack of choice of artists. Oftentimes, they don’t end up getting what was promised. Artists, on the other hand, are generally unaware of ground realities of the market such as their real market value, untimely payments, and ignorance about the expectation of clients. Moreover, they are made to feel like mere puppets in the hands of middlemen.
“One of our priorities has been disintermediation or cutting out middlemen who have so far been disrupting a fair artist-client engagement process. StarClinch for the first time has made it easy for the B2B and B2C customers to book a performer or an artist without the intervention of a middleman,” Varun explained.
Speaking about StarClinch’s artist selection process, Mr. Agrawal said, “Our emphasis is on the quality of performance. We help clients find the best artist in their budget for their event, and to ensure that, we do an in-depth and detailed profiling of each artist. In order to reach out to talents across the nation, the StarClinch team is planning a ‘Talent Hunt Tour’ to promote and discover new artists in tier-2 and tier-3 cities along with ex-team Roadies.”
“Our focus is customer experience,” says Amar Kumar Rout, Vice President (Product). While talking about the company’s portal, he said, “The StarClinch website acts as a bridge (between artists and clients) by offering clients, an access to the enormous list of 8000+ artists, cutting across various genres, while giving more exposure to artists.”
The easily accessible and insightful artist profiles and chat-room help to book an artist according to individual requirements. The numerous alternatives for artists in the specified budget, location and language, etc. make the process of selecting an artist easier than ever. Further, the safe and lightning-fast wire transactions with cash-back guarantee ensures transparency in every monetary transaction.
With an impressive current booking rate of 7 artists per day (5.5 new B2B customers and 1.5 new B2C customers hire artists from StarClinch.com every day); StarClinch has received more than 300 artist subscriptions worth Rs. 30 lakhs so far. The website also receives 35 new artist registrations per day and 95% of monetary transactions are performed through the online portal. Some of the leading names in the entertainment industry like Blender’s Pride, Indian Army, Paytm, Motorola, Nando’s, etc. are already associated with the company.
“Our mission is to create the world’s largest and most authentic platform for sourcing professional talent”, a visibly excited Varun Agrawal said before signing off.
StarClinch.com – India’s Largest Online Artist Booking Platform
