Beatswitch

Beatswitch, established in 2013 by co-founders Thomas Van Orshaegen, Gertjan De Wilde, and Johan De Keulenaer, operates as a specialized software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider for the festival and music event industry from its base in Antwerp, Belgium. The company was acquired in September 2016 and now functions as an operating subsidiary. The platform is engineered to centralize and streamline the complex logistics of event production, targeting festival organizers, booking agencies, and artist managers.

The core of Beatswitch's offering is a cloud-based management tool designed to consolidate all aspects of festival planning into a single, collaborative environment. This addresses the significant communication and data management challenges inherent in coordinating artists, crews, vendors, and volunteers. The platform's business model includes yearly licensing agreements for larger festivals and a subscription-based SaaS model for smaller events, billed on a per-user, per-month basis. Before its acquisition, the company secured approximately $1.21 million in funding over two seed rounds from investors, including Strike4 and Volta Ventures.

Beatswitch's product suite is comprehensive, featuring tools for artist management, credentialing, and even the development of cross-platform mobile festival apps. Key features include an intelligent CRM system for managing contacts, a drag-and-drop timetable builder, and a production website that acts as a central hub for artist advancing and data collection from all event participants. The software automates workflows, manages transport and accommodation logistics, tracks costs, generates reports, and provides mobile notifications to keep all team members synchronized. Integrations with ticketing platforms like Eventbrite and Weezevent further enhance its functionality by syncing attendee data for access control.

Keywords: festival management software, event production, artist booking, SaaS, event logistics, artist management, festival planning tool, live event management, music festival coordination, event technology, production advancing, artist scheduling, crew management, vendor management, credentialing software, event CRM, timetable builder, festival collaboration tool, event data management, live music industry