Request Artists Launch in Australia – DJ & Artists for Events – Booking Platform
Founders: John Course, John Curtin, Piero Giovannini
Request Artists is a booking platform for corporate, special occasion, sporting and cultural events
Unlike other platforms, it has some of the biggest Australian DJs, that are not available on other platforms
It was created by John Course – co-owner of music label Vicious Recordings (who has sold over 2 million compilations) which has had over 200 million streams. The label has managed and released some of the biggest artists in the world including: Avicii, Peking Duk, Madison Avenue & more
John Curtin has extensive marketing experience, including: Head of Marketing for Stereosonic and the brand new Festival ‘Festival X,’ as well as launching ‘Uber Eats’ in Australia
Piero Giovannini has played at over 500 corporate events and supplies lighting and AV equipment to over 30 venues in Victoria
The platform has been running in beta mode for 4 months and in the past month, has had a 50% growth in bookings via their industry contacts. They are now going to market for Christmas and are looking forward to a big 2020
Request Artists was built with extensive market research in conjunction with function bookers, DJs, event consultants and previous customers
Request Artists have built a revolutionary service using their specific search method of: Australian venues, nightclubs, festivals and music styles, to make it easy for the end user
The platform was built in 12 months for around $50k and utilizes Australian SAAS such as Qwilr, XERO and other programs.
There are plans to build out Request Artists nationally and seek investment and eventually go internationally via their industry contacts
What is Request Artists?
Request Artists is a marketplace where you can book the best Australian DJ’s and Artists for your events. Request Artists service any event or special occasion in Australia. For example: Weddings, Birthdays, Christmas Parties, Office / Corporate events ANY event that requires quality music by a well-known DJ. Due to Request Artists’ extensive event and festival experience, they can also organise Sound and Audio-Visual if required (see below for more info).
Who formed Request Artists?
John Course, John Curtin & Piero Giovannini are the three Founders behind Request Artists. They each have extensive experience & contacts in venue bookings and event services via their networks. They have all worked across the Music, Artist, Hospitality & Digital space for over 20 years and have a great passion for hosting quality events. They are very well respected within the Music & Events Business community and have great music, event and marketing experience.
John Course: Long time DJ and founder of Vicious Recordings (established in 1993), John Course, has been a stalwart of the dance music scene, having mixed multiple CD’s for: Ministry Of Sound, OneLove and Vicious. John Course has toured extensively across Australia having played at leading festivals, clubs and private events for over 25 years. Through the Vicious Recordings network of labels, John Course has been directly involved in the careers of: Madison Avenue, Dirty South, AVICII, The Potbelleez, Peking Duk, Sgt Slick & Rogue Traders, not to mention countless other DJ’s and producers who continue to release under the Vicious network.
John Curtin: John Curtin is a professional marketing leader with a rich history and proven track record in Digital Marketing, Marketing, Events, and Social Media. John has managed, marketed and launched projects from large Corporate to Start-up Cultures such as: Swisse Wellness, launching ‘Uber Eats’ in Australia, Stereosonic (Australia’s largest music festival),Festival X Australia, Red Bull and several other related companies and festivals.
John formed John Curtin Consulting in 2013 and has a diverse range of clients in the Digital, Startup, Hospitality, Film, Music and Technology space.
Piero Giovannini: DJ, producer, event coordinator, owner and director of Audio Visual company, Night Grooves. With 25+ years in the club, festival and corporate music scene, Piero is a staple in the music industry and has performed both nationally and internationally in a distinguished career. As a producer, Piero has had several records that have charted in the top 10 Aria Club charts. In the last ten years, Piero has curated music festival events at the iconic Riva St Kilda, hosting performances of both International and local artists to thousands of people. He is also the founder of Night Grooves and has looked after some of the biggest and the best in the music industry from all around the world.
What sparked the idea behind Request Artists?
After being approached many times to play private events as a DJ, the idea of a booking agency with the scope to supply the actual DJ’s who play clubs and events weekly, seemed logical to John Course. DJ’s with deep musical knowledge, who can play not only mainstream music, but also cater for a more specialist music palette, appealed to John… DJ’s for When Music Matters. John Course then approached John Curtin in late 2018 for advice and the concept of working with some of Australia’s best Artists for private and corporate events began. John Curtin loved the idea as he had helped countless times to organise friends’ weddings or larger hospitality groups looking for artists for Spring Racing or other special events. He could see the potential and the two had some in-depth discussions about making it more than your traditional agency with not only a music focus, but also with a tech forward mentally, utilising today’s technology in terms of automation, artist search filters, organisation workflow and liaising with Clients and Artists online. The technology was super important to both and they wanted to ensure it was super easy to make a booking:
Select Your Artist – Select Your Venue – Select Your Genre – Select Your Date -> BOOK ARTIST!!
Their goal is to bring some of the best Artists (not just mobile DJ’s but actual DJ’s who play at some of the best Clubs & Parties around Australia), to play at your Wedding, Engagement, 30th birthday, Product Launch, Sporting event, School formal or Work Christmas party, EOFY celebration etc.
“The search options within the site are really awesome and one of our key differences to other services. You don’t need to use them, but if you want a DJ from a certain club you go to (or used to, go to), or if you want a more specialist music direction, both filters are great tools.” – John Course
