Subba Media

Subba Media is an online platform for concert and music festival reviews.

On the company’s website, Subba-Cultcha.com, fans can post and read reviews of concerts, purchase tickets to events, and discover upcoming concerts and festivals.

Most music media websites don’t allow fans the opportunity to review music experiences themselves. As a result, fans are turning to platforms that rely on crowd-sourcing and user-generated content.

For example, websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor have become successful travel websites due to a user’s ability to read and post original reviews of hotels and restaurants.

Yelp has 135 million visitors a month and generated more than $700 million in revenue in 2016. Meanwhile, TripAdvisor recently surpassed 300 million reviews and generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue.

Subba Media aims to become the TripAdvisor for music and festivals.

The company is targeting 18- to 30-year-olds, a demographic largely interested in concerts and music festivals.

In the UK, more than 30 million people attended a concert or festival in 2016. And in the U.S., 32 million people attend at least one music festival per year. And nearly half of those people are ages 18 to 34.

Since the website's launch 12 months ago, more than 6,500 reviews have been posted.

Subba has worked with multiple record labels — including Universal, Warner, and Sony — as well as more than 60 music festivals to promote concerts and other events.

In addition to creating a source for user-generated music content, Subba Media is developing a proprietary ticketing system. This will be the company’s primary source of revenue.

The system will allow festivals, artists, and music promoters to sell tickets directly to fans. Subba will earn a 10% commission for every ticket sold.

Subba will also earn revenue through advertising. According to the company, it's already generated $40,000 through an advertising partnership with Sonos consumer electronics.

In the future, Subba plans to add additional revenue sources. These include allowing artists to sell merchandise through the platform, and offering a music streaming service.

In addition, the company will enable record labels to gather and leverage its valuable customer data.

The company is projecting to generate $650,000 in revenue in 2018 and $6.8 million in revenue in 2019.

Subba is supported by a team of board members whose experience includes time with IBM's music division and Sony Mobile.

And company advisor Mark Foster is the former Senior Vice President of Warner Music Group’s Europe Division.

Team Background

Mark Jennings - Founder & CEO

Mark is the former Director of Digital Willow, a media agency that helps companies increase their marketing strategy.

For four years, Mark was responsible for digital operations for Last Word Media. While there, he helped develop strategies for companies to gain more customers through video, mobile, and social media marketing.

Mark formerly served as an online sales manager with Financial Times, an international daily newspaper focused on business and economic news. During his time there, Mark managed multiple clients and generated advertising sales for the publication.

Mark graduated with a degree in English from De Montfort University.

Luke Forshaw - Digital Marketing

Before joining Subba Media, Luke served as Associate Director for MediaCom. While there, he helped oversee Universal NBC’s digital marketing strategies in London.

Luke spent three years as a planning manager with OMD International, a media communications agency. While there, he managed digital advertising for several large clients, including Apple Music and Beats headphones.

While attending Loughborough University, Luke served as a student ambassador the marketing manager for Red Bull. His duties included working with students and the university to promote the energy drink’s brand on campus.

Luke graduated with a degree in English from Loughborough University.

Jess Dawson - Content

Jess brings content creation experience to Subba Media.

Prior to joining the company, she served as a news reporter for BBC Radio, where she focused on producing documentaries.

In addition, Jess served as a radio disc jockey for Hallam FM, a local radio station in England.

Jess earned a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from The University of Sheffield.

Co-Investors