Inside Shotgun’s Invite-Only Miami Music Week Industry Forum

2 days ago 5

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill mixer. Ticketing disruptor Shotgun is working to make Industry Standard a net positive for all who attend.

Over the course of Miami Music Week (MMW), insiders will share trade secrets in green rooms and hotel lobbies across the city. But for one gathering in particular, dozens have been handpicked to exchange these ideas with each other in a single forum — and they’re expected to bring their A game.

The Wednesday, March 25 event has been organized by Shotgun, a platform that itself typically provides ticketing solutions to organizers. The Paris-based company has personally invited several of the music industry leaders set to attend. Others have requested to join, with approvals determined on a case-by case basis.

Industry Standard, as the meeting of minds is called, convenes at Ray’s Hometown Bar, whose quaint atmosphere promises to quell any nerves among participants. Among the speakers are Anthony Hall, co-founder of local venue ZeyZey Miami, and Fabrice Sergent, CEO of event discovery platform Bandsintown.

More important than the panelists themselves are the tricks of the trade they’ll be sharing. Shotgun has emphasized actionable insights when coordinating each expert’s appearance. The brand’s intention is to take Industry Standard further than the average networking event, making it translate to meaningful growth in the careers of all fortunate enough to attend.

“We want to bring together everyone from the industry — even if you work at another ticketing business,” Zach Walker, Shotgun VP of Partnerships for the US, told EDM Identity over video chat. “We want to give our peers an opportunity to get together and hear about how things are moving and what’s changing.”

He continued: “At the end of the day, a lot of us don’t know a lot of the other people who make this industry function and work. So we’re looking to facilitate that.”

And the MMW edition of Industry Standard is only the beginning. “We’re gonna do this traveling road show in these different markets and bring in the people who move nightlife in those markets,” Walker explained. “That’s a big priority of ours this year.”

Shotgun’s US Expansion

Shotgun’s timing in the US market tracks with a broader shift. Founded in France in 2014, the platform grew rapidly as loose collectives and underground communities across Europe turned to digital tools to organize and grow their audiences. With over 100 employees and nearly 8 million users globally, the company entered the colossal US entertainment market by way of New York City in 2022, scaling its stateside footprint city by city.

“In those early days, it was really a test, honestly,” Walker recounted. “We wondered, ‘Will people resonate with what we’re bringing here? Will people resonate with the tools, the tech, the brand, the vision that we have for ticketing?’”

It turned out that they did. Shotgun’s US operations grew enough to justify expanding the team, which now sits at nine employees between offices in New York City and Miami. In 2024, Zach Walker himself was enlisted to aid in formulating the company’s US strategy.

Walker started his career as an intern for Atlantic Records over 15 years ago, naturally gravitating toward music tech during the 2010s. Following a stint at Los Angeles-based social marketing platform Toneden, he worked for London-based ticketing platform Dice for nearly three years before accepting Shotgun’s job offer.

His wealth of experience in the music industry gives him a valuable vantage point in his current role. “I see a lot of passion,” Walker said. “There’s no shortage of people in these underground circles who love building communities and connecting with people. That’s what I see more now than ever: people wanting to create spaces for that, and to have the tools to facilitate all the logistics that go into throwing events.”

On the flip side, Walker is quick to point out trends putting organizers at odds with ticketing platforms.

He pointed out, “What we’re seeing in the industry right now is several major shifts that are reshaping the ticketing landscape. I think you can tell that there’s some level of consolidation happening — Fever coming in and acquiring Dice last June, Eventbrite axing its music division, and then coming back and trying to pivot into it again. You’ve also got legacy platforms like Resident Advisor who have been around for a very long time, but what I keep hearing from organizers is that the technology has largely gone unchanged.”

“Every year, technology moves very quickly, so I think this is the time for us to come in and insert ourselves as that underground brand with the good tech that’s still very independent,” Walker went on. “We are the culture, we speak for the culture, and that’s what we’re about.”

Enter Industry Standard

And what better way to make such a statement than by hosting an event like Industry Standard? In an increasingly sterile ticketing industry, providing such an intimate forum speaks to Shotgun’s personal touch, to its willingness to provide its community with value at its own expense.

And therein lies the genius behind a concept like Industry Standard. Shotgun has cracked the code of artistic work: Sometimes you create a thing not for your own direct benefit, but simply because it ought to exist. Everything tends to work out in the long run when you allow for that kind of authenticity.

“Here at Music Week, we’re bringing these speakers together to talk about who actually owns the dancefloor,” Walker said. “With this consolidation happening, and certain platforms getting into music tech, there’s a lot of discussion happening. That’s why we want to get everyone from the industry together in one place.”

After all, it only benefits the entire music ecosystem to strengthen its bonds. As far as Shotgun is concerned, that starts on Wednesday at Ray’s Hometown Bar. And not to worry if you didn’t get an invite, as Industry Standard looks to be landing in more and more nightlife markets across the US in coming months.