Sparkplug Ignites Gear P2P For Musicians

A New York City-based startup is counting on that awareness to help bring the sharing economy to the world of instrument and gear rental, and hopefully, make things a little easier on touring musicians.

Sparkplug’s mission is to connect musicians “in a secure online community marketplace to efficiently and affordably share their creative tools.”

The company soft launched this summer and currently has listings in cities like New York, Los Angeles and London. CEO Julia Wilde explained Sparkplug isn’t looking to simply serve the major markets.

“We want to be in every corner of the planet where there is a musician who has a piece of gear and a musician who wants to rent something for a show or a session,” she told Pollstar.

While the site may indeed be a perfect fit for a hobbyist or a mid-tier band to list or rent gear, Wilde stressed the strength of Sparkplug will lie in the variety of its membership. As more people catch on, the breadth of listings and clientele will evolve so a musician could rent everything from workhorse equipment to very unique vintage pieces that may be too esoteric for a huge rental warehouse to offer.

For many career touring musicians – Wilde refers to them as the 99 percent – rental warehouses sometimes prove too cost prohibitive and logistically challenging to use, and hauling gear may be out of the question. Sparkplug presents an affordable alternative. She referenced a case study of a band with a $5,000 guarantee playing a 500-cap room in San Francisco with basic backline including two guitars, a bass and drums.

“Their equipment rental cost via a traditional rental warehouse was $2,100,” she said. “We looked at what it would cost to do via Sparkplug and it was going be a 60 percent savings to the band. This is a band that’s quite successful – you’d know them if I mentioned them to you. But they’re also mid-tier. They have to actually be smart about how they spend their money on backline and transit.”

Aside from the financial savings, Sparkplug is pushing ease of use and a transparent process as major benefits to both listers and renters. The site’s interface is pretty simple with a search bar where a user enters the type of equipment they’re looking for and where they’re looking for it, a dashboard on the back end where you can see everything at once and a messaging system.

Of course we’ve all heard the horror stories of the peer-to-peer economy – the New York penthouse rented through Airbnb that was trashed during a wild party comes to mind – but Wilde assured that Sparkplug has taken the necessary precautions to protect both those listing their equipment and those renting through the site. “We look at that as our greatest responsibility,” she said. “From the very beginning we’ve implemented these trust mechanisms.”

Listers are tasked with being transparent about the condition of the items they’re offering, taking photos to prove it, and assessing the value of a listing. Renters are charged a 30 percent deposit fee on top of the rental price and encouraged to kick the tires of an instrument, so to speak, during the handoff, then alert Sparkplug if anything isn’t as described.

Once an item is returned in good condition, renters are reimbursed that deposit. But if some frontman goes full Pete Townshend on a rented Fender, Sparkplug has the ability to pull money for repairs or bill up to the entire value of the piece.

Finally, there’s a review process, which Wilde noted is really a key component of the site. It’s all about trying to build connections in what is already a naturally collaborative community, she said. “Our goal is really to harness that and to harness what are potentially a lot of untapped assets that our members have that they could be using to their benefit. On either side of the transaction, we want to be enablers in the best sense of the word.”