Reverb.com has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2019. Reverb is recognized alongside Universal Music Group, Sofar Sounds, and Live Nation as one of the top companies making a profound impact on the music industry.
“Reverb was built for the music industry by a team of musicians, so we’re uniquely positioned to impact the market in a way that large marketplaces like Amazon or eBay cannot,” said CEO David Kalt, who launched Reverb in response to the pain he felt buying and selling instruments online as a guitar store owner. “By focusing on inspiring content, price transparency and low fees, musician-focused eCommerce tools, a music-savvy customer service team, and more, we’ve created an online destination where the global music community can connect over the perfect piece of music gear.”
Since launching in 2013, Reverb has grown into the most popular music gear website in the world, with over half a billion dollars in annual sales on the platform and artists like Maroon 5, Green Day, Moby, Dave Grohl, Sonic Youth, Linkin Park, and more using Reverb to get their gear into the hands of fans. Built for musicians at every level, large retailers, brick-and-mortar shops, brands who sell direct, and more, Reverb makes it easy for anyone to buy and sell gear through tools like Reverb Sites—a “Squarespace for the musical instrument industry” that enables sellers to create a free, customized website in a matter of minutes.
“From a logistical standpoint, most small businesses don’t have the staff and time to list products separately on online marketplaces and their own website. With Reverb Sites, in one fell swoop, we have our inventory displayed nationally to millions, as well as our own branded website that’s helping us build a national reputation,” said Evan Holmes of Music Makers, a brick-and-mortar guitar store whose online sales went from zero to $100,000 in three months thanks to Reverb. “Without Reverb, I would have to invest thousands in online ads to bring in the volume of sales and eyeballs that we’ve been getting on the marketplace.”
Within the past 18 months, Reverb has also launched Reverb LP—a marketplace for records, CDs, and more—and Reverb Gives, which turns a portion of every sale on Reverb into instruments for music programs all over the world. These additions join a host of longstanding Reverb features, such as the Reverb Price Guide, which uses real-time transactional data to help users understand the price of what they’re buying and selling; the Reverb mobile app, which helps users buy and sell gear easily on-the-go; and Reverb News, which attracts musicians to the site through daily how-to articles, demo videos, and more. The company also recently expanded its Netherlands office and opened an office in Japan to accommodate the company’s rapid international expansion.
Reverb joins Spotify, Instagram, Bandcamp, Atlantic Records, Fender Musical Instruments, and Moog Music, among other brands, that have ranked on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies List in the “music” category. According to Fast Company, this year was the “most competitive field of nominees” the editors have ever seen. More than three dozen Fast Company editors, reporters, and contributors determined the list, which aims to provide both a snapshot and a roadmap for the future of innovation across the most dynamic sectors of the economy.
