Last week in our music community, discussions centered around effective strategies for managing gigs and contacts, with members sharing varied approaches and tools they find useful. The technical side of music-making also saw attention, as users exchanged ideas on developing technology that responds intuitively to musicians’ needs. Meanwhile, there was a lively conversation about promoting events, highlighting the challenges and tactics for filling venues. These threads reveal our community’s ongoing commitment to both the art and business of music.
This Week’s Hot Topics
How I track gigs and contacts now
There’s an engaging discussion on how musicians are organizing their professional lives more efficiently. This thread is packed with practical advice and personal experiences that could streamline your workflow. Read more here
Building a looper that listens to you
A fascinating project is underway to create a smarter looper that adapts to a musician’s playing style. This conversation explores the intersection of technology and creativity, offering insights into future possibilities for live performances. Read more here
Denver 500-cap on May 17 needs a push
The community is rallying around an upcoming event in Denver, discussing strategies to boost attendance. If you’re interested in event promotion or looking to support fellow musicians, this thread is worth your time. Read more here
As always, thank you for being a part of our vibrant community. We look forward to your contributions and hope you find this week’s discussions both informative and inspiring.
I standardize every booking email subject to “HOLD – YYYY-MM-DD – City – Venue,” and a Gmail filter auto-labels and forwards it to Google Calendar and one Sheet so gigs + contacts never slip; if a promoter breaks the thread, I dump details into a tiny Google Form as a backup.
I use a single Google Form called “Gig Intake” for every hold; it writes to a Sheet and keeps contacts + dates tidy. With a tiny Apps Script (or Zapier), it auto-creates a Google Calendar event and updates the contact — free with Google Forms: Online Form Builder | Google Workspace. Caveat: some bookers won’t touch forms (), so I paste their email into the form myself to keep the pipeline intact.