In the modern music industry – where streaming is king, but doesn’t generate the wealth of one – gigging has become more important than ever for artists to make a living. It’s pretty unfortunate, then, that this primary source of income was completely halted this past year. Worry not – out of the ashes rises Gigmit and Gigmit Pro, a revolutionary artist booking website. This site makes it easier than ever before for artists to get booked to gigs, festivals, and other live events.
Operating somewhat like Tinder (but far less depressing and far more productive), Gigmit uses its data-driven algorithms to provide a matchmaking service for music artists and booking agents.
In this article, we’ll dive further into the workings of Gigmit, and conclude on if you should sign up or not; whether you be an artist or events organiser! Stay tuned for everything you need to know!
What Is Gigmit?
Gigmit is a website platform that connects live acts and event booking agents. This intuitive site does this in a simpler, more efficient, more streamlined booking process than ever before.
Using data-driven matchmaking, Gigmit pairs artists, veterans or newcomers, with gigs, festivals, and other events. Cleverly, it does this in a way that is appropriate for its location, genre, fanbase, and many other factors.
Originally launched in 2012 by founder Marcus Fitzgerald, the Berlin-based company has since signed up 150,000 artists and 11,500 event organisers. Fitzgerald previously worked as a booking agent. In this role, he became increasingly tired of the overly-laborious process of booking artists via email.
With Gigmit, he set out to create a platform that would – at last – streamline the process for both artists and agents. Additionally, it would dramatically reduce the number of unnecessary emails sent.
What Does Gigmit Do?
Now that we’ve introduced you to Gigmit, let’s take a look at the platform’s main features.
Matchmaking Artists & Booking Agents
That’s right – say goodbye to those hundreds of ignored emails sent to booking agents, because Gigmit is here to find you the perfect partnerships!
Upon joining the platform, musicians looking to find gigs will create their Gigmit artist page. This is a profile that contains all the relevant information a booking agent may need – such as a bio, photos, music videos, past, and future gig dates, technical rider, catering rider, etc.
Gigmit uses data-driven factors, such as your music genres, location, fanbase analysis, and streaming data. This is to match you up with the appropriate events and booking agents.
The platform has a huge database of potential gigs, festivals, and other events. Here, you can filter through using the app’s advanced search feature.
Flipping to the other perspective, it’s equally as simple for booking agents to advertise their events on Gigmit! To find the most suitable artists, agents can fill out the information to find a match. This includes how many acts they need, which genres are suitable, compensation for travel costs, and much more.
For both the artist and the agent, Gigmit is tailored to revolutionising the gigging industry.
Extra Aid For New Artists
For newer artists, Gigmit is committed to ensuring you receive equal exposure on their platform. Marcus Fitzgerald’s mission is to demystify the process of getting gigs. So, artist Gigmit is primed with resources, information, and guidance on this often-intimidating part of the music industry.
To mention just a few of these resources, Gigmit features in-depth articles on their blog, as well as whitepapers on a range of topics including booking, live-streaming, and marketing.
Not only that, but the company also has direct partnerships with the likes of Spotify and Sony Music. This means signing up for Gigmit increases your chances of getting your music on the biggest streaming services. Additionally, it increases the chance of record deals from the biggest record labels.
Moreover, Gigmit Pro eliminates the demanding requirements that are often needed to get booked for gigs and festivals. Traditionally, this process necessitated a lot of know-how; you had to become a businessman as well as a musician.
Thankfully, Gigmit’s platform handles this change in perspective automatically. By using data to match artists and agents, you can focus on prepping for your live show.
You’ll be better prepared and ready to perform instead of repeatedly discussing the tedious stuff.
Innovation Network Of European Showcases (INES)
Gigmit is a founding member of the Innovation Network of European Showcases (INES). That name sounds impressive, but what actually is it, and how does it help artists and booking agents?
Co-funded by the European Union, the INES books upcoming artists to festivals all over Europe each year. They host a combination of live performances, trade shows and conference programmes, the INES advertises itself as the ‘innovation hub’ of the European music industry.
More importantly for artists, it gives them a fantastic opportunity to build connections with events organisers all over the continent. This allows artists to further cultivate their international fanbase.
This year, artist applications to the INES talent pool are occurring through Gigmit. They are accepting 70 acts, with the deadline recently extended until August. So apply now for the chance to perform throughout Europe with the INES ‘quality stamp’!
Oh, and I know what you’re thinking – despite Brexit, the UK is still a part of the scheme. So get applying!
The Gigmit App
Gigmit’s platform is super simple to get started with. Simply visit their website and choose to sign up either as an artist, or a promoter!
Once you create an account as an artist, make sure to fill out your profile page with as much detail as possible. This will massively help your chances of scoring a place at a gig/festival in the long run, so take your time!
Connect all your socials, feature your best songs and music videos first, submit your gig history and allow Gigmit to analyse your fanbase and community. It’s super easy to get started.
Once you’ve completed your profile, it’s time to start looking for gigs and festivals! Gigmit Pro features a sleek, efficient search and filter function to save you time and energy; the quality-of-life improvement in comparison to sending out hundreds of emails is, frankly, staggering.
For promoters and booking agents, the process is even simpler. The sign-up process takes literally two seconds. You’ll immediately be able to build a quick profile and browse through artists.
Gigmit’s algorithms will filter the best artists for you via your location, and music genre preferences. Additionally, it has the ability to sort through potential acts by its Spotify and Facebook fanbase analytics. Get booking!
Gigmit Pricing
Gigmit is available for use completely free but also offers a premium service called Gigmit Pro. For €19 (£16) a month, Gigmit Pro artists will be given the highest visibility to booking agents. As well as this, Gigmit Pro users will face no limitations whatsoever in their search for gigging opportunities.
This does indicate that free users, unfortunately, are featured lower in promoters’ search results than Gigmit Pro users. Generally speaking, they have a lower likelihood of regularly scoring gigs.
This doesn’t mean, however, that the free version isn’t worth it; you still have far more access to live opportunities all in one place. Gigmit is still a great live music service by default!
We consider €19 a month to be competitive in pricing, but not at all extortionate. Indeed, for a service as revolutionary as Gigmit, it’s worth it!
Additionally, there is no premium service for promoters. This means there is no turn-off for them to join up and start booking artists.
Alternatives To Gigmit
Let’s take a look at three alternatives to Gigmit, and see how they stack up against the platform.
Sonicbids
Founded in 2000, Sonicbids is the closest it comes to a household name when looking for gig-finding platforms. But its age is both to its advantage and to its detriment.
Being such an established platform, Sonicbids can often act as a gatekeeper for artists trying to get booked to gigs and festivals. Many organisers only consider applications submitted via Sonicbids. This is, of course, a great motivation for artists to sign up, but perhaps more out of force than out of choice.
As one of the oldest – if not the oldest – online artist booking platforms out there though, Sonicbids can feel a little dated. Their USP is focused entirely on the user’s ability to create Electronic Press Kits (EPKs); something that has been standard in the music industry for a decade now. When was the last time someone sent a booking agent a physical press kit in the post?
Gigmit, on the other hand, has taken the most modern approach. They eschew EPKs for their algorithmically-supported artist profile pages, Additionally, it features an overall sleeker, more efficient user experience.
Gigstarter
Amsterdam-based artist-gig matchmaking platform Gigstarter began in 2012 and aided in pioneering the ‘artist profile’ approach, as opposed to the then-standard EPK approach.
Working in a very similar vein to how Gigmit operates, artists create a profile and then filter their search for gig opportunities based on various factors.
Gigstarter has a considerably smaller user base than Gigmit; with over 9,000 artist profiles compared to Gigmit’s 150,000. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
However, hence the company’s name, it may be that Gigstarter is more appropriate for artists who are just starting out their live performance careers. Whereas Gigmit perhaps caters to more established giggers.
The main gripe that users have with Gigstarter is their review system. After working with an artist, the booking agent can leave a review. They can either recommend the artist to their fellow promoters or warn them away.
The issue is that these reviews cannot be deleted without getting in contact with the Gigstarter staff. This means that many artists have received unfair reviews, and struggled to find work thereafter.
Bandwagon Gig
Another well-established name in gig-booking platforms, we here at Мusic Gateway actually partnered with Bandwagon Gigs back in 2013!
Bandwagon Gigs paved the way for a more modern take on these kinds of platforms. They were instrumental in upping the quality of these artist-gig matchmaking websites.
Bandwagon Gigs is currently under reconstruction, promising a bigger and better platform soon. We’ll have to wait and see what they bring out of the bag – but for now, Gigmit seems the best option for both artists and booking agents!
So, Is Gigmit Good?
Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for Gigmit. In our opinion, it’s currently the best artist-booking matchmaking platform on the internet. This is for both concerts and virtual gigs.
Multiple similar platforms launched around the same time in the early 2010s. However, Gigmit has recently come out ahead thanks to its continuous innovation.
Not only did they help to pioneer the effectiveness of artist profiles over EPKs, but they are perpetually developing innovative, algorithmically-based functions to further streamline the process of booking artists to gigs and festivals.
They have truly established themselves as music industry groundbreakers across Europe by co-founding the INES. While the competition on Gigmit Pro is high, there is no doubt that they support newcomers and rising artists in creating the best opportunities.
The likelihood of receiving those opportunities is unfortunately kept behind a subscription fee, but we consider €19 a month to be totally fair for the quality of Gigmit’s platform.
Safe to say, if you live in Europe and want to get gigging ASAP as we’re allowed back into crowds again, sign up to Gigmit right away!
Have you ever used Gigmit before? What was your experience? Let us know in the comment section below! If you know anyone who may want to use Gigmit in the future, why not share this article on your social media? Be sure to tag us @musicgateway!
If you enjoyed this article, why not check out another one on our blog? Here are our articles on How To Get Gigs, What Is A Music Booking Agent and How To Become An Opening Act to get you started!
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