Hey everyone,
This will be a short post to mention a new service that I just heard about today called Split Gigs. This site is basically a social networking site for musicians revolving around the concept of finding or hosting shows. All you have to do is visit their site and sign up for a free account and you can start looking for gigs. If you take a gig, you’re supposed to return the favour by offering a gig to the host band in return.
This is your basic gig swap, gig trade (or show swap, show trade – call it what you will) scenario, but they also built in a point system. You get awarded 5 points for hosting a gig and 3 points for performing at a gig. Apparently these points add up and allow you to purchase something or other – but that part of it wasn’t clear to me as I surfed through their site.
Here’s a brief intro video from the Split Gigs website.
Is Split Gigs a good idea? Heck yeah – this is a concept that I wanted to introduce to the Indie Band Alliance but I wasn’t sure how to do it. However, the site will live or die by the amount of bands that sign up for an account and are willing to host shows – that’s the tough part. I’m sure billions of bands will want to sign up looking for quick and easy gigs; it’s the bands that are willing to host the event that will be crucial for this site getting off the ground.
I gave it a quick demo to see if there were any bands hosting gigs in my area – no dice, in fact…the closest cities that returned in my initial search were in the U.S. over 1,000 miles away from me.
So, if you like the idea of a site that can help you network and find bands to play a show (or tour) with you and a place where you can hook up some extra gigs – definitely check it out and spread the word. If this site is going to work, you’re going to have to be willing to put some effort into it in the early running. If you looking for immediate gigs, you might have to wait until the site builds up some momentum along with the other bandwagon jumpers!
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- SplitGigs, a gig sharing platform that aims to bypass shady promoters (eu.techcrunch.com)
- 10 Resources for Booking Gigs (indiemusictech.com)
