Booking a tour has certainly come a long way in the past decade plus. Not only are agents, promoters, and buyers leveraging big data in their booking decisions, but platforms like TikTok are using their wealth of data and insights to even start their own festivals. Despite all the innovation in booking, one process still remains relatively untouched - the process of booking itself - dealing with availability, holds, dates, etc. In many cases, this process is so manual that many of today’s largest tours still get built on your standard excel spreadsheet. For smaller independent venues, this process is even more labor intensive as many do not have the staff of some of the larger conglomerate companies. Coordinating dates and logistics for a tour can be a logistical nightmare, especially when dealing with multiple venues, cities, and countries. Managing travel arrangements, accommodations, and equipment transportation adds another layer of complexity. Not to mention, budgeting for a tour involves considering not just travel expenses but also accommodation, meals, equipment maintenance, and potential unexpected costs. Factoring in venue selection, promotion and marketing, and touring networks makes this process grueling.
However, entrepreneurs like Holly Hagerman, co-founder of AmptUp, see a different reality. In her world, the process of booking between music stakeholders should not take weeks or even months, but minutes. At the heart of AmptUp's impact is its commitment to streamline the cumbersome live music booking process. Recognizing the challenges of a weeks-long, disjointed communication system, AmptUp introduces a cloud-based platform. This innovative solution consolidates critical information, empowering musicians to make informed decisions efficiently. By centralizing data and simplifying communication, AmptUp not only addresses industry inefficiencies but also fosters a more transparent and empowering environment for artists and venues.
In our latest Fast FWD interview, we talked to Holly about her new platform and how she hopes it will reimagine the booking process and create a more seamless model for booking talent.
Holly Hagerman Rouault, Co-Founder of AmptUp
Holly, you initially planned to create a physical rehearsal space with your musician husband before pivoting to the all-in-one booking app concept. Can you delve deeper into what led to this significant shift in vision, and how has your experience as a founder of Green Rising influenced the direction of AmptUp?
It really can only be described as a lightbulb moment. I was working on the business plan on a dark and stormy night, while the whole house was asleep during lockdown. My background is more in digital, marketplaces…and I suddenly thought, this will be a good business, no doubt about it, but it’s not enough. We need to help more people. Just a couple of days before, we had been talking to musician friends whose whole livelihoods went ‘poof,’ residencies and gigs worth tens of thousands of dollars, just gone. And full-time musicians don’t have any backup aid, like unemployment, available.
So, for a moment I let myself think bigger, where my skill sets lie -in digital and marketplaces, and thought: “Why is it so hard to find a musician for an event?” My previous business included planning several events for clients and before I met my husband, a musician, I had to keep a spreadsheet of musicians I saw out and about. I had also spent a considerable amount of time researching marketplaces and thinking about how you help the most people and my conclusion was, you help them get work.
So AmptUp was born from that, initially as a marketplace, until we realized that to help the musicians we have to help the small independent venues that suffered greatly, first. We have some very unique and patent pending designs ready to reintroduce the marketplace and tools to help Musicians pitch the right venues and route tours. What you described was the first of many pivots…any business that isn’t making a few significant pivots isn’t listening to customer needs.
Your platform highlights that booking an act can take up to 13 emails, translating to a process that might take up to 3 weeks. How does AmptUp specifically address this bottleneck and streamline the process to reduce this time to mere minutes?
The current process is a weeks-long messy process where each of about 20 details is more or less communicated individually…such as:
Date/time
Payment terms
Load in details
What equipment is available?
When is sound check?
Who does what marketing?
Etc
The biggest problems are that
all of the team members are not included in every communication,
they happen on multiple threads/platforms (text, email, phone)
The venue is wasting time repeatedly answering the same questions.
and the musician is often on the go and reviewing critical details piecemeal
Our platform delivers all of the information a musician needs before they say yes. They’re also reviewing these advance details with their analytical brain all at once, in order to make a decision, instead of reviewing them at a stop light on the way to the gig, or skimming it in between other tasks.
It’s all on one page.
Then, when the musician approves the offer, they’re prompted to submit all of their marketing and music assets: photos, bio, socials, stage plots and rider.
It’s a little bit like putting wheels on luggage…it’s so intuitive and simple, with transparency at its core. Creating a single, cloud-based source of truth makes an enormous difference, increasing efficiency tenfold and reducing errors and miscommunications.
It also empowers the musician with more information to make the right decisions for their career. Especially preventing the common miscommunications around payment.
One of the key challenges you've highlighted is the risk venues face in potentially losing vital booking information due to turnover. How does AmptUp ensure data continuity, and what measures have you implemented to prevent data loss, even if there's a change in management or talent bookers?
This is one of the more simple aspects of what we do! Currently, most venues have a talent buyer or even a bartender or staff person booking live music. Most of the venues don’t have a centralized system or even an email address for this person to manage booking. Very often that person manages booking via text messages. Because there are no affordable options for this demographic, Google Docs or Google Cal is used, but often the talent buyer enters only the name and set times, all the other data gets lost or trapped in their phones if they leave
Remember that ~80-90% of live music venues are smaller-med independents not stadiums or conglomerates like Live Nation.
In our system, ownership has total visibility and control of the booking, musicians contracts, set/load in/sound check times and can invite others in. With AmptUp, they will never lose critical or historical data again (like how much did we pay this band last time).
AmptUp aims to improve equity for people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ communities in music. How does the platform actively promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within its structure and operations?
AmptUp was born in Portland,Or, right as it exploded in protests and awareness around the murder of George Floyd, which heavily impacted how we built the company. I looked at this incident and an almost identical death of Eric Garner 6 years prior, and I asked myself why did this happen again? I felt that we needed to go beyond education and awareness for real change.
To begin, we hired a diverse team of people to build AmptUp, not just as workers but as leaders and visionaries.
Second, transparency and simplicity (of our system) are the precursors to fairness and equity, because it makes it more accessible. However, we wanted to take it beyond vague concepts of equity and build something that actually makes booking more fair and diversifies the stage…and most importantly, gives people the tools to move past their biases or networks that look a lot like them. So, we designed, and plan to implement, a specialized diversity tool that is anchored in social psychology research. The research shows that the greatest behavior change happens not when people are exposed to educational materials, it happens when they can see their past behavior data on display. For example, you are more likely to conserve energy from your electric bills if it shows how much electricity you used over time. However, behavior change is much more likely and rapid, if you see your historical behavior data compared to your peers (ie: you used this much electricity, compared to your neighbor who only used __). What does this look like for live music booking on AmptUp? Once it’s built, venues will be able to see a chart of how often they are hiring and how much they are paying musicians of color, women, LGBTQIA+…compared to other venues of their size (via anonymized data).
Given AmptUp's commitment to strengthening the independent live music scene, what are its future plans or features in the pipeline that will continue to foster stronger relationships between artists and venues? And how do you aim to transform any city into a "music city"?
I love this question. For us, making any city a music city, means that music (venues and musicians) can thrive without having to move away to some other ‘music town’ and that fans have a variety of options to engage with live music.
I’ve already mentioned our features regarding diversity above, here are a few others:
feature to allow venues to post their shows to FB events and local community calendars and newspapers at the click of a button.
Ability for venues to also rent their venue out and be more easily found and compared, for private events.
Search feature for venues to not only find artists, but to also be alerted when they are looking to tour nearby…and easily place holds. We have AI planned to help them do the hardest job: know which musicians will draw the best crowd in that venue’s market.
Search feature for artists to find and pitch the right venues for their music and route tours, based on the venue’s calendar availability.
The 2023 Podcast Trends Report by Spotify emphasizes podcasts as pivotal in driving social and cultural conversations, providing a deeper exploration of topics than surface-level social media posts. Podcasts, with over 5 million in Spotify's catalog, are described as creators and reflectors of culture, fostering intimate connections and trust with listeners. The report suggests that advertising in podcasts allows brands to become part of this intimate connection, engaging with their target audience more meaningfully by aligning with cultural moments and authentic content.
Fast Facts: Platforms & Technologies
YouTube has introduced the 'Top Songs on Shorts' music chart, marking the platform's inaugural Shorts chart with daily and weekly versions. This feature aims to showcase the most popular music on YouTube Shorts in real-time, reflecting the platform's growth to 70 billion daily views as of September 2023. Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music at Google and YouTube, emphasized that the charts offer a comprehensive view of an artist's reach and success across all formats, providing real-time insights into music culture and enhancing artist-to-fan connections on the short-form video platform.
OpenAI has introduced GPT-4 Turbo, a large language model that allows users to input up to 128,000 tokens or about 300 book pages of text, surpassing Anthropic's Claude chatbot in context window size. The new model is multimodal, capable of processing audio and imagery, and features a more recent cutoff date for knowledge of events. OpenAI also unveiled a customizable version of ChatGPT and announced the upcoming GPT Store, where users can showcase and share their GPT creations, with plans to allow builders to earn money as more people download and use their bots.
YouTube is testing an AI-powered chatbot named "YouChat" that answers questions about videos, provides recommendations for related content, and more, without interrupting playback. The feature is initially available to a small group of users on a subset of videos and will later roll out to YouTube Premium members in the U.S. on Android devices. The chatbot's responses are generated by large language models drawing on information from the YouTube platform and the web, aiming to enhance viewer engagement and provide additional information about the content.
Spotify has introduced a new integration with TikTok, enabling TikTok users to directly add songs to their Spotify library. This collaboration simplifies the process for TikTok users to incorporate music into their videos by eliminating the need to manually search for songs on Spotify. The integration is seen as advantageous for future TikTok podcasting efforts, as it establishes a seamless connection between the two platforms, potentially extending to podcast audio clips when TikTok's podcasting tools are fully implemented.
TikTok has launched a new feature, "Add to Music App," in collaboration with major music streaming services such as Spotify and Amazon Music. This feature allows TikTok users to save songs they discover on the platform directly to their preferred music streaming service. The integration aims to create a seamless link between music discovery on TikTok and consumption on streaming services, enhancing the overall experience for users and generating greater value for artists and rights holders.
YouTube will implement a requirement for creators to label content generated using AI as "synthetic" in a move similar to TikTok's approach. The labels, to be introduced in the coming months, aim to inform viewers that they are watching "technically manipulated content," particularly in cases discussing sensitive topics such as elections, conflicts, public health crises, or public officials. YouTube will have two types of labels, with serious consequences for creators who consistently fail to disclose the use of AI, including content removal, suspension from the YouTube Partner Program, or other penalties.
Instagram has introduced three new Reels creation updates to enhance the ease of creating standout short-form videos directly within the platform. The updates include new editing options within the Reels composer, allowing users to customize their creations during the upload process, and new buttons to access relevant editing tools. The addition of "Undo" and "Redo" buttons further streamlines the in-stream editing process, catering to users who prefer more organic, in-the-moment video clips without the need for complex third-party editing tools.
WhatsApp is introducing a new audio chat option for group conversations, allowing users to start an audio room that other members can join. This update aims to facilitate audio calls within group chats more effectively, enabling any group member to initiate an audio discussion that others can join. The feature allows the creator to silently activate a group audio chat, providing a more flexible and less disruptive way for members to participate in larger group conversations, with the rollout starting for groups with 33 or more participants.
Threads, Instagram's messaging app, now allows users to delete their Threads profile without impacting their Instagram presence, addressing a key user concern. The updated process in Threads settings enables users to deactivate their Threads profile, and if not reactivated within 30 days, it will be deleted while leaving the Instagram profile unaffected. Although Threads profiles and Instagram presence are still linked in one key way, this update provides users with more control over each platform, aligning with the app's goal to become more independent from Instagram.
YouTube has announced a new system allowing its music industry partners, such as labels and distributors, to request the removal of AI-generated music content imitating an artist's voice without permission. The tools will first be available to those working on YouTube's music AI experiments before being more widely implemented. YouTube aims to develop policies on when to remove AI-generated vocals at the request of a label or distributor, addressing concerns about unauthorized use of artists' voices through AI tools.
Fast Facts: Brand Campaigns To Know
Chili's has revived its iconic Baby Back Ribs jingle with the help of Grammy-winning artists Boyz II Men, blending '90s nostalgia with a TikTok-friendly campaign. The restaurant chain encourages consumers to duet the jingle on TikTok and add it to their Spotify playlists, while also selling limited-edition merchandise featuring a vinyl recording and a '90s-styled tour T-shirt of the Boyz II Men rendition. The marketing effort targets Gen Z, combining nostalgia with a TikTok push, and follows a trend of brands collaborating with music groups from the '90s, such as Meow Mix and NSYNC's JC Chasez.
Asda's marketing director and Havas's executive creative director discuss the follow-up to the retailer's successful 'Buddy the Elf' Christmas campaign from the previous year. The pressure was felt to create another memorable campaign, with a focus on quality products and a different approach to storytelling. The new campaign features Michael Bublé and aims to convey Asda's wide range of products at various price points, emphasizing the brand's commitment to quality.
JYP Entertainment, a major player in South Korean entertainment, has entered a multi-year global partnership with Live Nation to produce tours for all artists on JYP’s roster, including popular K-pop groups like TWICE, Stray Kids, and ITZY. The deal formalizes and expands the existing relationship between the two companies for promoting and producing tours. The collaboration aims to leverage JYP Entertainment's innovative talent management with Live Nation's global touring resources to provide its artists new opportunities to connect with fans worldwide, as Live Nation operates in 45 countries and has sold 140 million tickets in 2023 to date.
A study by Wharton's Stefano Puntoni reveals that generative AI adoption has reached a critical threshold, with over 50% of U.S. respondents using it in their work. The research predicts a continued surge in generative AI investments, with enterprises planning to increase spending by 25% in the next 12 months. Despite concerns about accuracy, privacy, and ethical considerations, business leaders are optimistic about the impact of generative AI, expecting enhanced employee skills and improved efficiency in various tasks, including data analysis, marketing content creation, and customer research.
In an effort to combat fraudulent streams, Spotify is set to charge labels and distributors $10.82 (or 10 EU) for every song with more than 90% fake streams. The penalties aim to deter artists, especially emerging ones, from engaging in the practice of boosting streams. While many distributors support the fines and plan to pass them on to the offenders, DistroKid founder and CEO Philip Kaplan reportedly pushed back, highlighting the difficulty in predicting whether a client will engage in stream-boosting activities.
A small percentage of Taylor Swift fans profited significantly by reselling Eras Tour tickets on platforms like StubHub, outperforming professional scalpers, according to Billboard's data review. Taylor Swift's team aimed to prevent mass scalping by using Ticketmaster's Verified Fan platform, which required fans to register in advance. Although the strategy effectively reduced professional scalpers' access to tickets, it led to some fans making substantial profits, with tickets fetching prices up to $10,000 on resale sites.
K-pop group BLACKPINK is set to treat fans to an immersive virtual reality concert, "BLACKPINK: A VR Encore," following the success of their Born Pink World Tour. The VR concert, directed by Emmy Award-winning production company The Diamond Bros. in collaboration with Meta, captures the finale of the tour held in Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome, featuring Billboard Hot 100 hits. Exclusively available in Meta Horizon Worlds' Music Valley for Meta Quest VR headset owners in select regions, the 70-minute concert premieres on December 26, providing an immersive and social experience.
Fast Facts: New Music To Know
Do This RIght – Coco: Indie band Coco, composed of Maia Friedman (Dirty Projectors), Oliver Hill (Pavo Pavo), and Dan Molad (Lucius), has unveiled their latest single, “Do This Right,” from their upcoming album, "2."The track, accompanied by a one-shot video shot in Chicago, explores patient and intimate themes, urging a lover to let go of defenses.
Jenn’s Terrific Vacation – Danny Brown: Detroit rapper Danny Brown has released a new single and video, "Jenn's Terrific Vacation," as part of the lead-up to his upcoming album "Quaranta," set to be released on November 17. The song, produced by Kassa Overall, addresses the impact of gentrification on his hometown, and the black-and-white music video reflects conceptual references to Brown's childhood and his connection to Detroit as an adult.
In the Mornin’ – Emily Nenni: The inspiration for the track came from Rod Stewart and Faces, particularly their rock and roll style. She wanted to create a female version of the common theme found in their songs, like 'Stay With Me,' where the idea is that a person can come home for the night, but they must leave when the sun comes up. The song was given a production style reminiscent of Bobbie Gentry.
Founder at AmptUp -simple, transparent, equitable booking
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