Booking concerts can be an exhausting task – especially for DIY artists, handling most aspects of their career on their own. Enter GIGMIT. The platform based in Berlin connects artists with bookers, festivals, clubs and even private organizers looking for artists to enrich their events.
We had the chance to chat with Marcus Fitzgerald, the founder of GIGMIT, about the platform and its features. GIGMIT is also a founding member of INES – the Innovative Network of European Showcases. Read on to learn how to apply for their 2021 series.
Tell us about gigmit. When did you get started? What was the inspiration that kicked off your endeavor?
I used to work as a festival organizer, booker and in the management team of CLUESO a famous German artist. I couldn’t believe that the technology to request and book artists or to find new gig opportunities hasn’t evolved from email. Like a letter or a fax (do you know that?), email is not invented to be a project management or booking tool. I researched and wasn’t happy with what I found and decided with my co-founders to develop the best online tool to access artists and shows as easy as possible in the whole world. We are not 100% there yet but we are getting closer every day! 🙂
How does the platform work? How much does it cost?
gigmit is a booking platform that connects artists and promoters. Artists can sign up and create their artist profile (EPK) for free. This artist profile can be used as a business card to apply for gigs and contains all relevant information on the artist’s project (music, videos, bio, photos, past and coming dates, technical rider, catering rider etc.).Artists can also connect their Spotify and Facebook accounts to get access to their fan insights based on fan and streaming data.
After completing their profiles, artists can start submitting applications for the gigs that fit their music genre (they can actually filter in our ‘gig search’ to find suitable opportunities). Some features like the access to the Festival & Club database or the application for some gigs are reserved to our PRO members for a 19€ monthly fee. ForTunes users get 30% off gigmit PRO with the code: fortunes30 (enter at the checkout).
On the other side, promoters can sign up and advertise their gigs for free, that way we can offer artists more gig opportunities. When setting up the gigs, promoters can add as much information as they need: how many talents are wanted, what genres, for which dates and fee, will there be any compensation for travel or accommodation costs, and so on.
In which countries is gigmit live?
We do have an artist page invented for the live music industry. This can be used in every country and from every artist for free. I discovered superstars from India or the US as well as most trending acts from Taiwan and South Korea but our biggest group of users is definitely in Europe. When it comes to artist searches, European festivals and clubs are the most active ones at the moment… Of course our mission is to grow globally.
The current Covid-19 pandemic has hit the live industry hard but the audiences’ hunger for live music persisted – so we saw a lot of artists shifting to live-streaming to connect with their fans. In your opinion, is live-streaming here to stay? If yes, how is it going to co-exist with the “classic” live experience?
Streaming forces artists to become more creative. They are now aware of the fact that they can do it and will probably keep doing it in the future, not as a main occupation of course as this will never replace the live experience.
At gigmit, we think that streaming gigs are a good way for new musicians to connect with their audience for limited costs. Live streams can be used as a promotional means too. We have actually created a live streaming guide in cooperation with SHURE, Yamaha and Kycker to help musicians record high quality live streams and promote them.
Gigmit is also a founding member of INES – the Innovation Network of European Showcases. Please introduce this initiative.
Showcase festivals are national music industry events that provide a platform for artist discovery, business networking and education. They combine live music performances, conference programmes and trade shows. This makes them the innovation hubs of the music industry. Whether it’s about artist discovery, professional education or capacity building, it all happens there.
By connecting those hubs, INES will create a united and strong European music market.
20 European showcase festivals in 19 countries are currently members of the network. Each one of them selects a number of export-ready talents from their country to join the INES#talent pool. This is a quality stamp that enables talents to get equal European exposure and the chance to build their international careers by showcasing around Europe.
INES is currently looking for 70 talents for their 2021 series. Who can apply? Can you share any tips for artists to increase their chances of getting selected?
This year, applications for INES#talent 2021 are happening through gigmit. Each partner will select between 2 and 10 promising talents from their own country. Which means only artists based in the countries of the participating festivals are eligible. Artists should also be available at minimum 8 out of 20 festival dates.
Our main advice is for artists to complete their gigmit artist profile with all relevant information on your project (music, videos, etc.) and to connect it with their Spotify and Facebook accounts. This way, promoters will be able to see the full picture and to estimate each artist’s growth potential.
