Why Your Band Needs an Online Member Portal

What does it mean to manage a band? For a lot of small band leaders, the goal is to book as many gigs as possible.

The majority of smaller bands are self-managed and rely on solutions like spreadsheets for organisation. Often, the preferred approach to plan a gig is to throw a chat group or an email chain together and hope for the best. When you have multiple members, communication is likely to get scattered across different apps or platforms. This is the perfect formula for miscommunication and chaos!

For band leaders, planning ahead of a gig is synonymous with a lot of extra work, from managing manual contracts and payments to securing available members. You need a solution to streamline band management.

More and more bands are looking for a band member portal to provide gig schedules, share files, and stay up-to-date with group announcements. Meet the online platform for musicians that keeps everything in one place: Band Pencil.

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Separate Lives, One Band Member Portal

If you've tried using Facebook Messenger, SMS, WhatsApp, and other solutions in vain, here's what a band member portal can help you achieve:

• A single online platform accessible to all members
• Manage communication
• Manage scheduling
• Share relevant files and data

Where is the next gig? What's the current song in progress? Which songs are we playing at the gig? Where do I find the music sheet? This gives you a place to ensure everyone in the band is up-to-date and ready for the next activities.

Ultimately, playing in a band is a side hustle, with almost half of musicians in the UK making less than £14,000 a year from their music activities. In short, this is the perfect tool to ensure all your members can receive the latest updates and schedules, even when they are not rehearsing together.

The Best Gig Communication Tools with Your Online Platform

Playing music is not always your primary career. However, it doesn't mean you can't take it seriously. In a small band, the band leader has to step in to manage and schedule gigs for all members.

This means you need to reach out to every member to manage different communication needs:

• Admin, such as contract and payments
• Practical, such as information about the gig
• Creative, such as creating setlists

You need a solution that lets you communicate with these different purposes quickly. The idea behind our solution was to save you time and effort with gig communication.

On average, Band Pencil users report saving time (over 2 hours per gig) thanks to its purpose-driven features.

Why You Need Band File Sharing and Setlist Access

Getting a gig booked is only the start for music bands. Planning the gig is the next step. You may be thinking of rehearsing, but there's more than meets the eye:

• Sharing music files: including setlists, sheet music, and recordings
• Sharing venue details: location, size, opening times, musician entrance, etc.
• Sharing gig information: dress code, specific requests, etc.

No more missing files.

Ultimately, you want to make sure that you've got the band ready to perform. As easy as it is to share files within a group chat, it's also very easy to miss those files.

Members can easily find what they need.

With a portal, members can upload, store, and organize essential files. Whether it’s a new recording for rehearsal or a detailed setlist for an upcoming gig, the portal ensures everyone knows where to find what they need. This saves time and reduces miscommunication.

Easy login and access

The last thing your members need is a complex tool that requires a registration process. Here, no account registration or passwords are needed. All you need is a member’s name and email address to get them started, which means they are more likely to use it.

Why Organised Gig Information Matters

When planning a gig, you need to balance band members’ availability, fees, and knowledge. Here’s a well-known secret in the industry: Many small band leaders work essentially with spreadsheets to keep track of all information. This makes storing future event details and keeping track of changes in events and availability difficult.

This is the reason why a band member portal is a game-changer:

• Real-time dates and times of venues
• Real-time availability and cost of all members
• Relevant files for each gig readily available
• Keeping track of cost for each member
• Real-time assigning members to a specific gig
• Etc.

Band members can easily log in to view updated gig information or to update their own information. Details like times, dress codes, and venue addresses are readily visible, so everyone is constantly on the same page.

For band leaders, this setup is a game-changer. Instead of chasing members for availability or costs, you can let the portal handle it. For example, scheduling members and budgeting for a gig is easy when your members’ information is visible.

The Pros of A Centralised Management for Collaboration

A band member portal makes collaboration possible between all your members. When you are trying to book musicians, technicians, engineers, or even entertainers ahead of a gig schedule, the last thing you need is to chase each individual and repeat the same information.

It saves you time and effort.

Band Pencil is specifically designed as a central tool for communication, file sharing, and gig-related task scheduling. This means no more scattered apps and endless email threads and calls! Everything is stored in one place, accessible to every member. You can also decide the level of visibility and access that each member gets.

It ensures everyone is on the same page.

Centralised management makes it easier to work together. Ultimately, when members have full access to the same schedules, setlists, and updates, they can easily prepare ahead.

It eliminates stress.

For band managers, this approach significantly reduces stress. They no longer need to field constant questions or send multiple reminders, freeing up time to focus on other aspects of the band's presence. The platform is also self-serving for members, which means they can:

• Submit their availability
• Sign contracts
• Sync with their personal calendar to check availability
• Share their booking costs

Get Your Band Member Portal Now

Ready to transform your band’s workflow today with a member portal? Band Pencil’s free 14-day trial lets you experiment with the features of a specialist solution. With glowing reviews from band leaders who have switched from their former band management systems to our tool, we are in a good position to help you.