You're right. It would be beneficial to add some human identity. I also understand the concern about the missing privacy policy. I'll plan on adding this!
Thanks! And yes, that is one of the major hurdles right now. Currently, we're working on tapping into our personal, music industry networks to start the first round of performer signups.
Right now, we're basically in a "gathering feedback to see if this is worth pursing" stage. So if we decide there is enough interest, and once we build out the campaign element, and can prove that this model works with some successful campaigns hopefully it will get some legs over time.
I would prefer we had a stone cold plan for growth but right now we're taking it day by day and seeing what feedback we can get as we move forward. I would appreciate any ideas you might have!
I think one way to get around this would be to show the venues the money has already been made. This includes the price of tickets. If there are ticketing deals involved, it could be something like a straight cash exchange: We have 100 people who gave money for entry. Here's x amount money for 100 tickets.
We do have lite Bandcamp integration now. But that's just allowing performers to embed their music into their profile so fans can listen. Did you have any specific suggestions in mind regarding Bandcamp?
In the current request form, a fan is asked to request the band in a City, State and at a Venue. Additional venue details like you mentioned is a great idea from the agent's/person booking the show's perspective, but I'm not sure fans would have this information readily available.
As for the organizer idea - we kind of had something similar planned for when the band posts their potential tour stop onto RoadPony. We'd offer them a space to request any specific tour amenities - "we'd love a place to crash in Cleveland, Louisville, and Nashville". Or whatever they may need help with along the way.
Thanks for checking it out! The search by area idea makes a lot of sense. Finding artists on the site currently seems to be one of the biggest challenges for users who are testing RoadPony.
We do have plans for showcasing artists in the future!
Thanks for the input! We've been asked for a viewable list of performers a few times and it's definitely something we plan on adding. I agree, searching randomly can be tedious. Especially if the bands you're looking for aren't signed up yet.
We do plan on reaching out to our network of artists to create profiles to make this more user-friendly for the fans.
Hey thanks for the insight! I have seen similar platforms but not these specifically. What I have noticed with the services I was able to read up on was that they seemed convoluted as far as usability for the performer and the fan and what the service was trying to accomplish. I don't know if that can be attributed to their lack of success but it was something that I notably wanted to avoid.
The main issue RoadPony is intended to solve is simply - where are we, as performers, in demand. I think additional logistics of the tour, the actual booking of the show, etc. will always have its nooks and crannies that need to be worked out on a person-to-person basis. To start, all we'd like to do is just show the performers the most viable areas to perform in and as a bonus, guarantee them money and an audience (assuming invested fans will show). It's a tool rather than a one-stop-shop solution.
I am very interested in hearing about your experiences if you're willing to share!
Hey thanks for the feedback! I've been in this boat as well as a touring performer myself.
Bands may book tours regardless of the "bounty", but you could apply this same method on top of using RoadPony. Only now, you would have a better idea of how many people you and the local band you booked could bring out and if those people are interested enough in seeing you, they'll place that bounty, which you will collect.
Now that you've applied your method using RoadPony as a tool, you know you'll be getting this revenue and about how many fans will show up before you even book the show.
This is a good point. However, I'm sure if you presented proof to a venue that you already have a large number of paying showgoers ready to see you in this city if you perform in the near future, convincing the venue to book you will be much easier than just an estimated head count or trying to use the numbers from your last area performance.
We're planning on working assistance to cover the venue/promoter costs as well. So given that the demand is high enough for the performer, I don't see why the venue would turn them down if they could present info like this.
Hey thanks for the feedback! RoadPony would be step 3.5 in this sequence. I'll try to explain how it's intended to help.
It isn't meant to solve all logistical hurdles when it comes to touring but rather give agencies/artists more accurate insight into where they can be most successful as far as revenue and draw.
You'd be able to see what fans (and where they are) are willing to pay for a tickets to the show (because they already have via the bid on their city) in select areas. The performer can then look at this data and see, for example, "it looks like we have a strong fan base on the east coast due to the requests/bids we've received on these east coast cities"
Now the band knows that if they book on the east coast in those cities, they're at the very least going to collect the money that was generated via the bids from RoadPony. These fans are already invested so they're more likely going to show up to the show as well.
It's gives you the opportunity to validate markets in cities before you even book them. You'll still have to book the show in those cities, but you'll now know that your efforts are much more validated if you used the data provided by RoadPony.
Hope this clears things up. Let me know if you have any suggestions!
Just wanted to get some feedback on a project I just launched called RoadPony: www.roadpony.com
It's a platform make it easier for performers to book shows in areas where they have the best opportunities for solid attendance and income.
It's also a platform that will allow fans to show performers their interest in the performer and entice them to come to their area to play.
The current version is just to gauge interest with lite features.
Artists can create a profile with links, photos, bio, and music. And they can see who favorited their profile and who and where they are requested to play.
Fans can create a profile to favorite and request artists in their city and state at a specific venue.
If there’s enough interest, we’ll build out the campaign element.
Let me know if you have and questions, issues or suggestions!