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Independent Artist Guide
Being in a band is one of the most rewarding things you can do. You get to write music, perform in front of crowds, and chase the dream of taking your sound further. But every independent band soon discovers that the music is only half of the story. The other half is management.
Gig bookings, rehearsals, promo, tech requirements, and money management can quickly pile up. If you are not on top of it, the chaos takes over and you risk missing opportunities. The difference between a band that plays the occasional local gig and a band that gets rebooked and scales up often comes down to how organised they are behind the scenes.
Here are five ways to level up your band management so you look professional, save time, and give yourself the best chance of getting taken seriously.
Many bands run their bookings through group chats, scattered spreadsheets, or half-finished notes. The problem is that important details often get lost. Rehearsals get double booked, soundchecks are missed, or gigs clash with personal commitments.
To avoid this, create a single system for your band’s scheduling. Track rehearsals, gigs, deadlines, and even release dates in one place. Share access with the full band so everyone is aligned and there is no excuse for miscommunication.
When you take scheduling seriously, you free up energy for your music instead of firefighting. Stage Portal was built with this in mind, giving independent bands a shared system that keeps everyone aligned on gigs and rehearsals without endless back and forth.
Nothing makes a band look more unprepared than missing or outdated tech information. Venues and sound techs rely on two key documents: your rider and your stage plot. Without them, soundcheck turns into guesswork and your band ends up looking amateur, even if your music is excellent.
A rider tells the venue what you need, from microphones and DI boxes to monitors and backline. A stage plot shows where each band member is positioned and how the setup works on stage. Together, these documents show that you are serious, organised, and easy to work with.
The best part is that building them does not need to take hours.
If you are starting from scratch, grab our free rider template and stage plot template to save hours of guesswork.
Venues and promoters want to promote your shows, but they cannot do it without your materials. Too many bands make the mistake of sending low-quality images, missing bios, or logos in the wrong format. Every delay here means less promotion and fewer people in the room.
The solution is to organise your promo assets into a simple, easy-to-access kit. Include high-resolution photos, short and long bios, a logo in multiple formats, and links to your music and socials. Build it out into a digital press kit that is always ready to send.
It shows you are professional and makes the venue’s job easier, which can only work in your favour.
Every band has written setlists on the back of a receipt or changed them last minute in the green room. While that might feel rock and roll, it often creates confusion, awkward pauses and leaves your performance feeling less polished.
A professional setlist should do more than list song titles. It should include timings, cues, and transitions so your band and the tech crew know what to expect. This makes your performance tighter and keeps everyone on the same page.
Inside the 7-Day Artist Challenge you will learn how to create setlists that do this and can be shared in a format that will impress both techs and venues.
Most independent bands have no idea what they actually earn from a gig. Travel costs, food, gear hire, and promo expenses add up quickly. Without tracking them, you cannot tell if a gig was profitable or just another night of breaking even.
Treat your band like a business and start logging expenses alongside each show. Compare them with your income from tickets, fees, or merch sales. This gives you a clear picture of your real profit per gig and helps you make smarter decisions about which shows to take.
Being an independent band means wearing a lot of hats. You are the artist, the manager, the promoter, and sometimes even the accountant. But the truth is that great music alone is not enough. If you want to scale up, look professional, and get rebooked, you need systems that keep the chaos under control.
That is exactly why we created the Stage Portal Artist Challenge. It is a free 7-day programme that walks you through building all of these essentials: your scheduling, riders, stage plots, promo assets, setlists, and expenses.
By the end of the week, you will not just have templates. You will have a complete system that makes you the band venues want to book again.
Join the free Artist Challenge today and take the first step toward running your band like a pro.
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