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Manage all of your holds and confirms for each of your rooms in one calendar.
Finding and implementing a great music venue management software can make an enormous difference in the way that you and your team are able to keep up with all of the factors that go into running a great concert venue or theatre. Kicking off an online venue booking system project will lead you to evaluate a number of tools, such as which is the best venue management software for you, whether or not you will need a separate facility rental software, a bar management software, and so on. A great venue management software will help save you time, effort, headache, and money and potentially integrate in with the other systems mentioned here. With so many moving parts, so much back and forth, and so many constant changes, finding a great system not just for managing everything, but for amplifying your effort will not just help streamline your process - but also help you get more out of what you're putting in.
A music venue management software is software that manages and transforms musical performance, events, as well as potentially things like tickets, add-ons and merchandise into a single digital product. It may also include (or integrate with) concert promoter software or other ways to track shows you promote or co-promote. On the flip side, band management companies, agents, or booking teams may look for more specific band management software (or music artist management software), catalog management, dedicated tour management products or other various entertainment talent management software. It uses an online platform to create a digital music catalog, manage and create online events, create storefronts, optimize digital channels (including sales, marketing, and digital channels), and many other uses.
If you want to manage a concert, theater, or venue that has multiple shows, guests, or events, or if you want to manage a large event where there are multiple options to manage, you should look into using a combination of software to find the best event management software or event venue booking software for your team and needs. A great way to decide which software to use is to talk with some of these companies to understand their offerings, product, and perhaps most importantly; their vision. These software tools help you determine the best examples for a given situation. Once you've got a good understanding of the landscape and your particular needs, you'll be able to narrow your search, try some tools, and evaluate with your broader team if you haven't already.
The complete, all-in-one, do everything in one place perfect venue software doesn't exist - but being able to do more in just a few systems has never been more achievable. With modern software integrations, available APIs, and other connectors, it is now possible to operate very efficiently with just a few systems. Front of house softwares, venue management platforms, accounting software, and a good productivity suite will likely provide you with a great foundation to customize and build off of as needed. Not all venue softwares are built specifically for music venues however, some specialize in hospitality events, conference type venues, hotels, or wedding venues. Other systems, like Avid Venue Software for example, are geared toward critical components like sound and lighting for live performances.
The baseline for most venue or theater management software is calendar management. Most platforms will offer this, but it's important to think of or to test the general usability, the ease of setup and ongoing use, and the capabilities that are constructed around the calendar. If there is only basic calendar functions it may not be worthwhile - there is more benefit from a platform that offers integrations, multiple functions inside of the calendar (show details, artist information and contact, scheduling info, and file organization to name a few). Beyond just a calendar, the best venue management systems tie into other parts of your process and ideally you'll be able to complete as many actions as possible inside of the system you chose. While you may not be able to manage your entire business inside of one application, being able to complete a lot of your daily tasks in one place will save you time and help to centralize a ton of information across your team and even other teams (artists and management, booking agents, tour managers, etc.). While the calendar function of a venue management system is a great foundation - there is more you'll likely want from the software you choose.
One of the most important things you can do in a music venue management software is to centralize all of your communication and information throughout the company or venue. This will help to make it easier to keep track of events, shows, or other things going on at your event space. This will also help to make sure that everyone has access to the same information and a single source of truth. While it may seem elementary, giving people easy access to reliable information saves a tremendous amount of time. In a traditional venue or office, access to various bits and pieces of information would likely rely on direct access to a particular individual either in-person, over the phone, text, or instant messaging. While some of these aren't the most inefficient methods, giving people a venue software that allows people to get information when and where they are will save considerable effort and time, and reduce the number of assumptions, errors, or other avoidable mistakes that come along with spending time tracking down non-centralized information.
Many talent buyers or bookers have a deep black-book that can be used to find talent, but in scenarios where a talent buyer may be more junior (or even a seasoned buyer needing non-headlining acts), a great artist discovery tool built into your platform will help to make sure you've got the right artists to play your room. Having a place to keep all of this information, get greater insight on artists, and access management or agent information will help make sure that it's easy to get actionable insight, reach out to the right people, and ultimately book the right act for your stage (which will help sell more tickets and create great fan experiences)! Opendate offers built in artist discovery features and includes insight from integrations with Spotify, Apple Music, Bandsintown, last.fm and more - all in an effort to help give you the best data available and to make the best decisions for your venue.
One of the most important things that you can do as a music venue management software is to help you and your team (your talent buyers will thank you!) streamline the process of offers and settlement. Even in current times, there is still a great deal of reliance on things like Excel, Google Sheets, or event traditional non-cloud based softwares for the execution of offers and settlements. A great music venue management platform gives you the ability to not only create robust offers, but to add them as templates and save for later use - which saves a lot of time. At the end of a long day, the last thing that is usually completed (and the last thing anyone usually wants to complete) is the show settlement. In situations where this is very manual, lacks integration, or relies heavily on human input, these typically late-night settlements give opportunity for error or inefficiency. Giving managers or promoters an easy and effective way to settle at the end of the night and share that settlement quickly will save time, heartache, and money.
Venue Management Companies live outside of a venues software tech stack and are hired to help physically manage a venue (of any variety). For example, you have ASM Global, who manages ASM Global Venues, one of the largest venue management companies - which are typically stadiums and arenas. Other top event management companies in the world manage non-music events, such as conferences, corporate events (there are also specific corporate event management companies), sporting events, and so on. In the search for a venue management company, you may also consider selecting one that is in close geographic proximity - they can be found by a quick Google search ("Venue management companies near Texas" or "Venue management companies near California" for example). While a venue management company might plug in and use some of your software, they will likely come along with their own and already have a consistent process for using them.
A great way to keep up with all of the factors that go into running a great concert, hotel, or venue is to use a music venue management software. It will help you manage the space (and money) efficiently, with care and attention to detail. You can find great software for every type of venue and music event you want to manage.
