I took a break last week and had some time to think about the music industry and in particular the issues which touring artists are currently facing. Thinking about possible "solutions" and things to do in the interim until concerts return. Here's a random thought...
Now is as good a time as any for artists to compile (and own) the gigography of concerts they have performed in the past and the setlists for those shows.
I've written about the data around live music as part of a @FooFighters project before. I believe that every concert performed is an amazing set of data to further engage fans and power other goals, including streaming. medium.com/@leemartin/rew…
Putting on a concert is no small feat and it involves so many fucking men and women beyond just the artist on stage. It's also highly personal and intimate because the artist typically visits your town to perform for you.
That data combination of time, location, and artistry is such a powerful asset in artist marketing.
It is my opinion that touring data has been greatly under utilized and rarely innovated on. Artists who have put the work in have an opportunity to leverage this data.
One of the simplest ideas was part of my Foo Fighters project: Rewinding. Touring history is evergreen content. Having an understanding of which shows you've played and when allows you to engage fans socially on anniversaries.
And since these shows come with a location context, you can target fans of particular cities when sharing to make sure the post is relevant. From here you have an opportunity to upsell recordings, merch, etc.
You also have an opportunity to capture data on fans who may have missed this revisited show but want to see you in the future. I believe the #1 social comment from live music fans online is "When are you going to play my city?"
That is as good a time as any to provide a simplified email capture which allows fans to say where they would like to see you perform. Maybe that won't happen until 2021 but at least you'll be able to communicate with them directly then.
In terms of the evergreen social content you might want to create, for the Foo Fighters project we generated @Instagram story videos for every single tour date from their gigography. A generated image or found photo would work just as well.
Could you imagine being an artist social marketer and receiving an email at the top of the week with suggestions for shares and pre-generated social content based on highly relevant past performances?
Then there is the topic of setlists. A setlist is part of the DNA of a concert. It's the unique arrangement of songs the artist has chosen to play on this particular night.
You can take these setlists, turn them into @Spotify and @AppleMusic playlists, and gift them back to your fans as stream generating keepsakes.
I have built this exact solution for several artists now using @SetlistFM data including @ChrisCornell @QueenWillRock @EltonJohn @Kiss medium.com/@leemartin/cre…
However, I'm of the opinion that live music data should be owned and yes, maintained, by the artist in question. At the very fucking least, the places you input your data should provide exports and API freedom to expand innovation.
Don't think of it as huge data entry problem where you have to hire an archivist to comb through your history. Instead, think of it on the atomic level. Each show is a precious row of data which unlocks so much individual potential.
And if you go into the future with this type of mindset, you'll know that when you're entering a new tour date into this database, you're also unlocking further value down the road.
As soon as a show is performed, you can then augment the concert data with your performed setlist to empower those concert goers to continually stream their unique arrangement of tracks.
And then, someday in the future, you'll be able to revisit that same date with those same fans.
This is data working the way live music actually works. These are not momentary rows on a fucking tour page. They are life long memories which are cherished and happily revisited.
Anyway, these are some thoughts I've been having for a while but Covid-19 have pushed them to the forefront. I can't wait for live music to return and I'm hoping to help artists fill the gap between now and then.
Shall I build an MVP of this? 
I'm only committing to building the splash page so far. 😅
Alright. Careful what you wish for. I have set up a splash page here: tourdata.app If you don't mind sharing so I can continue to engage interest, that would be a big help.
