For local bands · Beta
Fill the room.
Kill pay-to-play.
Trade attendance with other bands: I’ll come to your gig if you come to mine. Both bands lock a small deposit. Show up and get scanned in at the door — you get it back. Bail — it pays the band you stood up.
- 🤝 Buddy Gigs with deposit escrow
- 📷 Scan-in at the door, like Venmo
- 🎟️ Stay-To-Play instead of pay-to-play
How a Buddy Gig works
- 1
List your gig
Pick the venue, date and a deposit between $10 and $100.
- 2
Offer a trade
Find another band’s show and offer: we come to yours, you come to ours.
- 3
Lock deposits
When they accept, both bands’ deposits are held until the shows are over.
- 4
Show up & get scanned
Show your check-in code at the door. The band playing scans it and your deposit comes straight back.
They show up
You got a crowd. Both deposits come back. Everyone’s reputation goes up.
They bail
At settlement the next morning, their deposit is paid to you. You win either way.
Venue Stay-To-Play
Pay to play stay.
Pay-to-play makes you buy tickets to your own gig. Stay-To-Play flips it: commit to a few tickets for another band at the same venue and go. The venue still gets a crowd, and you’re building the scene you play in.
How Stay-To-Play worksPay-to-play
- Buy 30 tickets to your own show
- Beg friends to pay you back
- Eat the loss if they don’t
Stay-To-Play
- Commit 2–10 tickets to another band
- Go see a great show
- Venue books you with a built-in crowd
Upcoming gigs
See all →No gigs listed yet. Be the first band in your city.
List your gigQuestions
Is it free?
Yes. Signing up, listing gigs and making Buddy Gig deals is free. During the beta, deposits use gig credits (every band starts with $100 in credits) — no card payments are processed yet.
How does check-in work?
Like Venmo. When doors open, open the deal on your phone and show your check-in QR code to the band that’s playing. They scan it with their phone and your deposit is released on the spot. The code changes every 30 seconds, so a screenshot texted to a friend at home won’t work.
What happens if a band bails?
The next morning our settlement job closes out every deal. Anyone who never showed up forfeits their deposit to the band whose show they skipped, and their reputation drops. If you opened your code at the show but the host never scanned it, nobody profits — you just get your deposit back.
What is Stay-To-Play?
Instead of buying a stack of tickets to your own show (pay-to-play), you commit to buying a few tickets to another band’s show at the same venue. The venue still gets a crowd — and you’re out supporting the scene.
Can I use it on my phone?
It’s built phone-first. Add getemgigs.com to your home screen and it works like an app, including the camera scanner for check-ins.