Band merch beyond t-shirts: what actually makes money at grassroots level, from someone who's run the venue as well as the band. The three-tier table framework, honest notes on stickers, pins, lighters, patches, totes and guitar picks, four table fixes that cost almost nothing, and how to know whether your merch is genuinely profitable.

Check out the full guide. 

https://stageportal.gg/blog/how-to-choose-the-right-merch-for-your-band/

You found the venue. You think your band is a good fit. You hit send on the pitch email.

And then nothing.

Most bands assume silence means rejection. Sometimes it does. But more often it means the email didn't give the booker enough of a reason to reply quickly — and in a busy inbox, quickly is the only way anything gets read.

Pitching your band to venues and promoters is one of those things everyone has an opinion on and almost nobody explains properly. What goes in the email. How long it should be. Whether to attach files or send links. When to follow up and when to leave it alone. What to do differently if the first approach didn't work.

In this episode we break down how to pitch your band professionally — from the first email to the follow-up, and what happens when a venue says yes and the real work begins.

We cover:

• Why most pitch emails get ignored in the first two sentences — and what the ones that get replies do differently
• What a venue booker actually does when your email lands in their inbox
• The information that needs to be in every pitch — and what to leave out
• How to research a venue before you pitch so your message feels specific rather than generic
• The follow-up: when to send it, what to say, and when to stop
• How to handle rejection without burning the relationship
• What the pitch signals about you as an artist before you've played a single note

This one is for bands who have been sending pitches without hearing back, bands about to start approaching venues for the first time, and anyone who wants to understand what the person on the other side of the inbox is actually looking for.

Check out the full guide. 

https://stageportal.gg/blog/how-to-pitch-your-band-professionally-to-promoters-and-venues/

You played the gig. It went well. Then it came time to talk money and you realised you had no idea what you'd actually agreed to.

Was that a guarantee? A door split? Did anyone say buyout? You nodded along in the group chat because it sounded fine at the time, and now you're doing the maths after the show trying to work out if you got paid what you were supposed to.

This is one of the most common blind spots for gigging bands. Not because the numbers are complicated, but because nobody ever sits down and explains the different ways venues and promoters actually pay artists, and what each one means for your split.

In this episode we break down how bands actually get paid, the deal types you'll come across, and how to make sure the number you agree before the gig is the number that lands in your account after it.

We cover:

• The main deal types: guarantee, door split, and buyout, and what each one actually means for you
• Why "we'll sort you out on the night" is a red flag, not a compliment
• What to ask before you agree to a fee, so there are no surprises after the show
• How to work out if a door split is actually worth it for your band
• Getting the deal in writing without it feeling like a legal negotiation
• What to do if the numbers don't add up on the night

This one's for bands who've walked away from a gig unsure if they got a fair deal, and want to walk into the next one knowing exactly what they're agreeing to.

Every should have a tech rider. Most bands don't have one.

Or most of them are wrong.

Not wrong in a catastrophic way, wrong in the quiet, costly way that means your soundcheck runs over, the engineer is working from guesswork, and the first song of your set is the one where you figure out the monitors aren't right.

In this episode we get into the tech rider in detail. What it actually needs to include, what most bands put in that doesn't help anyone, and how to write one that makes the people on the other side of the stage want to work with you again.

We cover:

— The non-negotiables every tech rider needs, no matter how small the show 

— What to leave out 

— and why more information isn't always better 

— How to format it so a sound engineer can actually use it under pressure

 — The difference between a tech rider and a hospitality rider, and why conflating them causes problems 

— The most common mistakes grassroots bands make — and the ones that get you quietly crossed off a venue's rebooked list

Whether you're playing your third gig or your three hundredth, getting this document right is one of the easiest things you can do to look more professional before you've played a single note.

And if you want a head start , we've built a free professional rider template that you can download and use right now, no sign-up required. 

Get it here at stageportal.gg and have something ready to send before your next show.

You played a great gig. The promoter seemed interested. The venue said they'd be in touch.

And then nothing.

So you moved on, assumed it wasn't meant to be, and crossed them off the list.

Here's the thing most of the time, that silence isn't a no. It's just noise. Promoters are busy, inboxes are full, and the band who follows up is almost always the band who gets the call back.

In this episode we get into the art of the follow-up for bands and artists. Not the awkward, desperate kind that makes you feel like you're begging for a gig but the professional, persistent kind that gets you taken seriously and keeps you front of mind with the people who matter.

We cover:

— Why most bands follow up wrong (or don't follow up at all) 

— How long to wait before reaching out after a gig or a pitch 

— What to actually say 

— and what not to say 

— The difference between being persistent and being a pest

— How to use each touchpoint to build a relationship, not just chase a booking

This one's for the bands doing the work but not seeing it convert. The gigs are there. You just have to go and get them.