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Getting started

1. Make an account and confirm your email. The confirmation link is in your inbox - new bands can only be created from a confirmed account.
2. Add your band from My stuff with + Add band. You become its Owner.
3. Fill in your Profile: name, city, up to 6 genres (that's how fans find you with the genre filters), a bio, a band photo and a wide banner. You can move and zoom photos before they upload.
4. Add your songs. This is your full repertoire - originals and covers. Each show offers some or all of them for votes.
5. Book a show. That's it - you're ready for the crowd.

Your band tabs

Open your band from My stuff and you'll see a row of tabs. Here's what lives where:

Booking a show

On the Shows tab, hit + Add and fill in:

• Venue - pick one, or quick-add a new one with just a name and address.
• Date, start and end time. An end time before the start means "after midnight" - we get it, you play late.
• Repeat - got a weekly residency? Book up to 12 weeks in one go. Nights you're already booked are skipped, and your followers get one alert with all the dates instead of twelve.
• Cover, ages, ticket link and Also on the bill for other acts that aren't on Stage and Crowd.
• Crowd voting - on or off (more on that below).
• Votes per person - 3 by default, anywhere from 1 to 10.
• Songs for the show - all your songs, or just one playlist.

Your followers get an alert when you book (only for shows within the next 60 days, so nobody gets spammed about next year). Two bands at the same venue on the same night automatically show up together as one bill.

How voting works 🔥

This is the heart of Stage and Crowd. The short version: fans influence the set, you decide it. Nothing plays automatically - the vote list is a live poll of the room that you can use as much or as little as you like.

The rules, in plain English

Hot and Cold

A Hot vote (🔥) means "play this!". If you want, you can also let fans vote Cold (❄) - "maybe skip this one". Cold is off by default; turn it on in your Profile (for every show) or on the show's run page (just that night).

• Hot and Cold come out of the same budget - 3 votes means 3 votes total, any mix.
• With Cold on, songs rank by Hot minus Cold. With Cold off, just Hot.
• Turn Cold off and any Cold votes already cast are simply ignored.

Show code vs. voting code

Every show has two codes, and the difference matters:

So your friend at home can watch the list climb, but only people actually at the show can vote. Scanning a QR card unlocks voting automatically - no typing. Every new show gets a voting code; you can make a new one or turn it off on the run page (turning it off means anyone with the link can vote, even from their couch).

Keeping it fair

• Fans vote without an account - each phone gets an anonymous voter ID, so one browser can't vote twice for the same song.
• There's a cap on how many different voters can come from one internet connection (generous enough for a busy bar's Wi-Fi), so nobody can script a vote flood.
• Guessing the voting code gets locked out after 10 wrong tries in 15 minutes.
• Battle of the bands or a contest night? Switch on Confirmed fans only (see voting settings) for strict one person, one vote.
• You see vote totals, never who voted.

The little extras on each song

• Stars (1-5) - how popular the song has been at your shows over the last year, so fans know the crowd favorites.
• Faces - the last few fans who voted it Hot (their photo only if they made it public).
• New tag - songs added during the show, like a fan request you put up for votes.
• What's happening feed - Hot votes, songs added, songs played and dedications, as they happen.

Try it yourself

Here's a pretend vote list. You've got 3 votes. Spend them, then be the band and play a song you voted for - watch your vote come back.

Show night, step by step

Open the show from your Shows tab to get its run page - your control room. Go live, pause and end are always at the top; everything else sits in tabs: Set (what you're playing), Crowd (requests and dedications), Lineup, Settings (voting rules, date and door) and Share (vote link, QR cards, TV screen).

1. Before doors: print the table QR cards or one big poster, and put the TV screen link up on any TV or projector. Check the lineup (fill-ins welcome) and the song list.
2. Hit "Go live and open voting". Fans who said they're going get a heads-up, and the vote opens.
3. Play a song: tap Play on it (it shows as Now playing), then Done when it ends. Played songs drop off the list and their votes go back to the fans. Fans who picked it get a "your pick is on!" ping if they turned those on.
4. Need a breather? Pause voting - the crowd can still see the list but can't vote. Open voting brings it back.
5. Your set, your order: "Tonight's set" lists the songs in your order, with the crowd's votes beside each one. Drag a song, use the arrows, or tap Next to move it to the top - only your team sees this order. The Now playing card shows your next song and the crowd's top pick, each with a Play button. Prefer to follow the crowd? Switch to Crowd ranking, or tap Sort by votes. Playing from a playlist starts in the playlist's order, and the printed set sheet follows the same order.
6. Change the menu mid-show: + Add a song (from your list or brand new, next or at the end), Hide a song, Offer one back, play one Again, or switch the whole show to a playlist.
7. End show when you're done. The vote closes, the lineup is saved for the history books, a recap page goes up, and your team gets a recap email. Ended by mistake? Reopen show.

Voting settings cheat sheet

Song requests & dedications

Requests 🎤

Turn requests on and fans can suggest a song you don't have on the list - only while the show is live. Each fan gets 3 requests per show, no links allowed, and if they ask for something already up for votes we tell them to vote for it instead. Requests are for your eyes only: they're grouped by title on your run page, and a banner tells you when new ones come in. Hit Add to vote to put one up for votes (it gets a "New" tag and the fan's face), or Dismiss it.

Dedications 💌

"This one's for Sarah's birthday!" Fans who are signed in with a confirmed email can send up to 2 short messages (140 characters) per show. Nothing shows up until you approve it. Tap Show it to put it on the vote page and TV screen, Read it once you've said it from the stage, or Hide to make it disappear.

Fans, tips & merch

• Followers get alerts when you book a show and when you go live, plus reminders on show day if they're going.
• Mailing list - fans can opt in to share their name and email with you (confirmed emails only). Download it as a spreadsheet from the Requests & tips tab. Treat it kindly!
• Tip links (Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, Patreon) and merch links (Bandcamp, Big Cartel, Shopify, Etsy and more) show up on your page, the vote page and the recap. The money goes straight to you - Stage and Crowd never touches or tracks it.
• Calendar feed - fans can subscribe to your shows in Google, Apple or Outlook calendars from your page.
• Your band card - a collectible playing card with your SETLIST, GIGS, FANS, HYPE and ROAD stats. It levels up as you play.

Stats

The Stats tab looks back over all time, 90 days or 30 days:

• Most requested - your crowd's favorites.
• Crowd wants more - songs that get votes but you've played at half the shows or fewer. Hint, hint.
• No votes - songs offered at 3+ shows that nobody voted for. Time for a rest?
• Show by show, venues by crowd size, and playlists by votes per song.

Download your shows or every setlist as a CSV from the bottom of the page.

Team & cast

Your Team is who manages the band on the site. Owners can do everything, including managing the team; Managers run the band day to day. Invite people by email from the Team tab. A band always keeps at least one Owner.

Your Cast is who actually plays. It's separate from the team - your drummer doesn't need a login to show up on your page. Mark people as members or guests, current or former. If a show has a different lineup (sub on bass tonight?), set it on the run page; otherwise the current members are used. When a member connects their own account, they get a musician page that lists every band they play in.

FAQ

More guides: for venues · for fans. Questions? mailadmin@stageandcrowd.com