BeatGig: Book your act for free or find an artist for your event

If you’re a comic, speaker or musician looking for an inexpensive way to advertise your services, you should know about BeatGig. This artist-friendly site can help you connect with venues and organizations looking for entertainment.

What is BeatGig?

Like many online platforms, BeatGig is a marketplace that simply aims to introduce buyers and sellers of a service. In this case, the service is entertainment — singers, bands, comics and speakers — who can perform at bars, restaurants, parties, conventions, colleges and events.

How it works

If you want to sign up as an artist — or as a potential client — you need to register with the site.

For artists, this involves plugging in some basic information and then completing a detailed profile that tells about you and your act. You’ll also be asked to plug in your rates, the dates you’re available and to keep your calendar up-to-date.

This allows venues and other buyers to find you and request bookings.

BeatGig review

The best thing about BeatGig is that it allows artists and entertainers to widely disseminate marketing information about their acts, including videos, reviews and availability. These potential clients pay a fee to search on the site and can contact the artists through the platform.

The only bad thing about BeatGig is that it’s not quite as easy for artists to proactively search for gigs. They can find venues here, with addresses and contact information. But there’s no push notification that says: “These three venues in your area are looking for a Friday night entertainment.”

Price is right

That said, BeatGig charges artists nothing to sign up. The site also doesn’t impose a commission on your pay. Venues and customers pay all the costs of the matchmaking service. Venues and organizations that want to use the site to search for talent pay for a monthly or annual subscription.

A site fee also is added to the cost of the artists services when you’re booked. You, however, get the rate that you set or negotiated with the client.

Comparatively, many other services that aim to help artists book gigs charge artists substantial fees.

Getting booked

When a client asks to book your services here, you deal directly with that client. You can negotiate terms of the deal, including your pay and whether you’ll get reimbursed for travel expenses, cancellations, etc.

BeatGig does not get involved in those negotiations. So you should know that if a venue cancels at the last minute, it is not up to BeatGig to collect a cancellation fee on your behalf. You will need to represent yourself, so pay attention to the terms of the agreements you’re getting into here.

Pay

Artists are generally paid a few days following the gig via direct deposit.

What you get

When you sign up here, you get access to thousands of potential clients, which include bars, restaurants, colleges and college organizations, such as fraternities and sororities. Those potential clients can search for entertainers via genre, location, price or the type of act (i.e. solo performer, band, speaker, etc.).

If you want — and if you have access to one — you are allowed to have your agent manage your calendar and bookings here. But, if you want to handle everything on your own, you also have that ability with BeatGig.

Competition

Know, however, that this site used to be “invitation only,” so you’re competing with some pretty talented artists — including many that you’ll hear on the radio.

That said, these acts are often far too expensive for the small and mid-sized venues that regularly book weekend entertainment here. So there is opportunity for talented artists, whether you’re in a garage band or operate a solo act.

However, it is very important to include video clips of your performances. Many agents who book artists on BeatGig say that they regularly search by genre and location. And then they chose the bands they want by listening to their clips. Put your best foot forward.

You can sign up with BeatGig here.

Kristof is the editor of SideHusl.com, an independent website that reviews moneymaking opportunities in the gig economy.