User Generated Tour

With the appearance of Web 2.0 and social networks comes a Web tool that can be used to identify potential live markets for their artists. Typically a tour is routed by using booking agents, choosing the market based on radio play, viewing the number of tickets sold the last time through, etc. However, as of 2006 there exists a codified technology that allows professionals in the touring industry to get helpful tour routing information and make decisions based upon that information via the internet. As Chris Walsh writes in his Billboard article, "Coming To The City", “A free service dubbed Demand, from Eventful.com, is enabling fans to request that specific acts perform in their local markets. The Demand tool is added to artists’ Web pages such as personal Web sites and MySpace pages and allows fans to voice their opinion by clicking and 'demanding' a performance. Tallies for all requests are displayed on Eventful’s Website.”

The Web tool is being used by artists such as Diddy, 50 Cent, Anthrax, Korn, and Otep is the first band to successfully schedule a tour based on the outcome of their user demand.

ocial Routing

The term social routing refers to the technique of using social networks and profiles to direct users towards these new web tools.

External links

* [http://www.eventful.com Eventful Homepage]
* [http://www.myspace.com MySpace Homepage]