And we'll make sure it gets there.
A booking marketplace for Manchester's bars and freelance musicians. Artists build a profile, venues book them directly — and both sides put down a refundable deposit to lock in the date. Show up, get it back. Cancel, and it goes to the other side. The first no-show that actually costs something.
Right now it happens over DMs, word of mouth, and Facebook groups — with nothing backing the deal up.
Artists no-show. Venues ghost on payment. A handshake deal with nothing behind it.
Booked over DMs and word of mouth — no structure, no accountability, no history to check.
GigSalad, Bark, and Gigmit all solve discovery. None of them solve trust.
Every booking goes through the same four steps, whichever side proposes it.
Browse ranked profiles — reviews, track record, location. Either side can propose a date.
A refundable deposit from the artist and the venue, held until the gig happens.
The gig happens. Both parties confirm, and both deposits are refunded in full.
Back out, and your deposit is forfeited straight to whoever you let down.
Every other booking platform treats this as a discovery problem: more artists, more filters, better search.
We think discovery was never the actual blocker. Trust is. A venue that's been burned by a no-show doesn't need more options — it needs a reason to believe the next booking will actually happen.
So the deposit isn't a nice-to-have bolted on afterwards. It's the receipt that makes the whole thing real.
Manchester's live music scene is strong and still growing post-pandemic, and bookings here still run on the same DMs-and-word-of-mouth system they always have.
We're piloting with a real Manchester venue first — not building in the dark and hoping someone shows up once it's finished.