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Guides and numbers for working bands — written on top of our own catalog.
Playing live · 7Contests & festivals · 4Rights & money · 7Law (Germany) · 4
Technical rider for small clubs: one page is enough
Line-up, channel list, backline, monitors, stage plan — what the club's sound engineer actually needs, top to bottom, on one sheet.
2026-09-13 · Georgy E.
Contract with the club: what to agree in writing before the show
The points that should be in writing before you say yes — fee, times, tech, cancellations — and why, under German law, an email is enough for it.
2026-09-13 · Evgeny E.
What a gig costs: a band's honest calculation
Fuel, backline, wear and tear — a worked example for an out-of-town show, and how many paying guests a door deal needs before you break even.
2026-09-13 · Georgy E.
EPK for bands: what bookers actually open
A link that plays at once, a full-length live video, three lines of text — that is the whole booking package. Plus the list of what the booker skips.
2026-09-13 · Georgy E.
Band organisation: setlist apps, BandHelper — and what none of them covers
BandHelper for a band from 40 dollars a year, OnSong from 29.99 dollars, SetBook 99 dollars: setlists, lyrics and dates are solved. What is left open is how an idea from the rehearsal room becomes a song with agreed shares.
2026-09-13 · Georgy E.
Booking platforms compared: gigmit, Backstage PRO — or ask the club directly?
gigmit PRO costs 228 euros a year plus VAT, Backstage PRO nothing, an email to the club your time. What each route gets you, which band it suits and where the notice period sits.
2026-09-13 · Georgy E.
Band website: site builder (Wix/Squarespace), Bandzoogle — or built from your band data?
Squarespace from 12 euros a month on the annual plan plus VAT, Wix from 16.66 euros including VAT, Bandzoogle from 9.16 dollars. What you get for it, what you still write yourself and when the site can grow out of your band data.
2026-09-13 · Georgy E.
The application video with no budget: one song, one room, one camera
A phone on a tripod, a full song, a real room — how to shoot the video that answers a panel's actual question, and why the produced clip answers a different one.
2026-09-09 · Georgy E.
What juries read first in a band application
The reading order is not a secret — the application form creates it: the link, the live video, the short text. And anything outside the form's fields is not guaranteed a reader.
2026-09-09 · Georgy E.
Pay-to-play: recognise it before you sign
Ticket quotas, buy-ins, promoter packages — the deals where the band pays for the stage. How to spot them in the first email, and the arithmetic that prices the slot.
2026-09-09 · Georgy E.
Application mistakes that disqualify your band before anyone listens
The standard ways entries take themselves out of a contest — an unmet condition, a link that will not play, fields answered with the wrong thing — each with the plain fix.
2026-09-09 · Georgy E.
Taxes for bands in Germany: the three questions before the first invoice
Small-business status or not, freelance or trade, what to keep for the tax office — a band's three German tax questions, with the current thresholds and no tax Latin.
2026-09-07 · Evgeny E.
GEMA for musicians: what a band actually pays in Germany
The concert rates, the cost of membership, the reduced newcomer tariff — and when joining pays off. Germany's system, explained for the band standing in it.
2026-09-07 · Evgeny E.
KSK reporting in practice: the annual report, changes, leaving
The annual income report by 1 December, the change notification mid-year, the side job and the clean exit — the KSK routine once you are insured, each report done in minutes.
2026-09-07 · Evgeny E.
Protecting your band name: check it, register it, or wait
Namesakes are routine among band names. How to check a name before you commit, when a trademark earns its money — and what the German and EU offices charge.
2026-09-07 · Evgeny E.
Selling merch at shows in Germany: the cash box and the one sheet
A cash box and one sheet per night are enough at a German merch table. What is allowed, how the nightly cash report works, and why merch money counts differently from the fee.
2026-09-07 · Evgeny E.
The Künstlersozialkasse: half your insurance, if Germany is home
The KSK covers roughly half the social insurance of self-employed artists in Germany. Who gets in, the three-year newcomer rule — and the estimate where sloppiness costs money.
2026-09-07 · Evgeny E.
Your band is a GbR: the legal form you already have in Germany
A band based in Germany that plays and earns together is a partnership under German law — no signature required. What that means for liability, money and leaving, and when a short written agreement is due.
2026-09-07 · Evgeny E.
GVL for musicians: money for your recordings, not your songs
Germany's second collecting society: who counts as a performer, what gets paid — and why the free contract pays nothing without your reports.
2026-09-07 · Evgeny E.
Split sheets: who owns the song when four people wrote it
One sheet of paper that replaces tomorrow's argument: who holds which share of the song, in writing, before the first release — and what the law decides when the sheet is missing.
2026-09-07 · Evgeny E.
Releasing music without a label: what distributors take and what stays yours
Three pricing models split the distributor market: annual subscription, per-release fee with a cut, direct-to-fan. What they cost, what they pay out — and the questions before the contract.
2026-09-07 · Georgy E.
Open calls for bands: what is actually accepting applications
Contests and festivals taking entries right now — the list is queried live and stays current — plus what selection panels look at first.
2026-09-05 · Georgy E.
Impressum for band websites: what goes in, what does not
Germany's site-notice requirement for bands: the mandatory details by legal form, the uncomfortable address question — and how the Impressum differs from the privacy policy.
2026-09-05 · Evgeny E.
Finding gigs: from choosing the club to getting booked
Four steps from picking the venue to a booking email that gets answered — plus the addresses to start with.
2026-09-05 · Georgy E.