Hello, what we're doing & what we'll write about.

Hello there, we are Hans, Jonathan and Elias (who is the author of this very post).

As it says on our homepage, we’re on a mission to support the business of artists, managers, crew, freelancers, and suppliers - all of whom are helping to create the magic of music.

To make this mission a reality, we're creating the super app for doing business in the music industry. The 3 of us are building a software platform that allows music industry professionals to easily transact (Live now: The Pack Pay) and create and collaborate on tour budgets (currently under development). In the future, this will also include things like finding and recruiting the professionals that make (live) music happen, and allow them to get found by others through sharing their expertise and experience.

At the very heart of building a great software product lies understanding exactly what your future user's life looks like. In the end, what you’re trying to do is solve a real-life problem that costs time or causes frustration, and reduce the friction that that problem creates through smart software design.

We are really lucky to have Hans in our founding team; a man with more than 20 years of ‘feet in the mud’ practical experience in the music industry. He has lived the tour manager life on the frontlines, and has equally spent a good amount of time on coordinating backend (tour budgeting, tour planning, finances and invoicing) processes in his role at Lobbycall. In other words, he knows what’s up!

However, what works for Hans might not work for everyone.

That is why we are currently talking to a merry bunch of friendly people that are making live music happen. So far, we have asked questions to tour managers, tour accountants and equipment rental providers, and we are looking forward to talking to many, many more. The insights and stories we get from them are truly amazing. We learn something new every time, and we also get really interesting stories from ‘that time on the road when…’.
We’re very grateful for the time these people are willing to spend with us…

…And we’re going to share!

Since these conversations are so valuable, we realized we couldn’t just keep them to ourselves. Understanding how a professional with 25 years of experience tackles tour budgeting, or what they look out for when settling with a promoter, or what a tour accountant does to keep expenses under control, has been a great learning experience for us personally.  And hence we think it could be interesting for many others; for junior tour managers just starting out, for bands who are looking to hire their first tour manager, or even for seasoned professionals who just like to read the crazy stories that their colleagues have encountered while touring.

So what’s next?

Well, over the coming months we’ll periodically drop a post here with some of the cool things we’ve learned. And what we intend to do about them.

If you want to be notified about when we post something new, subscribe to our (short) newsletter.
And if you know anyone we should definitely talk to for more insights, drop us a line at hello@partofthepack.com.
Lastly, obviously the best way to follow this journey as an industry professional is to give our platform a try. You can sign up here to start using The Pack Pay.

Watch this space!