GigPig’s Marketplace for Artists and Venues in London

When it comes to having live music at your venue, it’s crucial to know your audience and the atmosphere you wish to create for them. If you’re a lively pub in East London, your venue may benefit from live bands or a dynamic duo. If you’re a pub or bar in Soho, an area known for its nightlife, a DJ could be well suited to your venue.

A general rule of thumb is that the price increases with each performer - something to consider when selecting entertainment for your venue to make sure you stay within your budget.

Before booking live music for your London pub, it’s important to know if your venue has any restrictions such as noise levels or licensing and safety requirements. For more information on safety regulations, take a look at our Your Venue: A Guide to Music Performer Safety blog.

Once you have a solid understanding of the type of artist or band needed for your venue, as well as any venue regulations, you’ll need to consider marketing your venue to local artists. At GigPig, we take the hassle out of searching for live music artists with our music marketplace, putting venues in touch with talented artists, simplifying the booking process by having it all in one central place.

The type of venue you have will inform the live music performers that your venue can book. Whether your venue is a stadium or arena, hotel, bar or pub, GigPig can help you find talented musicians that will create the right atmosphere for your customers.

Your profile picture will be a venue's first introduction to you as an artist or band, so it’s vital that this image showcases who you are as an artist (your brand, so to speak).

Your profile should promote your range, so be sure to list all of the genres you can perform, be it jazz, country or acoustic.

The most important element of your profile is your description. This is your opportunity to describe your musical journey, influences, performing experience and the kind of atmosphere you can bring to the venue.

To ensure you choose a venue that meets your financial requirements, we strongly recommend setting your minimum fee. You can also adjust this fee accordingly, i.e. setting your fee higher for prime weekend slots.

Which performer you choose will depend on your budget, your venue facilities and performance space, your audience and the atmosphere you are looking to create.

The cost of hiring live music will depend on the artist or band you choose. As a general rule, the price increases per head, so if your budget is more conservative it may be better to go with a solo artist or musician. Head to our prices page for more information.

For a seamless booking process, download our online booking platform and manage your bookings and artists with ease.

To avoid disappointment, we recommend booking live music for your bar in London in advance to get the artist, band or DJ you want. Get in touch with us today to start booking gigs using our music marketplace.

Once you’ve booked the best live music for your bar in London, we’ll handle everything from there. GigPig’s automated accounting service allows you to streamline your accounting tasks. Artist’s invoices are received immediately after a gig is signed off, formatted in line with HMRC requirements, then uploaded via CSV to your payment software.

Our online platform for artists can help you boost your bookings across a range of venues in London, from pubs and bars, to hotels and more. On the GigPig artist app, you’ll be able to set up an artist profile to showcase your talent to venues across London.

GigPig’s music and entertainment marketplace gives artists free access to the best venues across London, driving visibility for you as an artist and allowing you to find venues that are right for you as an artist. For top tips, check out our How to Build the Perfect GigPig Profile to Maximise Your Bookings blog.

On your artist profile you can set a minimum fee for each day of the week, meaning you can specify different minimum fees for premium weekend slots and special dates.