Your first week on expert.band

The trial is 30 days, but the decision is usually made in the first week: either the band has answered an availability request in an evening and printed a setlist for a real gig, or the app has sat there with three songs in it. This checklist is for the band leader who wants the first outcome, in about 4 hours spread over 7 days.

Each day has a goal, the steps, and roughly how long it takes. Nothing here needs the whole band online at once.

Day 1: the account and the band (30 minutes)

Goal: a band that exists, with the right settings.

1. Register with your email and a password, or with Google. No card. Confirm the email when it arrives; password resets and notifications depend on it.
2. Create a band: name as clients and members will see it, time zone, currency for quotes, band language (used for members who have not picked their own).
3. In band settings: rehearsal planning hours (the evening window you rehearse in, say 17:00 to 23:00), reminder hours (12 by default), the proposal vote threshold (half the band by default), your VAT number if you have one.
4. On your account page: your phone number, your language, light or dark theme.

Do not invite anyone yet. A band that members open and find empty is a band they do not open again.

Day 2: the repertoire (45 minutes)

Goal: every song you play is in the app; the important ones have details.

1. Paste your song list: one per line, Title - Artist. Fifty songs take a minute.
2. Create labels that match how you think: Wedding, Corporate, Opener, Closer, Ballad, New, Needs work.
3. For the 20 to 30 songs you play most: add key, tempo and length. Length is what makes setlist running times work.
4. For the 10 songs where a chart matters: add an attachment. Text chords print with the setlist; PDFs and recordings can be uploaded and opened on stage. Links to recordings are enough for the rest.
5. Add the structure (intro, verse, chorus, ...) for the 3 songs your arrangement differs from the record.

Stop there. Keys and charts for the rest can be filled in by members over the coming weeks; they have edit rights on songs. Reference: repertoire.

Day 3: setlists and gigs (45 minutes)

Goal: your next real gig is in the app with its setlist.

1. Build your standard setlist by dragging songs from the repertoire. Insert breaks with labels. Check the running time against your usual slot. Add a note to two or three items (who counts in, a segue).
2. Duplicate it for a variant if you have one (a shorter festival set, an acoustic first set).
3. Print it. Look at the stage version on your phone and on paper, with and without chords.
4. Enter the confirmed gigs for the next 3 months: date, times, address with a map link, fee, notes. Enter open enquiries as requests.
5. Attach the standard setlist to the next gig and print the gig sheet.

You now have something to show the band. Reference: setlists and gigs.

Day 4: the members (20 minutes for you, 5 for each of them)

Goal: everyone is in, with a phone number.

1. Invite each member by email with their role and instrument. The link is valid for 14 days; they sign in or create an account with the same email and join in one tap. Members never pay.
2. Send one message to the chat, in your own words, along these lines: "We are moving gig dates, availability, setlists and rehearsal planning to expert.band. Accept the invitation, add your phone number so you get SMS, and have a look at the next gig. Everything else stays in this chat."
3. If someone's invitation email does not arrive, copy the link from the member list and send it by hand.
4. Promote the person who books gigs or writes quotes to manager, if that is not you.

What members need to know is in expert.band for band members; send them the link.

Day 5: the first availability request (10 minutes, then wait)

Goal: a real question answered without the chat.

1. Pick the next open enquiry, or create a request for a date a venue asked about.
2. Send an availability request to the members by email and SMS.
3. Watch the gig page fill in during the day. Send one reminder in the evening to those who have not answered.
4. Confirm the gig if you can, set the participants, attach the setlist.

This is the day the band notices the difference. Details in availability requests explained.

Day 6: the rehearsal (10 minutes for you, 5 for each member)

Goal: the next rehearsal scheduled from the heat map, with automatic reminders.

1. Paint your own free hours for the next 3 weeks in Rehearsals.
2. Ask members to do the same, with a deadline. Paint on behalf of the one who will not.
3. Read the heat map, pick the darkest cell that suits the room, schedule it with notes listing the songs to prepare.
4. Members get an email now and a reminder 12 hours before, by email and SMS.

Reference: the rehearsal planner explained.

Day 7: gear and the next gig (30 minutes)

Goal: the next gig has a packing list with names on it.

1. Walk through the storage room or the van and type the inventory: 20 to 40 items, with categories and quantities. Include consumables.
2. Build one kit for your most common show type.
3. Apply it to the next gig, adjust quantities, assign every item to a participant. Unassigned items are the ones that get forgotten.
4. Tell the band their items are on the gig page.

Reference: gear and packing.

The week after: quotes and ratings

Two features wait for a reason to use them.

• Quotes: when the next enquiry arrives, build the catalog from your price list (8 to 12 items, 20 minutes) and write the quote with a client link. See quotes and client links explained.
• Rating round: once everyone has been in the app for a couple of weeks, start a round with a two-week deadline. The results are the agenda for your next band meeting.

Song proposals can be opened whenever someone suggests a song in the chat: "put it in as a proposal".

Signs it is working, by day 14

• An availability request answered by everyone within 24 hours.
• A rehearsal scheduled without a poll, and nobody asked "when is it?" the day before.
• A gig sheet printed and in the van, and nobody asked for the address.
• At least half the members have added a phone number and painted hours.

If none of those happened, the usual cause is that members were invited before there was anything to see, or that the chat kept doing the job in parallel. Fix the second by asking availability questions only through the app for two weeks.

Common first-week mistakes

• Inviting members on day 1 to an empty band.
• Entering every key and chart before anything else; do the top 30 and let the band do the rest.
• Sending the first availability request by email only, then wondering why the drummer did not see it. Phone numbers first.
• Creating separate bands for line-up variants of the same band. Labels and setlists handle a trio version; a separate band is for a separate repertoire and different people.
• Forgetting to set the participants before assigning packing items.

Day 25: decide

The trial ends on day 30 and the bands become read-only; nothing is deleted. Put a reminder on day 25. If the leader has spent less time asking and reminding, and the band has fewer "what time?" messages, subscribe: 3.90 a month or 32.76 a year, members free, cancel any time. See pricing. If not, print what you need and let it go read-only; the data stays if you change your mind.

Full documentation starts at getting started.