expert.band for band members

Your band leader has just sent you an invitation to something called expert.band, and your first thought is "another app". Fair. This article is the honest version of what you are being asked to do, what you get out of it, and what it costs you, which is nothing.

The short version: five small things, most of them from a link in an email or SMS, and in return the address, the start time and the chart are always in one place.

Joining

The invitation is a link tied to your email address, valid for 14 days. Open it, sign in or create an account with that same email (or with Google), pick your instrument, and you are in. If you are already on expert.band because you play in another band, the same account is added to the new band; there is no second login.

Members never pay. Only the band leader's account has a subscription. There is nothing to install: it is a web app that works on your phone's browser. Add it to your home screen if you like.

Then, two minutes on your account page: your name, an emoji avatar if you want one, your language (six available: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian), light or dark theme, and your phone number. The number matters: it is what lets the band reach you by SMS for availability requests and rehearsal reminders. Nobody else in the band can edit your account, and the leader cannot see your password.

Answering "are you free on the 14th?"

This is the thing you will do most. When the band gets an enquiry, the leader sends an availability request. You receive an email and, if you gave a phone number, an SMS with a personal link. Open it: you see the gig (date, time, place) and two buttons, "I'm available" and "I can't make it". Tap one. Done. No login, no app, ten seconds on any phone.

Changed your mind? Open the same link and pick the other option. The leader sees the answers on the gig page and can confirm the gig without asking anyone twice. If you have not answered, you may get one reminder. That is the whole process, and it replaces the 40-message thread described in asking the band "are you free on the 14th?" without 40 messages.

Note the difference between a request (someone asked, nothing signed) and a confirmed gig. The calendar shows them in different colours. Saying you are available for a request is not a commitment until the leader confirms and marks you as a participant.

Painting your free hours for rehearsals

Instead of a poll every time the band wants to rehearse, you paint the hours you are generally free over the coming weeks on a grid of days and hours. Drag over the cells; drag again to clear. On a phone, tap and hold, then drag. Do it for two or three weeks ahead and revisit it when your schedule changes.

The leader sees everyone's hours as a heat map and picks a slot. You get an email with the details, and a reminder by email and SMS before it starts (12 hours before, by default). If the rehearsal is changed or cancelled, you are told. Your painted hours are per band, so if you play in two bands on expert.band you paint them in each.

The gig page on the day

Every confirmed gig has one page with the date, start and end time, the address with a map link, the line-up for that show, the setlist, and the packing list with your name against the items you are bringing. It is the answer to every question you used to ask in the chat on the morning of a gig. The leader can also print it as a gig sheet.

Charts on stage

The repertoire holds every song with its key, tempo, structure and attachments: chords or lyrics as text, links to the recording, uploaded PDFs and backing tracks. On stage, open the setlist on your phone or tablet and read the chart. Text chords print with the setlist too, in large type, if you prefer paper. When the singer changes the key, the song is updated once and every setlist shows the new key.

If you are the person who writes charts, you can edit songs and add attachments yourself; members have edit rights on songs and setlists. See chord charts, lead sheets and Nashville numbers.

Ratings and votes: your say on the repertoire

Two features give members a real voice.

Ratings. You can rate any song on three scales from one to five: how well it goes down with the audience, how well the band plays it, how much you enjoy playing it. Once or twice a year the leader may run a rating round: you get a personal link, rate one song at a time (three rows of stars each), and your progress is saved so you can finish on the bus. The results show the band's averages, and low scores are how songs get dropped or rehearsed. Ratings are not anonymous; the band sees averages, and the round shows who has finished.

Proposals. You can propose a song with a link and a note on why it would work. Everyone has one vote per proposal; when enough members vote for it (a threshold the band sets, half by default), it is accepted and can be promoted to the repertoire. The leader or a manager can veto, visibly. The process is explained in adding new songs: proposals, votes and vetoes.

Packing

If the band uses the packing checklist, the gig page shows the items assigned to you: the spare mic cables, the keyboard stand, the merch box. Tick them off as you load. After the gig, the same list makes sure they come home.

What members can and cannot do

Members see everything in the band, including the fee on a gig. They can mark availability, paint rehearsal hours, rate songs, vote on proposals, tick off the packing list, edit songs and setlists, and add attachments. They cannot send availability requests, write quotes, schedule rehearsals, change other people's roles, or touch billing; those belong to the leader and managers. You can leave a band yourself from the band list at any time.

Privacy, briefly

The band leader sees your name, email, phone number, instrument, availability, ratings and votes: what the band needs to run. Your data is hosted in the European Union, and you can ask the leader to remove you, or write to expert.band directly. More in your data at expert.band.

Do this today

• Open the invitation link and join with the same email address it was sent to.
• Add your phone number and pick your language on the account page.
• Paint your free hours for the next 3 weeks in Rehearsals.
• Open the next gig and check the address and your packing items.
• Rate 10 songs while you are there; it takes 3 minutes and the leader will notice.

For the leader's side of the setup, see getting started.