Most of us find out pretty quickly that there's a lot more to being a professional musician than just releasing music and playing shows.

A LOT more, actually.

But believe it or not that's good news - it means you get to be in control of your own career. No more predatory labels, shady marketing firms, or frantically DM-ing people on Instagram trying to get the next gig. No more going at it all on your own. You can have a toolkit that gives you full control over your career while minimizing the time you have to spend on the non-creative aspects of it.

And that's where Alpha Music comes in.

With Alpha Music, you can be an artist again.

We're building the toolkit for you to have your music career on your terms. We make booking gigs as fast as possible for all parties involved, from prospecting to payout, and everything in between

This page is a short overview of how the site works, to help set you up for success.

And with that, let's take it from the top...

Once you register you'll be redirected to a page to fill out your profile info. The info you provide here is what venues and promoters need to book you.

If you need to finish this later you're absolutely able to - just know you'll have to complete your profile to book gigs.

Once you're done with that - you'll be redirected to your dashboard. The Dashboard gives you a broad strokes overview of your career on Alpha Music. From here you can send messages, manage bookings, update your profile, and more.

You'll also be able to connect to Stripe from here. Stripe is a payment processing company with bank-level security that we have partnered with for securely handling all of your transactions. We strongly recommend registering with them ASAP.

All gigs on Alpha Music are paid out via direct deposit, which means no more chasing down a bar owner after your gig to get a check for your band. It's all automatic. It also makes tax time much less miserable since everything you'll need for that is automatically handled by Stripe.

So you're all registered - now what?

Well first off - congratulations! You just took a massive step towards taking control of your own music career, and joined a community of like-minded creatives aiming to do the same.

Once you're registered we have a few resources available to start connecting with industry players:

• The Atlas:

  In the top bar click "Find Venues" to go to the Atlas.

  The Atlas is a crowd-sourced directory of venues across the USA. We built it so you don't have to spend hours on Google or Facebook looking for places to play next.

  You can search by city/state on the map, or by different filters in the sidebar. You can also click on a venue to view their details.

  If you're logged in, you'll also be able to email them a copy of your Alpha Music profile so they can have all the info they need to book you.

  If you don't see a venue on the Atlas you know of, you can click "Submit a Venue" to add it. At a minimum we only need the name/address, but the more info you can provide the better!

  You'll notice some venues on the Atlas say "Registered" on their card - that means the venue is registered on Alpha Music, and does booking directly through the site.

• The Artist Directory:

  Need to get a band on your next bill? Looking for bands to get on the bill with for your next show? We've got you covered.

  The Artist Directory features all of the talent on our site. Built for venues, but also useful for you if you're looking to collaborate or need a last-minute sub.

  Everything you need to know about them, all in one place.

  You can see their upcoming shows, message them, invite them to join a band, and more.

  You can also filter by genre, location, and more, to narrow your search for the right act.

  Additionally - if you go to a venue's profile page, you can see their upcoming shows, including ones where they still need talent . Which leads us too...

Getting the gig

There are several ways you can get booked on Alpha Music

• Direct Invite:

  If a venue wants to book you already - perhaps you all connected first in person - they can simply invite you to a gig. You'll have an opportunity to discuss gig details prior to taking it.

• The Jobs Board:

  Venues & Promoters/Event Organizers alike can post timeslots on the Jobs Board. You can head over there and find gigs that are of interest to you, and apply to them.

  The venue will receive a copy of your profile as well as your performance history on the site. If they accept that application, you'll be notified and added to the gig.

  You'll also be able to see the average payout per gig by the venue, to help in cases where they want to negotiate a price. Bear in mind - they can see the average payout you receive. We're big on transparency here.

• Artist Invite:

  Similar to Direct Invite. If another artist in the lineup recommends you, the venue can invite you to join. You'll be notified both ont he site and via email.

• Direct Message:

  You can message venues directly, but only once. They must reply to continue the conversation. Be sure to check their open slots before reaching out.

You got the gig!. Now what?