How Venue Pulse Works for Venues: A Complete Guide
Everything you need to know about using Venue Pulse to manage bookings, discover artists, and streamline your venue operations—at no cost.
How Venue Pulse Works for Venues: A Complete Guide
Managing a live music venue is complicated. Between booking artists, managing holds, coordinating with bookers, and keeping your calendar straight, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Venue Pulse is designed to simplify all of that—and it's completely free for venues.
Here's exactly how it works.
Getting Started: 5 Minutes to Setup
Setting up Venue Pulse takes less time than your average soundcheck.
Step 1: Create Your Account
Sign up with your email. No credit card required, no trial period to worry about.
Step 2: Add Your Venue
Enter your venue details:
- Name and location
- Capacity
- Genres you typically book
- Your booking contact info
- Photos of your space
Step 3: Set Up Your Calendar
Import your existing calendar or start fresh. Mark dates as:
- Available — Open for booking
- Hold — Tentatively reserved
- Confirmed — Booked and locked in
- Dark — Not available (private events, maintenance, etc.)
That's it. You're ready to receive booking requests.
The Booking Workflow
Receiving Requests
When an artist or booker wants to play your venue, they submit a booking request through Venue Pulse. You'll receive:
- Artist name and bio
- Proposed date(s)
- Expected draw estimate
- Links to their music and socials
- Any notes or special requests
No more digging through email threads or deciphering voicemails.
Managing Holds
Holds are the lifeblood of venue booking. Venue Pulse makes them simple:
- First Hold — Artist has first right of refusal
- Second Hold — Backup if first hold falls through
- Challenge — When a second hold wants to bump a first hold
The system automatically tracks hold expiration and sends reminders so nothing falls through the cracks.
Confirming Shows
When you're ready to confirm, one click moves the booking from hold to confirmed. The artist gets notified, and your calendar updates automatically.
Calendar Management
Your calendar is the command center of your venue. Venue Pulse gives you:
Month View See your entire month at a glance. Color-coded by status (available, hold, confirmed, dark).
Day View Drill into specific dates to see all the details—who's playing, what time, contact info, notes.
Conflict Detection The system warns you if you're about to double-book or if holds are expiring.
Sharing Generate a public calendar link to share with bookers and artists, showing your availability without exposing private details.
Artist Discovery
One of the most powerful features of Venue Pulse is artist discovery. Instead of waiting for booking requests to come to you, you can proactively find artists that fit your venue.
Search by:
- Genre
- Location (find artists touring through your city)
- Draw size
- Availability
When you find an artist you like, send them a booking inquiry directly through the platform.
Communication Tools
All your booking communication lives in one place:
- Message threads with each artist/booker
- Automatic notifications for hold changes, confirmations, and reminders
- Email integration so you never miss a message
- Notes attached to each booking for internal reference
No more searching through your inbox for that one email from three months ago.
Analytics (Coming Soon)
We're building analytics tools to help you understand your booking patterns:
- Which nights perform best
- Average draw by genre
- Booking lead time trends
- Cancellation rates
All designed to help you book smarter.
Mobile Access
Venue Pulse works on any device. Check your calendar, respond to requests, and manage holds from your phone while you're at the venue.
Integrations
We're building integrations with the tools you already use:
- Google Calendar sync
- Bandsintown artist data
- Spotify for artist discovery
- Eventbrite for ticketing (coming soon)
What Makes Us Different
Unlike OpenDate or Prism, Venue Pulse is:
- Free for venues — No monthly fees, ever
- Simple to use — No training required
- Fast to set up — Minutes, not days
- No contracts — Use it as long as you want
We built this for the 200-capacity club that can't afford $500/month software, not just the major venues with dedicated booking teams.
Real Venues, Real Results
"We went from managing everything in a shared Google Sheet to having a real booking system. The hold management alone has saved us from at least three double-bookings." — Club owner, Nashville
"I was skeptical that free software could actually be good. It's better than what we were paying $300/month for." — Talent buyer, Austin
Getting Help
If you need help getting started:
- Email support — hello@myvenuepulse.com
- Help docs — Detailed guides for every feature
- Community — Connect with other venue operators
Ready to Try It?
Venue Pulse is free for venues. No credit card, no trial period, no catch.
Create your free account and see how much easier booking can be.