Everything on Sonic Blue

    Everything on Sonic Blue

    Directories

    Thousands of DMV artists, bands, venues, studios, schools and music businesses. Claim yours or add one.

    Shows & tickets

    One calendar of local shows. RSVP and buy tickets. Putting on a show? Sell tickets right here. Or upload a flyer and we fill in the event.

    Booking

    Artists pitch venues, venues post open nights, and deals, holds and contracts live in one place.

    Jobs, gigs & services

    Find paid work, offer lessons and services, and take bookings.

    Get paid

    Card payments for tickets, gigs and services. Manager and agent shares are split automatically.

    Community

    The Wall, groups, fan clubs, messages, the newsletter and the busking program.

    Features for: Fans · Artists · Venues · Booking Agents · Service Providers

    Features for:

    For Fans

    Discover local music. Never miss a show.

    Follow your favorite DMV artists, get notified about upcoming shows, and help grow the local scene.

    • Browse a regional calendar of shows, festivals and open calls
    • Follow artists and venues so new dates hit your notifications
    • Join fan clubs, earn points for RSVPs and favorites, climb artist leaderboards
    • Buy tickets directly on a show page when the organizer sells through the portal
    • Post on the community wall and tag the artists, venues and events you mention
    • Stream artist albums, playlists and singles and shop merch right on their page
    • Hire your favorite artists to perform at your private event or even teach you how to play.
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    What's new

    Releases & platform changes

    Everything we've shipped to Sonic Blue, newest first, in plain English — what changed for you, not how it was built. No account needed.

    Subscribe (RSS)Help centerWhat the portal does

    Paste this address into any reader (Feedly, Inoreader, Slack's RSS app, Outlook) to get every new release automatically: https://beasmbzljdnnpavwvbkz.supabase.co/functions/v1/releases-feed?format=rss

    Oct 2026

    Door scanning, ticket emails, RSVPs and richer comments

    • Ticket confirmation emails now include a QR code, the venue address with a Google Maps link, and add-to-calendar buttons
    • Organizers can scan ticket QR codes at the door with their phone camera from the venue dashboard or check-in tab
    • Venue dashboards show upcoming events with sales, plus quick buttons to create events, set up payouts and splits
    • Sales splits are optional: with no split, the organizer is paid
    • Free events have an RSVP button ("You're going!") and organizers see who's coming; events can be In-Person or Virtual
    • Events show ticket-type badges and a tier list above Buy tickets
    • Comments support up to 4 images, clickable links and emoji; wall comments have emoji reactions
    • Wall posts can be favorited, followed and reshared to your own wall
    • Venues searching by date now only see artists who marked that date available
    Oct 2026

    Fan club rewards, clearer booking and press contacts

    • Fan clubs now have free and paid tiers, levels, artist-made badges, fan tags, public shout-outs, members-only posts and member-only ticket codes
    • Fans earn points for buying tickets and checking in at shows
    • Ticket sales splits: organizers choose who gets paid from each ticket (artists, venue, booking agent, manager) by flat amount or percentage; percentages must total 100% before tickets go on sale. People not in the directory get a draft listing and an invite to claim it
    • The portal fee is now a single 5% to DMV Music Alliance, added on top of the ticket price
    • Organizers can sell tickets with discount codes, comp codes and affiliate links, and track it all on a sales dashboard
    • Listing pages: "Book" sits on the artist tab and "Hire" on the industry tab; "Send message" opens a direct message
    • Managers, booking agents and press contacts can connect their profiles to an artist; once confirmed they appear under Represented by
    • People with more than one role can use a different photo for each; taglines show a live 120-character counter
    • Claims approve instantly when your profile name matches the listing — no waiting on our team
    • Your own listings and shows go live the moment you publish; no approval needed
    • A new listing checklist on the set-up page ticks off what's done and shows what's missing on your listing
    Sep 2026

    Launch: get paid, easier listings and a simpler site

    • Managers and booking agents can set up agreements with artists — percentage or flat amount — and their share is sent automatically
    • Venues and talent buyers can pay an artist's gig guarantee by card from the booking deal
    • Only a show's organizer can sell tickets; ticket money goes to the organizer
    • Paid lessons and other services now confirm as soon as you return from checkout
    • One simpler listing form: choose solo or band, link yourself to your band, add originals/covers and your performance video
    • Performance videos are now the main thumbnail for artists and bands
    • Genres and instruments are picked from lists; missing ones can be suggested
    • New members confirm their email and land on a 'What would you like to work on today?' page
    • Venue search adds multi-select type, neighborhood, Metro and indoor/outdoor filters, plus a map
    • Help Docs are grouped into collapsible categories
    Sep 2026

    Get told when we add something new

    • Members now get an alert in the bell whenever new functionality ships, linking straight to the what's new page
    • If you've turned phone alerts on, the same announcement arrives as a push notification
    • You can switch these off any time under Settings → Notifications → New features & portal updates
    • The public what's new page at /releases still has an open feed anyone can follow in a reader, no account needed
    • Admins send each announcement once from Admin → Announce Releases
    • Admins get a daily phone reminder if a new update hasn't been announced to members yet
    Sep 2026

    Talk to Sonic Blue, and connect your smart speaker

    • New press-to-talk assistant at /voice — anyone can ask out loud about shows, artists, venues and how the site works, and hear the answer read back
    • Ask it to take you somewhere ('open the venue directory') and it offers the page
    • Describe an event out loud and it fills in a draft for you to check; sign-in is only asked for when you send it in, and admins approve it before it goes live
    • You can type instead of talking, and turn the spoken answers off
    • New Connect Alexa or Google Home page at /voice/speakers — one private link set up through IFTTT, Zapier or iPhone Shortcuts
    • From a speaker you can add a note or to-do, send in an event for approval, or ask what's on tonight and hear the next few shows
    Sep 2026

    Upload a flyer, and event screenshots from Drive

    • Anyone can now upload an event flyer at Events → Upload a flyer, signed in or not — we read the title, date, time, venue and lineup and fill in a draft event
    • Sign-in is only asked for at the moment you send the event in, and everything filled in is kept through sign-in
    • Member flyer submissions are saved as drafts and appear publicly once an admin approves them
    • Flyers are checked against the calendar for duplicates and flagged when the venue is more than 50 miles from Washington, DC
    • Recurring flyers ('last Sundays', 'every Thursday') are turned into a whole series of dates
    • Screenshots synced to a connected Google Drive folder are read automatically every hour — event flyers become draft events, personal images are deleted, and anything else waits in an admin review queue
    • The calendar and the automatic event feeds now keep events from January 1 of this year onward instead of dropping past dates
    Aug 2026

    Busking program, newsletter pitches and the Quick CRM

    • New Busking program at /busking — approved zones, a live schedule and permit registration reached from the program page
    • Buskers apply for an SB-BUSK permit, then claim slots that respect each zone's hours, capacity and acoustic-only rules
    • Anyone can now pitch to the monthly newsletter at /newsletter/submit; admins review, accept, publish or decline
    • Quick CRM moved from /field to /crm, with a persistent bottom bar and a paste box that parses a contact's name, company, email, phone and links
    • Contacts are organised into workflows — Booking, Community partners, Clients and Inbound & misc — and can be moved between them
    • Workspace renamed to Project Management everywhere
    • Developer Library added to the admin dashboard for internal docs and the engineering changelog
    • Event intake sources grouped into Main sites, DMV venue sites and Misc, with city/state, category and clean-up flags
    • Event screening now rejects non-music listings such as painting courses, dance classes and camps, and auto-tags open mics and jam sessions
    Aug 2026

    Project pages, team chat and private projects

    • Project pages now lead with the project name, status and a Starts / Ends timeframe
    • 'People on this project' lets you invite anyone from the directories with a role — they get notified and the project is shared with them
    • New tabbed working area: Updates & chat, Tasks and History
    • Updates & chat supports announcements and pinned posts, and refreshes live for everyone on the project
    • Projects are private by default — you only see your own projects and the ones you were invited to
    • The old blanket field-team visibility on projects has been removed; field team now needs an invite like everyone else
    Aug 2026

    Board views, nested projects and My work

    • Tasks can be worked in a board view with To do, In progress, Blocked and Done columns
    • Projects can be nested under a master project, which rolls up its sub-projects' tasks and progress
    • New Workspace → My work inbox groups every task assigned to you by Overdue, Today, Next 7 days, Later and No due date
    • Booking deals reorganised into tabs: Terms & contract, Advance, Production, Marketing & promo and History
    Aug 2026

    Members can hold several user types

    • Clarified everywhere: user types dictate a user's functionality, directory category dictates which directory a listing appears in
    • An account can now be more than one thing — e.g. a Music Creator who is also an Industry Pro lighting tech
    • Settings → User types: tick every type that applies, then choose which one is your active view
    • Sidebar user type button lists the types you hold, switches the active one, and can add a new type
    • Admins can set multiple types per member on Manage users; the circle marks the active view
    • User filters on Manage users now match any type a member holds
    Aug 2026

    User types replace community roles

    • Community roles replaced by User types: Music Creator, Venue, Booking Agent / Promoter, Industry Pro, Fan
    • User type is now the only thing that controls your dashboard, sidebar, forms and wording
    • Directory category stays at the listing level — it decides which directory a listing appears in and how it is searched
    • Access level (Super admin / Admin / Moderator / User) is separate and only governs what you may add, edit and delete
    • Settings → User type lets members switch; admins can set it per member on Manage users
    • Help Center guide 'User type vs. directory category vs. access level' explains the model end to end
    Aug 2026

    Help center & portal overviews

    • New Help Center at /help — searchable guides by category plus troubleshooting fixes
    • New overview page at /overview explaining what the portal does for each role
    • Help panel docs tab now pulls from the same guide library
    • Footer links to the help center and overview
    Aug 2026

    Booking & promoter workspace

    • Deals pipeline with offers, holds calendar and conflict detection
    • Contracts and advancing with e-signature capture
    • Booking CRM plus side-by-side offer comparison
    • Public 'Request a gig' flow for fans and talent buyers
    • Role-specific booking menus for artists, venues, talent buyers and booking agents
    Aug 2026

    Events & calendar cleanup

    • Show descriptions auto-cleaned — date, genre, venue and lineup stay in the sidebar only
    • Internal notes moved to an admin-only store with a 'Hidden · internal' pill
    • Source links pulled to the bottom of the event page and made clickable
    • Mobile calendar defaults to a poster list view
    • Default event artwork when a poster is missing or fails to load
    Jul 2026

    Tasks & industry tools

    • To-Do renamed to Tasks — task types, priorities, notes and full history
    • Tasks link to shows, listings and people in the directory
    • Industry notes: private reviews for venues and booking agents, with public star averages
    • Admin-managed featured shows and featured artists
    • Test data flagging — marked content is visible to admins only
    Jul 2026

    Community & fans

    • Fan clubs with points, tiers and artist leaderboards
    • Notifications for tags, likes, comments and follows with a bell badge
    • Working comments on the community wall and functional follow buttons
    • Three-dot post menu with report
    • Accurate group member counts
    Jun 2026

    Directory & accounts

    • Separate user accounts and directory listings with type-specific profiles
    • Live ClickUp sync for the master directory
    • City/state autocomplete on all address forms
    • Private events option — visible to the owner only
    • Logged-out users blocked from dashboard and admin routes
    Apr 2026

    Artist tools

    • Artist menu reordered: Dashboard → Activity → Discover Others → Listings → Get Booked → Events
    • Default landing after login is now the Activity wall
    • My Listings empty state ('No listings yet. Create one.')
    • Get Booked split into Find Open Nights and Search Venues
    • Poster uploads on event creation (10MB limit)
    • Artist picker shows names only — no UUIDs
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