Gig Poster Is Almost A Great App From SplitGigs

SplitGigs is a service designed to help bands find other bands to play at their gigs and vice versa. It's never really taken off in the States but they've recently released a free iOS app for creating digital gig posters called Gig Poster and it seems like a nice marketing maneuver. Unfortunately certain flaws keep it from being truly effective in that regard.

SplitGigs launched a couple of years back and I'm not sure how much attention it got but it was covered at Hypebot.

The service focuses on three primary features as listed on their home page:

Artists can easily find and splits Gigs to play.

Clubs & Venues can invite artists to play at their Gigs.

Brands can be promoted through initiatives and Gigs.

It looks like Gigs to Split is the key feature with a list of shows that need additional artists. Judging from the gigs listed, their primary stronghold is in the UK and Italy.

Gig Poster is their recently released free iOS app and it's a smart way to reintroduce SplitGigs to musicians.

It's very simple:

Pick a template from 16 choices featuring geometric designs.

Fill in the text with all the details.

Share on Facebook, Twitter or to your SplitGigs account.

I liked the choice of designs and, though I'd always rather type at a computer than on my iPod Touch, it was easy and straightforward to create a little graphic that pleased me without taking enough time to feel like work.

However, when I got to the point of sharing, I couldn't use Twitter for some unknown reason that wasn't explained by the two-word negative message in Italian. I tried to use Facebook and when I was asked if I wanted to "share it with my friends," thinking they meant something other than "post to my newsfeed or on my wall," I said no.

At that point I was taken back to the Share page and, realizing my mistake, tried to Share again on Facebook. That was apparently not allowed because, despite multiple efforts, even after rebooting my iPod Touch multiple times, the Facebook button no longer responded.

I assume I could have created a SplitGigs account but, since I prefer to behave like a normal human being, I ditched the effort at that point, disappointed that my cool little poster would not see light of day.

Maybe they'll iron that problem out and I hope they do. Gig Poster is potentially a nice, simple way to create a quick graphic for the web while marketing SplitGigs and it probably cost them a bit of money to develop and then get into the App Store.

Who knows? Maybe I'll create an account later but the reality is most people don't have even a sliver of patience when it comes to nonessentials on the web and addressing that issue is a key requirement of any effective web marketing effort.

Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at Flux Research and Crowdfunding For Musicians. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.