Artist Management Software: Running a Roster of Acts

Most software sold as "artist management" is really one of two very different things, and picking the wrong one costs you months.

One kind is built for a booking agent: a pipeline of offers, deal memos, commission splits. The other is built for a bandleader running one act. Neither describes the fastest-growing group in live music right now, which is the operator running several acts off one shared roster of players.

If that's you, four things break at once, and none of them break for a single band:

• The same player gets wanted on two of your own dates. Each act's staffing lives in its own list, and nothing compares those lists to each other, so the clash surfaces late and by accident.
• You can't see which act actually earned what. The money arrives under one company, but the acts have different sizes, different rates and different margins.
• Every brand needs its own paperwork, and one unsigned contract makes a date look confirmed when it isn't.
• Per-seat pricing punishes you for scale. A forty-person sub roster shouldn't cost forty times what a quartet costs.

Back On Stage runs every act off one login with a company switcher, flags conflicts against your existing bookings before an offer goes out, and keeps musicians and crew free and unlimited on every plan, because you should be charged for admin seats rather than for having a big bench.

Running one band rather than several? This page is aimed at multi-act operators. You want the bandleader version instead: How to Choose the Best Band Management Software in 2026. And if you're wondering whether your band is big enough to need any of this, here's the honest answer.

The feature-by-feature comparison below covers the five tools most often shortlisted for this job. It's written from the band's point of view, which is the harder test: a tool that can run one act properly can usually run several, and a tool that can't run one certainly can't run five.

What Is Band And Artist Management Software?

Tired of using too many band apps to manage your music project? That's why this category exists, to put everything under one roof.

But there's a pretty big problem with most of the "band and artist management software" options out there: most of them are actually built for booking agents.

If you are an artist, a bandleader or an operator running several acts, and you want a central hub for your players to communicate through as well as manage all your clients, finances and set lists, there really aren't many options.

Perhaps you've tried messing around with apps like 17hats, Google Workspace, Planning Center or monday.com in an attempt to add enough customizations to suit your needs. But after hours of fiddling, you just have a messy system that still doesn't do the job, and it costs you money.

So it's high time you stop spending your time on apps that weren't built for live music and start looking at ones that were.

Top Five Options Compared

After nearly two decades of bandleading and endless searching for apps that could help me organize my 9-piece funk band, I've come across a lot of options. Similar to the journey I'm sure you are on, I've used spreadsheets like crazy, Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, 17hats, ForScore, Asana, Todoist and so many more apps that I don't even want to think about it.

As my band got more and more gigs, having solid systems in place and a central location to store things became more and more crucial. And if you're in the same boat, wanting to consolidate all your loose ends into one place, this is the category you need.

In this comparison study, we've focused on these five popular options:

1. Back On Stage – Starter plan
2. Gigwell – Artist plan
3. BandHelper – Pro account with 21-100 members
4. Band Pencil – Premium plan
5. My Gigs – Large plan

What features should you look for?

Being efficient means having all your information in one place. So the best software for managing your acts and all their moving parts should let you:

1. Manage player schedules, team communication and musician payouts
2. Handle client contracts, invoices, payments and communication (a music-specific CRM)
3. Build set lists and store reference recordings and sheet music

With that in mind, let's dive in.

Best For Player Schedules, Communication And Payouts

Your team (musicians and crew) are essential for your gigs. They need to stay informed about gig details and changes, set lists and of course payment details.

The player-side features you need

1. Book the right musicians for each date
2. Communicate all gig details in a timely manner
3. Make sure everyone completes their assigned tasks on time
4. Pay everyone on time, and
5. Keep track of who you have paid and who you still owe

Comparison: player-side features

Best For Client Contracts, Invoices And Payments

Your clients are the reason you can call this a business: the people who hire you for a wedding or event, and the venue managers or agents who book your acts.

Taking care of them properly involves constant communication, efficient data collection, professional documents and easy payment processing.

If you are using a general CRM currently, you have probably realized it wasn't built for live music and that your specific needs aren't being met.

Good client management for acts like yours should include:

1. A way to collect prospective client info (forms, surveys)
2. Email that tracks the conversation
3. Questionnaires to gather event details efficiently
4. Contract creation and e-signature
5. Invoice creation and online payment options

Comparison: client and CRM features

If you're looking for a solid performance contract you can use today, here's our free band performance contract template, and what to put in it.

Best For Set Lists, Recordings And Sheet Music

Maybe you've just finished organizing your Dropbox or Google Drive for the thousandth time and are thinking there has to be a better way to manage your music library.

Every act, no matter the genre or size, benefits from an organized back end for song and set list details. No bandleader likes hearing that the new bass player learned the wrong versions of three of tonight's songs when they arrive at the gig.

Keeping track of correct versions, managing countless sheet music parts, lyric sheets, tempos and song details is just the beginning. An up-to-date and easily shareable music library is your insurance policy, and it needs to be taken seriously.

You wouldn't want to bail on a wedding a couple of days out because your drummer got sick. Be prepared with resources players can access 24/7.

Which app has the best set list features?

Imagine a list builder that lets you build a set list once and publish it to everyone instantly. Without downloading an app or paying anything, musicians click a link and the set list displays in their browser, on any device. But that's not all.

The smart set list knows who is reading it and which instrument they play. It delivers only bass charts to the bass player and only keyboard charts to the keyboard player. It indicates which singers are singing which song, which key each song is in, and calculates set lengths automatically. It stores tempo data for each song and provides a click for your drummer at the tap of a button.

Nobody's sheet music is blowing around in the wind. Nobody forgot to print their copy.

Back On Stage has built a set list tool that does exactly that.

There are other set list options too. As you evaluate them, think about how easy it will be to get your team to adopt a new system. If they all need to pay, expect push back. If there's a steep learning curve, your musicians will be turned off.

Essential qualities for a set list tool

1. Easy import of song data via spreadsheet
2. Ability to store tempo, artist, notes, reference recordings and sheet music with each song
3. Intuitive set list builder
4. A smart set list that shows the right chart to the right musician based on their role
5. Easy to learn, and free for musicians to use

Comparison: set list features

Features And Pricing

Enough said. Let's crunch the numbers.

Back On Stage pricing checked August 2026: Starter $19/mo, Pro $40/mo and Agency $63/mo billed annually ($29, $49 and $79 billed monthly). Extra admin seats are $10 each, or $8 on Agency, and musicians and crew are always free and unlimited. Competitor pricing was captured earlier and may have changed since; if you spot something out of date, tell us and we'll correct this page.

Conclusion

1st place: Back On Stage

Back On Stage takes it on total number of features and price point, and the gap widens rather than narrows once you're running more than one act. You also get unlimited support through chat, email, phone and video for you and your entire team.

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2nd place: BandHelper

BandHelper has the most features after Back On Stage. It's a genuinely strong on-stage tool, and if set lists and MIDI control are your main need it may be all you want. You'll find it lacking on the CRM and player-management side once you go pro, and it has no answer at all to the cross-act problems described at the top of this page.

3rd place: everyone else

It was hard to pick a third here because the remaining apps have serious gaps in one or more categories. Gigwell markets a product that feels premium and is genuinely well suited to booking agents, which is a different job from running your own acts. My Gigs and Band Pencil offer a smaller selection of features at a budget price, so they might work if you're just starting out.

Related Reading

• How to Choose the Best Band Management Software in 2026
• Is Your Band Too Small for Band Management Software?
• Back On Stage vs. HoneyBook
• Back On Stage vs. Gigwell
• Back On Stage vs. Master Tour
• Band Payroll 101

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