Messages and connections

Messaging is not open to everybody by default, which is deliberate. An artist directory with open DMs becomes a place artists get pitched at, and the people it drives away first are the ones everybody came to find.

A thread opens when any one of these is true:

• A venue shortlisted or booked you for their gig.
• You were picked for a collab, or the poster shortlisted you for theirs.
• A booking inquiry between you was accepted.
• You are both in a band together.
• You have already exchanged messages before.

If none of those apply yet, the route is the work: apply to their call, or send a booking inquiry.

A booking inquiry goes from a venue to an artist with a proposed date. It is a proposal to talk, not a binding offer, and the artist can accept or decline it.

Accepting opens a message thread between you and puts the date where both of you can add it to a calendar.

Following somebody puts their demos, posts and events in your Following timeline. That is the whole mechanism — there is no ranking to influence and no reach to gain, so follower counts here are a real audience rather than a score.

Group

A sphere on your own profile. It says you perform as part of a line-up.

Band

A separate account you build seat by seat. It has its own profile, its own demos, and its own followers.

Build a band when it is a thing in its own right that people should be able to find and follow. Everyone tagged into a seat can message everyone else in it.

Blocking stops messages in both directions at once. It does not wait on anybody reviewing anything.

• Block from the ⋯ button on their profile, or from the ⋯ menu on any of their demos, next to Report.
• Neither of you can message, follow or tag the other, and any follow between you is removed.
• They cannot apply to your gigs or collabs, and you cannot apply to theirs. Booking inquiries stop too.
• They are not told. Unblock anytime in Settings, under Notifications & Privacy.

Reporting sends it to moderation with a reason. Reports are read by people, not a filter, and the account is told nothing about who reported it.