Every band wants to hook up with you at SXSW. They want to match, to chat you up a bit and get you go come over to their show.
But they’re not doing this the normal way down at SXSW: Shaking hands, putting out social media blasts or the endless handing out and posting of flyers.
After talking to bands out on the grind to fill their showcases this week, I came across a few that have taken to Tinder in order to share set times, locations and dates.
So, we put the Reverb team to the task of tracking down these Tinder bands (there are so many people down here it took some time to track down the right people). We all started swiping (strictly for business) and here’s an example of what we found.
There you have it, just put the time, date, place of your showcase right there in your bio. So simple.
Some of the bands we talked to would even get messages back from matches about the show. Matches said they were going to show up, that they wanted to grab a beer afterward (we’re still yet to find out if anyone actually went through with it).
Regardless, if you’re a band, don’t feel weird about using Tinder to reach people. SXSW is a hustle, SXSW is noisy. There are so many bands competing for everyone’s attention, any way you can stand out or even leave an impression on one person is an accomplishment.
Who cares if it’s through Tinder — if the app is good enough to land dates (or other things) it’s good enough to get people to fill your room. And this is why.
You’ve put a face on your band. You’re no longer one of the thousands of band names listed on lineups and schedules. You’re a person. And better yet, you’re a person looking for a human connection. Without any effort, you’ve gotten someone’s attention and made a memorable and emotional impression.
Sure, people say Tinder is dead, but it’s being used by thousands of people here in Austin alone — people who are music fans, who are young, who are engaged. And, yes, you might think that Tinder is just as impersonal as every other method of reaching people, but just by being in a band and being on this platform in this way, you stand out from the many nameless swipe left or right facess. In this scenario the swiper is swiping for completely different reasons.
Can a flyer do that? Can a Facebook post do that?
Plus, someone that connects with you on Tinder might start filling their heads with thoughts of “what if…”
And, all of this takes little to no effort on the band’s part … as long as you’re comfortable with it.
Just don’t be this person:
That’s nasty.
