See how Opendate can help you manage the entire event lifecycle.

Every venue has a marketing playbook. And for most, it looks the same: show gets confirmed, email goes out, social post goes up, fingers get crossed. It works — until it doesn't.

Sell memberships. Reward your fans. Stop managing loyalty programs with promo codes and spreadsheets.

We brought together voices from StubHub, The UC Theatre, and across the industry to talk about what happens when independent venues stop fighting the secondary market and start using it. Here are five takeaways.

Your team's new favorite way to get answers about ticket sales, financials, and everything in between. Meet Conductor — a built-in assistant inside Opendate.

The secondary market touches pricing strategy, fan experience, artist relationships, and revenue venues didn't know they were leaving on the table. Join us March 25 for an honest conversation about what independent venues can actually do about it.

Distribution is a new capability built directly into Opendate that lets independent venues participate in the secondary market on their own terms.

Learn more about Broadcast Blueprints, Marketing Blueprints, and what happens when you can connect booking, ticketing, fan CRM, and marketing.

During this webinar, we will walk through new benchmark data and highlight patterns that consistently show up among high-performing venues. More importantly, we will hear directly from venue operators about how they are outperforming the market.

The Data Behind More Efficient, More Profitable Live Events. 2025 was a challenging year for live entertainment. Rising costs, uneven demand, and increased competition put pressure on venues of every size. That reality shows up clearly in the data. But the data also tells a more optimistic story.

Opendate, the all-in-one platform for booking, ticketing, and marketing live events, announced today that it has raised a $14 million Series A led by High Alpha, with participation from existing investors.

For years, live event marketing has relied on a simple formula: send more emails to more people and hope something sticks. But fans have changed. They expect relevance. They expect recommendations. And increasingly, they ignore anything that doesn’t feel personal. The problem isn’t effort. It’s infrastructure.

Ticket sales will always be the heartbeat of live music. But they don’t have to be the only way your venue makes money. The smartest venues today are finding creative ways to grow revenue without adding more shows, raising prices, or burning out their teams.

Build smarter campaigns in seconds. Marketing Blueprints give you a single, connected view of all your campaigns. And the power to launch new ones with proven templates built on your data.

Here’s how owners and operators use Opendate every day: connect POS and ticketing, get hundreds of actionable reports, centralize data in one source of truth, and boost revenue while cutting costs.

Sell premium add-ons and keep 100% of the upside, while eliminating costly booking and marketing subscriptions.

Stop stitching together spreadsheets from different platforms. Opendate centralizes all your data in one place.

Dive into hundreds of reports covering sales, marketing, operations, and more. It’s time you know exactly what’s driving results.

Connect your POS and ticketing to see every dollar of revenue per event and give your team real-time performance data.

Here’s how box office teams use Opendate every day

Make quick seat map changes with our intuitive tool, flexible enough for every event.

Control delivery with delayed ticket release and custom rules that keep bad actors out.

Change a show time or detail once and watch it sync across ticketing, marketing, and your website instantly.

Ticket setups are auto-created from offers, giving you complete builds out of the box.

How talent buyers use Opendate every day

Here’s how marketers use Opendate every day.

Save hours by auto-populating blasts with event data, images, and links. No tedious drag-and-drop or manual entry.

Use our Show Health Report to instantly spot which shows need more marketing and focus your spend where it matters.

Trigger perfectly-timed emails and texts that run in the background, such as cart abandons, onsale alerts, upsells, reminders

Every fan is automatically segmented by artist, genre, and behavior (even past buyers you import) so targeting is effortless.

Settlements generate automatically from your sales data, eliminating errors and making the end of the night easier.

Send complete show advances in a single click. No copy-pasting or manual formatting.

Build polished offers and accurate forecasts in minutes, with all the details agents care about.

Instantly gauge how many tickets your fans would buy for any artist so you can book with confidence.

From behavior-based targeting and segmentation to personalized outreach that works, we break down how to modernize your promo.

Discover which old-school promo tactics still work in 2025. From box office relationships to street teams, papering, and radio, learn how to combine classic methods with modern data to boost ticket sales.

Most venues treat fans like one big list, but that leaves money on the table. This guide breaks down simple ways to segment your audience into groups that actually matter.

If you’re still blasting the same message to everyone, every time, you’re training your fans to scroll right past you.

A tactical session on replacing one-size-fits-all blasts with data-driven, behavior-based fan engagement while cutting outdated promo tactics.

How top venues ditch the chaos, beat burnout, and keep operations running like clockwork.

Most “integrated” tools leave gaps. True connection means every step from hold to sold-out flows seamlessly.

Big or small, the playbook is the same: keep your venue active, grow per-head spend, diversify events, and scale smart without bloating costs.

If your tools are running you instead of fueling you, you’re not just losing time, you’re losing money.

Guest author Bauer Entertainment Marketing on why ticket sales stall and how to fix it.

The best venues aren’t just keeping up. They’re rolling with change, using smarter tools, and making things better for fans.

Opendate and TBA Agency threw down in Milwaukee! Scroll on for scenes from one the week's best hangs.

Join our July webinar to learn how top venue leaders are using creative programming, audience-building, and festival collabs to boost revenue (even during "slow" seasons!)

Opendate, the all-in-one platform for independent live venues, is entering a major new chapter with expanded leadership, marquee venue partners, a breakthrough AI-powered product called Conductor, fresh funding, and a new Chicago office—all timed to reshape the industry ahead of the 2025 NIVA conference.

Here are 5 small shifts that make an impact.

Venues don’t need big budgets to build loyalty, just creative, community-driven memberships that offer access and purpose.

First Avenue is seeing 90% open rates on membership emails by ditching the fluff, treating members like insiders, not just another list.

What actually works when you’re trying to move the needle on show marketing, and what falls apart when you’re juggling 20 shows a week?

We cover real-world examples, creative ideas, and practical tips to help you turn casual show-goers into lifelong supporters.

Independent venues are shifting toward more transparent, collaborative merch policies to balance sustainability and stronger artist relationships.

A guest blog post from Jenny Boyts, CEO of Forty5.

Ticket sales are just one piece of the puzzle. To keep a venue thriving, operators have to think beyond the door price.

Every quarter, Live Nation rolls out their earnings report, and while ticket sales always make the headlines, the real story is in the fine print: ancillary revenue is king.

Explore the merch cut debate, industry shifts, and revenue solutions for venues with a panel of venue operators.

How much ancillary revenue per fan are you driving? How are you growing it to stay competitive?

Steven Chilton of the Rebel Lounge shares how collaboration, data, and creativity help indie venues thrive amid market volatility.

Success in 2025 hinges on prioritizing must-see acts, using data wisely, and fostering strong industry partnerships.

Venues are finding creative ways to boost revenue, from offering trendy non-alcoholic drinks to hosting fun themed nights and refining their operations.

2024 was chaotic for live music, but industry veterans are entering 2025 with lessons in adaptability, collaboration, and smarter strategies.

Partnering with artists through strategies like dark ads and co-branded content boosts engagement and ticket sales by leveraging their fan base.

Watch our final Make More Money webinar of 2024!

Fans today expect personalized outreach that speaks directly to their interests, and the key to delivering that is segmentation.

Mastering the ticket sales funnel—awareness, engagement, and conversion—is key to turning fans into buyers.

The secondary market's become a free-for-all, with resellers outpacing real fans. So, how did we get here?

Feeling stuck with ticketing chaos? You’re not alone. While we can’t make scalpers vanish overnight, we can take real steps toward change. Check out how you can help.

17,000 emails later, Maryland made history! Audrey Schaeffer of NIVA shares how fans rallied together to fight ticket scams and push for real change.

Join our guest host, Brian Bauer, President of Bauer Entertainment Marketing, for a deep dive into strategies that drive growth.

Written by Opendate CEO Jeb Banner, this op-ed explores how creative collaboration, resilience, and a love for music laid the foundation for his entrepreneurial success.

Chris Copen, owner of Pittsburgh’s iconic Bottlerocket Social Hall, reveals how he’s built a unique, community-driven venue blending comedy, creativity, and inclusive events that keep audiences coming back.

The pandemic's disruptions forced venues to adapt, leading to new strategies that minimize financial losses from cancellations and postponements. Now, many venues are better prepared, having rethought kill fees and embraced new approaches to stay ahead.

The IEBA 2024 conference underscored the need for better ticketing solutions, emphasizing dynamic pricing, fan engagement, and smarter marketing.

Independent venues, like Mike Logan's in Lawrence, KS, serve as cultural hubs by partnering with local businesses, such as a vintage toy store, to create immersive experiences that resonate personally with their communities, offering more than just a live show.

A strong marketing strategy is crucial for ticket sales, but effectively placing the right content and getting artists to share it can be a challenging and chaotic process.

Hear from a panel of venue owners and industry pros who’ll offer insights and advice on how to navigate the complexities of the secondary market.

Good communication is the secret to smooth, successful events for venues and promoters. By tackling common challenges, using helpful tools, and adjusting how you stay in touch based on the event, you can keep everything running seamlessly.

How do you combat the rise of bots and scalpers, ensuring tickets go to the real fans?

By teaming up and pooling institutional knowledge, indie venues can plan smarter and create rewarding live music experiences.

Beyond the deal sheets and the hustle, it’s the shared insights between promoters and venues that can turn a good night into an unforgettable—and profitable—one.

Karl Morse, agent and partner at Arrival Artists, shared tips from his experience for venue owners and operators.

Bob dives into the tricky relationship between streaming numbers and live show ticket sales.

Our September Make More Money event will feature a panel of industry folks discussing "The Venue/Promoter Relationship".

Watch the recording the August event of our "Make More Money" series, where we dive into the changing dynamics of touring and tips from talent buyers on how they've evolved their strategy.

Bob Lefsetz, prominent music industry analyst and critic, discusses the dynamics and challenges of the club business.

Bottlerocket Social Hall in Pittsburgh is known for its diverse and community-focused events. They are now enhancing their community engagement with their latest venture, Bottledogs, a mobile hot dog cart that sells printed tickets.

Watch the recording of our 1:1 chat with analyst and critic of "The Lefsetz Letter", Bob Lefsetz.

Ever wondered what it takes to truly thrive in the venue business? Join us for our next Make More Money webinar, "So You Bought a Venue - the Venue Owner/Operator Experience."

The 2024 NIVA conference in New Orleans highlighted a common trend across all panels: marketing!

This stellar lineup of industry experts shares their insights on all things ticketing.

See the new features in Opendate.

Our panelists of venue talent buyers dive into the toolkit they use daily - resources, tools, and events they attend that are vital for success in their field. 

Watch the recording of our Make More Money Ticketing webinar with a panel of 5 industry experts.

Watch the recording of our most recent live demo for venue owners and operators.

What tools are you using for talent buying? What deal structures? How are you negotiating the best buys for your venue?

ICYMI - Opendate's purpose-built venue calendar tool is now part of our free Opener plan. Get started today!

It's time to level up your revenue game.

Let's talk about taking your venue to the next level in 2024. We all know that selling tickets is crucial, but what if I told you there's a secret sauce to boost your revenue even more?

Join our panelists for a discussion and Q&A on how they're finding success running unique events outside of talent buy.