Ticket prices keep climbing. Fans are harder to reach. And on plenty of nights, the room is still half empty.

Every independent venue knows the math. A soft Tuesday still costs you staff, production, and the guarantee. The bar can only do so much with a fraction of the cap in the room. And the usual fixes, like a discount code, a last-minute comp list, or one more social post, tend to fill the room once without building anything for next time.

Meanwhile, plenty of fans would love a night out. They just can't find the shows worth leaving the house for.

[Register free for the Make More Money fireside chat →]

Why some nights don't sell

It's rarely one thing. The show got announced into a crowded week. The artist's audience lives somewhere your marketing doesn't reach. The fans who'd love the night have never heard of your room.

Most venues are good at selling to people who already know them. The hard part is everyone else.

Revenue beyond tickets and the bar

Ticket margins are thin, and the bar depends on bodies in the room. The venues holding up best are adding revenue that doesn't depend on whether tonight sells out.

That's where the Opendate + DoStuff partnership starts. When fans buy through Opendate, the order confirmation page invites them to try DoMORE, DoStuff's members-only ticket program, for free. Your venue gets paid for every trial. There's no extra work on show night, and payouts come every quarter. Taffeta Music Hall, The Rockwell, and The Vogue are already earning from it.

Rethinking comps

Comps usually go to whoever's on the list: friends, industry, a radio giveaway. They fill seats, but most of those people were never going to buy a ticket anyway.

A better comp goes to a fan who's never been to your room, likes the kind of show you're putting on, and might come back and buy next time. Next up, venues will be able to offer comp tickets to DoMORE members right inside Opendate. Those comps show up as orders next to your other sales, and they scan at the door in the Opendate Organizer app like any other ticket.

What we'll cover

This month's Make More Money is a fireside chat, not a product walkthrough. On Thursday, November 5 at 2:00 PM ET:

• Why some nights don't sell and what actually helps
• New sources of revenue for venues beyond tickets and the bar
• Rethinking comps: filling the room with fans who come back and buy next time
• How local communities help fans find venues they've never been to
• How the Opendate + DoStuff partnership puts some of these ideas to work, and what venues like Taffeta Music Hall, The Rockwell, and The Vogue are seeing
• Live Q&A

Meet the speakers

Eric Tobias, CEO at Opendate and Partner at Forty5. Eric leads the connected platform for live entertainment, with ticketing, booking, and marketing in one system for independent venues and promoters across North America.

Scott Owens, Founder and CEO of DoStuff Media. Scott built DoStuff's local communities to help fans find shows and venues in their own city.

If you own, book, market, or run the box office for an independent room, this is an hour worth blocking.

Register

📅 Thursday, November 5 at 2:00 PM ET

👉 Register free →

Can't make it live? Register anyway and we'll send you the recording.