Naumaan Zahid
(Watford)
Saturday 29 Aug 2026, 4:01pm
Hey everyone,
A few months ago I first posted here about GigXchange, a new peer-to-peer gig marketplace for UK artists and venues. I want to say thank you, because most of the growth since then has come from musicians on this site. A lot of you signed up early, found the bugs, told me straight what was rubbish and what was missing, and helped turn it into something genuinely useful for artists. I'm grateful for that.
Where it's at now: 700+ members, 600+ artists, and it's still free. Venues post dates with a budget, you browse by genre and location and apply direct. Contracts and payments are handled in the app, no middlemen. Plus the free tools: an open mic directory (1,290+ nights), a grassroots venue directory (2,600+ venues), a rate calculator, the UK's first open gig rates index, and a Member Spotlight feature with a proper reel/video for artists we feature.
Honest bit: the artist side is in good shape now, so venues are where all my focus is going. They're the harder half. Venues and organisers are signing up, but the job is getting them to actually post gigs and keep coming back, and that's what I'm working on every day. If you know a venue, promoter or organiser who books live music, an intro would mean more than anything else right now. This only really works once there are enough gigs going up to make it worth your while checking in.
It's hard to explain how many sleepless nights have gone into this. For as long as there's interest and support for it, I'll keep shipping and keep trying to give you the best platform out there.
For those of you who are new here and haven't seen it yet, have a look: https://gigxchange.app. While you're sorting the line-up, we're trying to sort the next step for you.
Feedback still very welcome, don't hold back.
Naumaan