The Best Ways to Find Live Performances for the Music You Love
Life tends to move quickly, which means it’s not always easy to keep up with everything you want, including the live music events happening in your part of the world. More than once, I’ve missed shows in my area put on by bands I like just because I was on the sidelines.
Whether you don’t want to miss concerts from artists you know or want to get out and discover new music, there are plenty of ways to stay up to date with the live shows happening in your area—you’ll never have to miss a concert again. Choose from this list the ones that suit you best.
Subscribe to updates
There are quite a few apps and websites that help you keep track of concerts in your area. One of the best is Songkick, available on the web , Android and iOS . Even if you don’t register for an account, you can use the website to view upcoming shows in your town or city or find out if certain artists are touring.
Sign up for a free account and you can receive updates straight to your inbox. Either link your Spotify account so Songkick can see who you like, or enter artists manually—the service can then send you emails about those artists’ performances, concerts in your area, recommended concerts, popular concerts, and more (you you get some control over these email newsletters, thankfully).
Another option I really like is Bandsintown, available online and as an app for Android and iOS . As with Songkick, you don’t have to sign up for an account if you don’t want to – just search for a specific place or a specific group to see what’s going on. You’ll also get a ton of information about all the venues and artists.
Register for free with Bandsintown and get concert updates sent to you (by email), not the other way around. You can sync your Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music accounts, and highlight artists that interest you. Bandsintown can also help you purchase tickets, book hotels and purchase band merchandise (in exchange for a discount). , Certainly).
Follow your favorite artists
You can, of course, also contact the artists directly, although this can be a little tedious if you like a lot of different bands and artists. Social media accounts are still useful (as long as the algorithms aren’t hiding posts about tour dates from you)—see if the artists you like are posting on X , Instagram , or anywhere else on social media.
Most artists have their own mailing lists that you can also subscribe to, which can be the best way to make sure you don’t miss a concert from your favorite artists. However, the regularity and promptness of emails can vary depending on whether you’re dealing with a global artist giant or a one-man show that handles all of its media, merchandise, and admin in-house.
If you don’t want your inbox filled with even more updates, you can simply check band websites regularly – most of them have a section with specific tour dates that you can keep an eye on. However, to do this you need to remember to keep coming back to them, so it really depends on which approach you find most comfortable.
At the most basic level, you can also just run a Google search: Google seems to collect enough data from enough different places to be able to provide you with a basic list. You can search for concerts by a specific artist or at a specific location, and if you click on the bookmark icon next to a specific show, you’ll get updated information about it.
Check your music apps
Your favorite music streaming app may well include a feature that will help you keep up with your favorite artists. Spotify is included in this: open the desktop or mobile app, go to the search function and you should find the Live Events tab. Open this to see shows you might be interested in based on your listening history.
If you don’t log into the Spotify app often, you may receive emails instead—you’ll need to log into your Spotify account on the web and then select Notification Settings . Find the In-Person Concerts & Events and Live Streams & Virtual Events options here, which you can turn on or off for both email and in-app push notifications.
This is what you will also find on Deezer . There’s a dedicated concerts section on the website homepage and mobile apps home screen that will take you straight to recommended shows based on your location and listening habits. Through your account settings, you can also receive email alerts about upcoming concerts.
Unfortunately, YouTube Music doesn’t have this feature, but YouTube does: When you watch a video of a band that’s currently touring, you’ll see tour date details below the video, as well as links to purchase tickets. . If YouTube knows where you live, the nearest concert will also be highlighted.