We booked our own show (and lineups are now a thing)

Development for the night is over, and not by my choice. My cat has claimed my lap, and there is no appeals process.

So while I'm pinned here, here's everything that shipped since the last update.

We booked our own show

Octiv Live is happening September 12 at the Bronze Boar in Toledo. First set at 3pm, last note at midnight.

The bill: Jack Surtman, an open jam session, Wavelane, Silicon Death Ray, and Willow Run. Every artist on it books through Octiv, which felt like the right way to prove the thing works.

There's a page for it now with the full running order, the venue, and sponsorship tiers if you or your business want your name on the banner. Or you can skip the tiers and chip in whatever you like.

Building a booking platform and never putting on a show felt a bit like reviewing restaurants without eating.

Bills: a whole lineup, not one booking

Most nights are not one artist. They're an opener, a couple of bands, and whoever the drummer knows.

Bills let a venue build the entire night in one place. Up to six slots, and each slot is an ordinary booking underneath, so offers, contracts, and completed-gig counts all work per artist exactly like they always did.

If you don't know who's filling those slots yet, a Casting Call can now cast for a bill. Post once, let artists raise a hand, fill the night.

One login, however many profiles

Plenty of people in this scene are both. You play in a band on Friday and book the room on Saturday.

You no longer need two accounts for that. One login can hold an artist profile and a venue profile, and you switch between them from the menu. No logging out, no second password, no email alias gymnastics.

Your upcoming shows are on your page

Artist and venue pages now list upcoming booked shows. When someone lands on your page, they can see you're working.

Onboarding stopped repeating itself

A few things that were quietly annoying:

Setup asked for your role and your name, then asked for both again on the next screen. It doesn't anymore.

"Finish setup" used to spin, save everything correctly, and then leave you on the same page wondering whether it worked. It now takes you where it was always supposed to.

New profiles also need at least one photo before they go live. Venues book what they can see, and an empty page is a hard sell.

Smaller things worth mentioning

Times show on a normal 12-hour clock instead of making you do military math. Profile editing has one Save button instead of several. The artist directory loads noticeably faster. The blog became The Rider and picked up share buttons. And search engines can finally find all of it.

What's next

Come to the show. September 12, Bronze Boar, Toledo.

The cat has fallen asleep, which I am choosing to read as approval.

Jake Varner Co-Founder | Octiv.live