Software for working musicians: gigs, deposits and performance agreements

A working musician's calendar mixes two kinds of gigs. Bar and restaurant gigs pay a flat fee or a door split, often settled on the night, and the paperwork is a text thread. Weddings, corporate parties and private events are booked months ahead, pay a band several thousand dollars, and come with a planner who wants a contract, a certificate of insurance, a stage plot and a timeline. The second kind is where a date gets held without a deposit and then lost, so that's what this page follows.

A wedding gig, from inquiry to the last set

1. The couple or their planner fills out your inquiry form from your website or Link in Bio: date, venue, city, ceremony or reception only, guest count and budget. A conditional question asks for ceremony music only if they picked a ceremony.
2. If the date is open, they book a 15-minute call on your booking page. With your Google or Outlook calendar connected, gig dates already on it block those slots.
3. Send a proposal with the band size, playing time (example: three 45-minute sets), the ceremony add-on, travel, overtime per half hour, and a 30% deposit to hold the date (example). The terms say whether the deposit is refundable, since you turn down other work for that date.
4. When they accept, the proposal creates a signature request for your performance agreement: arrival and load-in times, set lengths and breaks, a meal for the band, power and a covered stage for outdoor events, overtime, cancellation, and what happens if weather stops the gig. Both partners can sign, one after the other.
5. Create the deposit invoice from the proposal. The date is held when it shows Paid.
6. Four weeks out, share the stage plot, input list and the couple's must-play and do-not-play lists as one PDF through Document Tracking, with a link for the planner and another for the venue's sound person, so you can see that both opened it.
7. Invoice the balance from the same proposal, due 14 days before the event (example). Reminders go out on their own, and the invoice shows your Zelle or Venmo details as text next to the card pay link.
8. A week after the balance is paid, an automation emails the couple a thank-you with your review link.

Bar gigs, private parties and residencies

Smaller gigs don't need the whole sequence. For a house party or a corporate happy hour, a short proposal with a flat fee and the agreement as one signature is enough. A weekly residency can be a recurring invoice that goes to the venue every week or every month with the same lines and the pay link; the venue pays each one, and nothing charges a card automatically. For a door deal, write the split into the agreement and invoice after the night, once you know the number.

If you lead a band

Bandleaders book the gig, hold the deposit and pay the players. Log each player's fee in Expenses as a contractor cost tied to the gig's project, so the report shows what the wedding made after players, sound rental and travel. Send the players the date details, call time and set list from a page in Notes & Boards. SoloWOS doesn't pay them for you or file their 1099s.

A typical week

• Monday: three wedding inquiries from the weekend. One wants a date you already hold; the other two book calls.
• Tuesday: a planner accepts the quote for a June reception. The agreement goes out for signature and the deposit invoice follows.
• Wednesday: the venue's sound person opens the stage plot for Saturday twice, so you stop worrying about the input list.
• Thursday: the balance for Saturday's wedding is paid by card. You log the PA rental and two players' fees in Expenses.
• Saturday: the gig. On Sunday the residency invoice goes out to the bar by itself.

All 13 tools, one by one

What each tool does for a gigging musician or bandleader, and which ones you can skip:

• Link in Bio: your EPK page with live videos, the song list, the gig inquiry form and an email signup for fans who want to hear about public shows.
• Short Links: a QR code on the tip jar sign or merch table that opens your mailing list signup, and a short link to your live video for planners.
• Forms: the gig inquiry with date, venue, event type and hours, routing wedding couples to a "Wedding call" meeting type while bar owners just get your reply.
• Scheduling: 15-minute calls with couples and planners, plus lessons if you teach on the side, paid at booking with the full price or a fixed deposit.
• Proposals: band size, sets, ceremony music, travel and overtime as line items, with a deposit percentage that holds the date.
• E-Signatures: the performance agreement with load-in, set times, meal, power and cancellation terms, signed by both partners or by the planner and the client in order.
• Document Tracking: the stage plot, input list and must-play list as one PDF with a link per recipient, so you know the sound person opened it before load-in.
• Screen Recording: a 2-minute video walking the planner through the ceremony cues, so they can comment at the moment the processional starts.
• Notes & Boards: a page per gig with the timeline, the players booked, the set list and parking notes, plus a board of open dates and holds.
• Time Tracking: rarely needed for gigs priced per event. It helps if you also do session work or arranging billed by the hour.
• Invoicing: deposit and balance invoices from the quote, a weekly or monthly recurring invoice for a residency, and Zelle or Venmo details printed on each one.
• Expenses: players' fees, PA and backline rental, strings, mileage and parking, each tied to the gig so you see what the night really paid.
• Automations: a thank-you with your review link a week after the balance is paid, and a nudge when a quote sits unanswered for 3 days.

Hiring players: W-9s and Form 1099-NEC

When you're the one paying, the IRS rules point at you. The federal basics, from the IRS:

• A business that pays a nonemployee $2,000 or more for services during 2026 generally files Form 1099-NEC for that person, due January 31. For payments made before 2026 the threshold was $600, and the IRS says the $2,000 figure may be adjusted for inflation starting in 2027.
• Ask each player for a Form W-9 before you pay them, so you have their correct name and taxpayer identification number. You keep the W-9; it isn't sent to the IRS. A payee who doesn't give you a TIN may be subject to backup withholding.
• Payments you make by card or through a payment app are reported on Form 1099-K by the payment company, not on your 1099-NEC.
• Your own gig income goes on Schedule C, and net self-employment earnings of $400 or more mean self-employment tax on Schedule SE.
• Whether a regular band member is a contractor or an employee depends on how you work together. Ask a tax professional before you treat a full-time player as a contractor.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by state; check yours with a lawyer or your licensing board.

SoloWOS or HoneyBook: which fits

Choose HoneyBook if:

• Couples pay in three or four installments and you want that schedule on one invoice.
• You run your bookings from your phone and want a native app.
• You want an integration with QuickBooks Online.

Choose SoloWOS if:

• Deposits should land in your own Stripe account, and some clients pay you by Zelle or Venmo anyway.
• You want to see whether the venue opened your stage plot and input list.
• You want one published price with every tool included. See HoneyBook vs SoloWOS.

If what you need is new leads rather than paperwork, a gig marketplace is a different kind of product; check each one's site for its fees. Prices and features come from each company's own pages as SoloWOS last checked them in October 2026. Confirm them on their site before you decide.

Start with these three

Proposals with your wedding package saved as a template, E-Signatures with your performance agreement, and Invoicing for the deposit and the balance from each accepted quote. Document Tracking for the stage plot can wait for your next big event.

Free tools that help

• Mileage deduction calculator for the drives to out-of-town gigs.
• Profit margin calculator to check a wedding fee after players, PA rental and travel.
• Payment fee calculator for what a card deposit costs you compared with Zelle.
• QR code generator for the tip jar and merch table signs.
• Invoice late fee calculator for the venue that pays the residency late.

What SoloWOS won't do for a musician

• No ticketing, music distribution, streaming payouts or chart and setlist apps.
• No payroll and no 1099s for your players: you pay them yourself and keep their W-9s.
• No payment plans on one invoice, and nothing charges a client's card automatically.
• Reminders go by email only, so a planner who lives in text messages still needs a text from you.
• No marketplace listing that brings you gigs.
• SoloWOS doesn't file taxes, issue 1099s or collect sales tax for you. Invoicing sends the invoice with a pay link (card through your Stripe account) and your other payment details; your accountant or tax software handles the rest.