How IMN manages 1K+ international concert tours per year

International Music Network (IMN) was founded in 1985 by Scott Southard, who had previously worked as an agent for a booking agency representing major jazz artists like Miles Davis and Chick Corea. Today, IMN represents around 35 international clients and organizes 1,000 to 1,500 concert tours annually in the USA and worldwide. The agency has five agents, and each agent has an assistant. Agents rely on historical show data to predict costs, for example, how much their artist Ladysmith Black Mambazo is worth in Chicago.

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IMN Agency booking big names

Initially, Scott had developed a custom software solution for calendar management and financial tasks. His self-developed software provided a short-term solution for the most basic and pressing needs but required more outsourced resources in the long term. This drove higher costs and divided attention when Scott really wanted to focus on his agents and artists. Realizing the limitations of this approach, he looked into transitioning to an off-the-shelf booking agency platform.

Then he found SystemOne. Our platform offered a robust and secure solution for running all aspects of his booking agency. With consistent support and regular updates, SystemOne checked all the boxes Scott was looking for to replace his in-house solution.

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SystemOne as an all-in-one booking platform

SystemOne enables Scott and his team to manage large volumes of data and communication across different territories and stakeholders. It’s also a reliable and secure system for handling financial data and booking logistics. The platform's security features were a significant factor due to the high risk of internet fraud and the need to protect sensitive data.

IMN uses SystemOne for managing concert bookings, historical data analysis, and communication between agents. With the valuable feedback of IMN’s team, our product team implemented a new task management feature that solved the workflow needs of IMN and other SystemOne customers. The task management feature is particularly valued for coordinating transactions and maintaining data integrity.

• Agents use historical data to plan tours and manage bookings across multiple cities.
• Agents, assistants, promoters, and artists communicate on the platform to coordinate shows.
• Promoters and artists can access their SystemOne data, which keeps them informed about tour progress and enables them to provide input.

"I don't manage the technology myself day to day. I manage my staff and clients, but the company's administration relies on SystemOne to an extraordinary degree."

SystemOne's reliability, security, and comprehensive feature set make it indispensable for IMN's operations. The platform's ability to handle hundreds of booking requests per day and still maintain data integrity is crucial for IMN's success. The three features Scott values the most about SystemOne are:

• Security and reliability: Given the sensitive nature of their data and the high volume of input, SystemOne’s robust security features and reliable performance are critical for IMN.
• Comprehensive feature set: SystemOne enables IMN’s team to quickly sift through large amounts of data to find opportunities and book them as efficiently as possible. It’s also their platform of choice for managing tours and client relationships.
• Customer-centric development: We are responsive to customer needs and have implemented many customization tools, turning SystemOne into the one platform every artist booking agency needs.

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Scott says he loves that we’re 100% bootstrapped and independent developers. It’s our only product, and our dedicated team offers decades of experience in software development and the music industry.