A collaboration between useyourlocal and music marketplace GigPig has been struck to boost footfall in pubs and bars across the UK.
Useyourlocal, the UK’s leading platform for pubs and bars, provides a single source of information for punters looking to find out everything they want to know about every one of the 42,904 locals nationwide. Until now, any live music events taking place in those venues needed to be manually added to the website by the operator themselves.
The new partnership with GigPig, which works with more than 6,000 artists and 650 venues nationwide to host thousands of live gigs in grassroots venues weekly, will mean that any gigs booked through GigPig will automatically appear on useyourlocal, without the licensee having to do a thing.
Live music is proven to boost footfall for hospitality venues. The Live Music Index, an industry-first report published in autumn 2023, found that 79% of venues see increases to revenue and footfall (79%) when gigs are staged. In particular, gigs can see spend per visit rise by 64%, dwell
time by 61% and footfall by 36%.
Useyourlocal’s audience of up to 1 million monthly visitors are all in the very moment of looking to go to the pub. There are currently more than 140,000 useyourlocal members signed up to follow one or more local pubs and receive regular updates from them about what’s happening, where and when. By seamlessly adding these upcoming live gigs to every pub’s page, each venue significantly increases their chances of those consumers seeing what’s on and visiting their pub.
Both useyourlocal and GigPig are on a mission to attract more people to visit pubs and bars nationwide to support millions of hospitality jobs and ensure cities, towns and villages have a thriving night time economy.
Michael Forster, CEO of GigPig, said: “I’m really pleased to partner with useyourlocal because it paves the way for more customers to support their local venues and artists. Venues save time, safe in the knowledge that live gigs booked via our platform will be seen by an engaged and interested audience wanting to support their local. Boosting their footfall at a time when the cost-of-living continues to bite is crucial and we want to do all we can to support the hospitality sector.
“Often artists live within a 10-20 mile radius from gigging venues, so customers are also supporting homegrown talent by heading to live music gigs at their local. That support is hugely important for the music industry and gives professional artists the chance to carve out a great career. This is an exciting collaboration and I can’t wait to see how it develops.”
Stuart Mills, Founder of useyourlocal, said: “We know that live music is a massive attraction for customers visiting our website, so this is a hugely positive step forward in making sure that we are driving up footfall for these pubs and bars. Our mission has always been to get people to visit their local, more often. We’re delighted that this partnership makes it as seamless as possible for GigPig’s venues to promote their upcoming events to the widest audience possible, and it’s a brilliant bonus for those artists registered on GigPig too.”
Dave Finn, Landlord at The Queen’s Head in Great Whittington, added: “It’s great to see our gig listings going live through this partnership and we are already starting to see new people visit because they’ve seen the events online. We are supportive of any initiative that seamlessly connects our venue to potential customers who enjoy live music. This partnership has the potential to have a lasting positive impact on the pub and bar sector with relatively low input from venues once a gig is confirmed.” Founded in 2022, GigPig is the UK’s fastest growing music marketplace and booking platform providing venues with a streamlined way to search, book and manage entertainment in-house, while offering artists a free platform to find, play and get paid for gigs. GigPig has been the catalyst for staging more than 18,000 live music gigs in pubs, bars, restaurants to date.
