Booking sites and agencies
Encore Musicians for event work, GigTag for the room
Between weddings, a lot of your playing happens in hotels, bars and restaurants, and what you need there is a way for a listener to become a client. GigTag gives you one permanent QR code on the mic stand: a booking enquiry form, your residency dates and your links, in the browser. You may know Encore Musicians for event work. This covers the rest of your week.
- No app for your audience
- Free to start
- One code that never changes
Why GigTag
Why UK musicians pair GigTag with Encore Musicians
Encore Musicians brings you clients who post an event online. GigTag brings you the ones who are sitting ten feet away. They scan the tag, see where you play next and send a booking enquiry that comes straight to you, with no commission taken by GigTag and nothing to film or submit first.
- 1
Your residency does the selling
A hotel lounge or restaurant residency puts you in front of new people every week. With GigTag, any of them can send a booking enquiry from your page before they leave. Encore is built for clients who post an event and receive quotes, so the two cover different ground.
- 2
Direct enquiries, no commission
The enquiry arrives on the website or in the GigTag app and you answer it yourself. GigTag takes no commission on the booking. On Pro you follow up with an invoice in your own design, and the client pays it online.
- 3
Requests from your own song list
On Pro, guests request songs from your list, and you see each one in a live queue while you play. For a pianist or a duo working a room for three hours, that is a real help. Encore's site is built around quoting for events, so this is something GigTag adds at the gig.
- 4
Free plan, permanent tag
Start on the free plan with one act: your tag design, the print file, the page, your links, every gig and residency and the booking form. In the UK a printed tag comes with free delivery. The code never changes, so one tag lasts.
- 5
Guests need only a camera
There is no app and no account for the audience. They scan the tag with a phone camera and your page opens in the browser. In a quiet lounge that matters: nobody has to interrupt you or ask a member of staff for your details.
In short
Encore Musicians and GigTag, in four lines
- Encore Musicians is a UK platform where clients post an event and available musicians reply with quotes.
- GigTag turns hotel, bar and restaurant gigs into direct booking enquiries, with no commission taken by GigTag.
- One permanent code shows your residency, takes song requests on Pro and opens in the browser with no app.
- Our recommendation: add GigTag to every gig you arrange yourself, and keep Encore for wedding and function clients.
Side by side
GigTag vs Encore Musicians, topic by topic
How work arrives
Enquiries from people listening to you
Work arrives as a booking enquiry from someone at your gig, sent from the form on your page after they scan the tag.
Encore MusiciansA client posts their event and relevant musicians are alerted straight away, according to its site. Those who are available respond with quotes tailored to that event.
Proving yourself
The live set speaks for you
There is nothing to film. People judge the performance in front of them, then use your page to follow your socials and music links.
Encore MusiciansIts site says a musician needs professionally produced promo videos to publish a profile and respond to customers, and that its team checks them for quality.
Being paid
Your own invoice, no commission taken by GigTag
On Pro you send your own invoice and the client pays online. Tips go into your own Stripe or Ziina account, and GigTag takes 0%.
Encore MusiciansClients pay securely online, and its site says payment to the musician is handled automatically after the gig has taken place.
On your phone
Live request queue in the GigTag app
You run GigTag from the website or the GigTag phone app, including the live queue of song requests during a set on Pro.
Encore MusiciansIts site says there are Encore apps for iPhone and Android, so musicians can manage their bookings while they are out and about.
Support on hand
Keep Encore for event clients and its support
GigTag does not sit between you and the client. The enquiry is yours to answer, and you agree the details directly.
Encore MusiciansIts site describes a support team, largely musicians themselves, that helps clients and performers through a booking from first contact to the event.
The quick view
| GigTag | Encore Musicians | |
|---|---|---|
| A QR code your audience scans | Yes, one that never changes | – |
| Song requests from the crowd | Yes, on Pro | – |
| Tips by card or Apple Pay | Yes, on Pro, into your own Ziina or Stripe. GigTag takes 0% | – |
| Booking enquiries | Yes, on the free plan | Yes |
| Your gigs and weekly residencies | Yes, on the free plan | – |
| Invoices for bookings | Yes, on Pro | – |
| A printed tag for your mic stand | Yes, in your own design | – |
| Works without an app for the audience | Yes, it opens in the browser | – |
A dash means we did not confirm it for Encore Musicians, not that it is missing: see what Encore Musicians offers above, or ask on its site.
Encore Musicians or GigTag
Where GigTag is different from Encore Musicians
Job alert, or a scan from table six
Encore tells you when a client somewhere has posted an event. GigTag tells you when someone in front of you wants to book. Your code is on a small tag on the mic stand. A punter scans it, your page opens in their browser, and they send a booking enquiry before the end of the song. It lands on the website or in the GigTag app.
The set is the showreel
Encore's site asks musicians for professionally produced promo videos, which fits clients who are choosing an act online. A GigTag enquiry comes from someone watching the real thing: your sound in that room and the way you read the crowd. Nothing needs filming. The free plan includes your tag design, the print file, your page and the booking enquiry form.
Residencies and regulars
Encore is built around events: weddings, functions, corporate dates. GigTag also covers the weekly work. Your page shows your next gig and your residencies, and people can add them to their calendar, so the regulars at your Sunday session know where you are on Thursday. On Pro they can request songs from your list and you see them in a live queue.
A night with GigTag
A hotel lounge residency for a pianist-singer
You play the lounge of a hotel three evenings a week: a grand piano, a vocal mic and a room of guests who drift in after dinner. The tag hangs on the mic stand, angled towards the armchairs. A guest scans it out of curiosity and your page opens in their browser. They see the residency listed with its days and add tomorrow evening to their calendar. Later a table by the window follows your socials and looks through your music links while you play.
You are on Pro, so guests request songs from your list and each one lands in the live queue on your phone, propped on the music desk. Before leaving, a guest who is getting married in the spring opens the booking enquiry form and asks about ceremony music. You read it on the website the next morning and reply. When the details are agreed you send an invoice in your own design, and it is paid online. That evening you are back at the piano with the same tag on the stand.
About Encore Musicians
What is Encore Musicians?
Encore Musicians is a UK platform for hiring bands, musicians, singers and DJs. Clients come to it for weddings, functions, corporate events and private parties, and its site covers everything from string groups and bagpipers to full function bands. It works as a marketplace: the client describes the event and musicians who fit are told about it. Its site says clients pay securely online and can reach a support team.
The client tells Encore about the event, relevant musicians are alerted straight away, and those who are available reply with their own quotes. For musicians, its site says a profile needs professionally produced promo videos, which its team checks before the profile goes live, and that there are apps for iPhone and Android for managing bookings. See its site for prices.
- Where
- United Kingdom
- Website
- encoremusicians.com
How Encore Musicians works
- 1
The client describes the event. A client tells Encore what they are planning: the kind of event, the date and the music they have in mind, whether a wedding, a function or a corporate evening.
- 2
Musicians are alerted. Its site says relevant musicians are alerted instantly, so the opportunity reaches the players it suits. Encore also has apps for iPhone and Android for managing bookings.
- 3
Available performers quote. Musicians who are free reply with a quote written for that event. The client reads the replies as they come in and compares the performers.
- 4
Booking and payment. The client books the act they want and pays securely online. Its site says musicians are paid automatically once the gig has been played, and support is on hand.
Who Encore Musicians is for
Wedding music. Couples looking for ceremony music, a drinks reception act or an evening band. Its site breaks wedding music down by part of the day, and lists acts from solo singers and string groups to full wedding bands.
Corporate and private functions. Organisers of company events, parties and private functions who want live music arranged quickly. Its site talks about fast quotes, which suits someone with a date already fixed and a choice of act still to make.
Professional musicians. Players and singers with professional promo who want event work coming to them. Its site says musicians join, publish a profile once their videos have been checked, and then receive opportunities to quote for through the platform.
The verdict
GigTag or Encore Musicians: which should you choose?
The bottom line
If you play live in the UK, we recommend adding GigTag to your stand. The strongest reason is the residency: the same room, week after week, full of people who can now save your dates, request songs on Pro and send a booking enquiry directly, with no commission taken by GigTag. Encore Musicians is still the route to clients who are searching online for wedding and function music, and plenty of musicians will want both.
A UK function musician could sensibly use both. Encore brings clients who are searching for music for a date. GigTag picks up the people who find you by being in the same room, at pub gigs, restaurant residencies and open events. For events booked through Encore, follow Encore's own terms about taking further enquiries on the day.
- Step 1
Keep quoting on Encore
Stay active on Encore for wedding, function and corporate jobs. That is where clients who are searching online for live music will come across you.
- Step 2
Set up GigTag for residencies
Add your hotel, bar and restaurant gigs to a GigTag page as gigs and weekly residencies, then print the tag from the free print file or order one.
- Step 3
Keep the two apart
Use the tag at gigs you arrange yourself. For an event booked through Encore, check Encore's terms for musicians before taking any further enquiries there.
Choose GigTag if
You play pubs, bars, restaurants or hotels in between the functions and want that audience to book you directly from the code on your stand.
Start freeEncore Musicians may still suit you if
You are in the UK and want wedding, function and corporate enquiries from clients who are searching online for live music.
GigTag FreeYour page, your tag design, every gig and residency, a booking form. One act.
GigTag ProSong requests, tips, invoices, more than one act. AED 30, £11.99 or $15.99 a month.
GigTag Printed tagFrom AED 100 in the UAE, £24.99 in the UK or €28.99 in the EU, delivered free, with a large size for more; $32.99 elsewhere, plus postage from the UK. Or print your own, anywhere, for free.
Questions
Encore Musicians and GigTag: what people ask
Something else? Ask us. A person reads every message.
Is GigTag better than Encore Musicians for a musician with a residency?
For the residency itself, GigTag is the tool built for it. It shows the residency on your page for guests to add to their calendar, takes song requests in a live queue on Pro and carries a booking enquiry form that comes to you directly. Encore Musicians is built for event clients who post a job, so keep it for that work.
Why add GigTag if I already get jobs through Encore Musicians?
Because every gig you play, however it was booked, has an audience. GigTag lets those people follow you, see your next date and send their own booking enquiry, in the browser with no app. GigTag takes no commission on bookings and the free plan covers one act. For events booked through Encore, follow Encore's terms for musicians.
What is Encore Musicians?
Encore Musicians is a UK platform for hiring bands, musicians, singers and DJs for weddings, functions, corporate and private events. A client describes the event, relevant musicians are alerted, and available performers reply with quotes. Its site says payment is made securely online. See its site for prices and how to join as a musician.
Is GigTag an alternative to Encore Musicians?
It is a different tool. GigTag is not a marketplace and will not send you event alerts or find clients. It gives your act a permanent QR code for the mic stand so the people watching can send a booking enquiry, see your next gig and follow your links. You may well want a source of new clients as well.
Does GigTag work for UK musicians who use Encore Musicians?
Yes. GigTag works in the UK: the page, links, gigs and residencies, booking enquiries, song requests and invoices. Pro is £11.99 a month or £119.99 a year, and a printed tag is £24.99 with free UK delivery, or print your own for free. Tips work in the UK too, into your own Stripe account, with 0% taken by GigTag.
How do enquiries reach me on GigTag compared with Encore Musicians?
On Encore, a client posts an event and you are alerted if it suits you, then you quote. On GigTag, someone at your gig scans the code and fills in the booking enquiry form on your page. You see it on the website or in the GigTag app and reply yourself. On Pro you can follow up with an invoice they pay online.
How do musicians join Encore Musicians?
Its site says you create an account and build a profile, and that you need professionally produced promo videos, which its team checks before the profile is published. After that you receive opportunities and can quote. With GigTag you make a page for your act yourself and put the tag on your stand.
Can I show my weekly residency on a QR code page?
Yes. A GigTag page shows your next gig and your weekly residencies, and anyone who scans the tag can add them to their calendar. Every gig and residency is included on the free plan. It is a good fit for the regular hotel and restaurant work that sits between event bookings from somewhere like Encore Musicians.
Does GigTag take a cut of tips?
No. GigTag takes 0% of tips. They go into the performer's own Stripe account in the UK, or Ziina account in the UAE. Tips and everything else, including booking enquiries, song requests and invoices, work in the UK next to an Encore Musicians profile.
Do I need to be in a band to use GigTag?
No. A solo pianist, singer or guitarist can use it just as a duo or band can. The free plan covers one act. If you also play in a group, Pro lets one account hold more than one act, and band members can join a band. Encore's site likewise lists solo musicians as well as full bands.
Looking for Encore Musicians itself?
This page is GigTag's. Encore Musicians's sign-in, prices, reviews and support are on its own site.
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Encore Musicians is the name of its owner's product; GigTag is not connected with it. What is said about Encore Musicians here comes from its own public website, checked on 7 October 2026. Products change: if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
For musicians
One code on your stand. Requests, tips and the next gig behind it.
No app for your audience, nothing to download. Free to start.