Booking sites and agencies
Hireaband for the booking, GigTag for the dance floor
When a ceilidh or a wedding set has gone well, the room is full of people who want the same band for their own night. They need a way to ask before they leave. GigTag gives your band one permanent QR code on the mic stand that opens a booking form, your next date and your links. If you were looking at Hireaband, add this for your public gigs.
- No app for your audience
- Free to start
- One code that never changes
Why GigTag
Five reasons ceilidh bands add GigTag to Hireaband
Hireaband is built for clients planning a wedding or event. GigTag is built for the dance itself. At a public ceilidh, a session or a festival, it lets people save your next date and send an enquiry straight to the band, with no commission taken by GigTag and no app to download.
- 1
Dancers can book you on the night
Between dances, people scan the tag on the caller's stand and your page opens in the browser. The booking enquiry form is right there, and it comes to the band. Hireaband is built for clients who search and shortlist online, so GigTag adds the people on the floor.
- 2
Your next ceilidh, saved in a tap
Your page lists your next gig and your weekly residencies, and people add them to their calendar from the same scan. For a band with regular public dances, that gives tonight's crowd a way back to you without anyone writing a date on a hand.
- 3
No commission, free to begin
GigTag takes no commission on bookings. The free plan gives one act its tag design, print file, page, links, gigs, residencies and booking enquiry form, and in the UK you can print the tag yourself for free. You can try it at one dance and judge for yourselves.
- 4
One account, several line-ups
Many players work in more than one outfit. Pro lets a single account run each of them as its own act with its own page, and members can join the band they play in. Invoices in your own design, paid online, come with Pro as well.
- 5
The code outlasts the gig
A GigTag code is permanent. The tag you hang up at this month's dance works at every one after it, and old links still work if the band takes a new name. It is one small thing in the gig bag that keeps doing its job.
In short
Hireaband and GigTag, in four lines
- Hireaband supplies hand-picked wedding, event and ceilidh bands and DJs to clients across England, Scotland and Wales.
- GigTag lets dancers at your public gigs save your next date and send an enquiry straight to the band.
- There is no app for the audience, the code never changes, and GigTag takes no commission on bookings.
- Our recommendation: hang a GigTag on the stand at every public dance, and keep the agency for quoted event work.
Side by side
GigTag vs Hireaband, topic by topic
How acts are chosen
Your audience chooses you on the night
The audience does the choosing. They have watched you, and the tag gives them a way to act on it.
HireabandIts site says acts are hand-picked, that every act has been seen live, and that only acts meeting its standards are accepted onto the roster.
Quotes and availability
Keep Hireaband for quoted event work
A booking enquiry reaches you on the website or in the GigTag app, and you answer it for your own act.
HireabandAfter an enquiry form is completed, the client receives quotes and confirmation of which acts are available for their date, according to its site.
Listening first
They hear the band live first
People hear the band live, then follow your socials, website and music links from the page to keep listening afterwards.
HireabandClients shortlist by watching videos, reading reviews and listening to demos on the site, saving favourite acts to a wishlist before they enquire.
Where it covers
Works wherever you play, with free UK delivery
GigTag works wherever you play. In the UK a printed tag comes with free delivery, or you can print your own.
HireabandThe agency supplies acts across England, Scotland and Wales, and has separate artist liaison contacts for Scotland and for England and Wales.
On the day
Next date saved, enquiry sent, one scan
On the day the tag hangs on your stand. People see your next gig, add it to a calendar or send an enquiry.
HireabandIts site lists an emergency number and names the staff clients can speak to, so there is a person to reach about a booking.
The quick view
| GigTag | Hireaband | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Hireaband, not that it is missing: see what Hireaband offers above, or ask on its site.
Hireaband or GigTag
Where GigTag is different from Hireaband
The agency answers, or you do
With Hireaband, the client's enquiry goes to the agency, which comes back with quotes and availability. With GigTag the enquiry comes to you. Someone at your gig scans the code on the tag on your mic stand, your page opens in their browser, and the booking form is there. You pick it up on the website or in the GigTag app and reply yourself.
Public gigs feed the private ones
Hireaband is for weddings and events. GigTag is for the gigs anyone can walk into: the pub session, the festival tent, the monthly ceilidh in the village hall. Your page shows your next gig and your regular residencies, and people can add them to their calendar. Those who come along more than once are well placed to ask about a wedding of their own.
One account for every line-up
Function players often work in more than one line-up. On GigTag Pro, one account can hold more than one act, so the five-piece wedding band and the ceilidh trio each get their own page, and band members can join the band. Pro also adds song requests from your list during the set, and invoices in your own design that clients pay online.
A night with GigTag
A public ceilidh night in the community hall
It is the monthly public ceilidh, and the hall is laid out with chairs round the edge and a floor in the middle. Your band is on the stage with fiddle, accordion, guitar and drums, and the caller's mic stand carries the tag. Between dances, people come to the front for water and for a look at it. They scan it with their phones and your page opens in the browser. Several of them check when the next ceilidh is and add it to their calendars.
You are on Pro, so requests from your song list come into the live queue, and the caller fits a favourite in before the last waltz. During the interval a couple who have been up for every dance open the booking enquiry form on your page and ask about a wedding ceilidh next summer. You find it on the website when you get home. You reply yourselves, and when it is settled you send an invoice in the band's own design, which they pay online. The same tag goes out at the next public dance.
About Hireaband
What is Hireaband?
Hireaband supplies wedding bands, event bands, ceilidh bands, tribute acts and DJs across England, Scotland and Wales. Its site says it has been going since 1999, that its acts are hand-picked and that every act has been seen live. It is aimed at people planning weddings, corporate events and private celebrations. Bands that want to be on the roster contact its artist liaison team, with separate contacts for Scotland and for England and Wales.
A client searches by date, type of entertainment and location, then builds a shortlist by watching videos, reading reviews and listening to demos. They send an enquiry form and get quotes and availability back. The site names the staff a client can speak to and lists an emergency number. See its site for prices and for how it works with bands.
- Where
- England, Scotland and Wales
- Website
- hireaband.co.uk
How Hireaband works
- 1
Search the roster. The client enters the date of the event, the type of entertainment they want and the location, and sees the bands and acts that fit.
- 2
Build a shortlist. They watch videos, read reviews and listen to demos on each act's page, and save the ones they like to a wishlist as they go.
- 3
Send an enquiry. The client completes an enquiry form and receives quotes and confirmation of availability. Its site names the team members a client can talk to about the booking.
Who Hireaband is for
Wedding receptions and ceremonies. Couples choosing an evening band, a ceilidh, a DJ or ceremony musicians such as pipers, harpists and string quartets. Wedding bands sit at the centre of its site, with other wedding entertainment and wedding DJs listed alongside them.
Ceilidhs and traditional music. People who want a ceilidh band, Irish music or a piper for a celebration. Ceilidh bands have their own category on its site, which fits an agency working across Scotland as well as England and Wales.
Corporate and private events. Organisers of company events and private parties looking for an event band or a tribute act. Its site says its bands play weddings, private parties, tribute shows and corporate events, and that the work includes some gigs overseas.
The verdict
GigTag or Hireaband: which should you choose?
The bottom line
For a band that plays public dances, sessions and festivals, we recommend GigTag on the stand every time. The strongest reason is timing: people can save your next date and send a booking enquiry while they are still on the floor, directly to the band, with no commission taken by GigTag. Hireaband is still the fit for bands that want an agency to quote wedding and event clients across England, Scotland and Wales, and the two sit together easily.
They are not rivals. Hireaband puts bands in front of clients planning an event across England, Scotland and Wales. GigTag works at gigs you play in public and takes no commission on the enquiries it brings. If Hireaband books you for a wedding, follow your arrangement with them about enquiries from guests. Everywhere else, put the tag out.
- Step 1
Talk to the agency
If you want agency bookings, contact Hireaband's artist liaison team as its site describes, using the contact for Scotland or for England and Wales as appropriate.
- Step 2
Tag your public gigs
Make a GigTag page for the band, list your sessions, festivals and public ceilidhs, and hang the tag on the caller's or the singer's stand.
- Step 3
Follow each route's rules
Reply to GigTag enquiries from your public gigs yourselves. At a wedding the agency booked, do as your arrangement with the agency says about new enquiries.
Choose GigTag if
You want people at your public gigs and ceilidhs to find your next date and send you an enquiry from the code on your stand.
Start freeHireaband may still suit you if
You play weddings, events or ceilidhs and want an agency that takes the enquiry and gets back to the client for you.
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.
Is GigTag better than Hireaband for a ceilidh band?
At a public ceilidh, GigTag is the tool for the job. Dancers scan the tag, save your next date and send a booking enquiry to the band, with no app and no commission taken by GigTag. For wedding and event clients who search online and want quotes from an agency, Hireaband is built for that. A ceilidh band that plays both kinds of night can use both.
Why would a wedding band use GigTag as well as Hireaband?
Because wedding bands play other gigs too, and those audiences have weddings and parties of their own. GigTag gives them one scan to reach you: a booking enquiry form, your dates and your links, with song requests and invoices on Pro. At a wedding the agency booked, follow your arrangement with the agency about new enquiries.
What is Hireaband?
Hireaband supplies wedding bands, event bands, ceilidh bands, tribute acts and DJs for events in England, Scotland and Wales. Its site says it has been running since 1999 and that its acts are hand-picked and seen live. Clients search, shortlist and send an enquiry to get quotes and availability. See its site for prices.
Hireaband covers Scotland. Does GigTag work there too?
Yes. GigTag works anywhere in the UK and in every other country. In the UK, Pro is £11.99 a month and a printed tag is £24.99 with free UK delivery, or you can print your own for free. Tips work there too, into your own Stripe account, with 0% taken by GigTag.
Is GigTag a replacement for an agency like Hireaband?
No. GigTag does not find clients, quote for you or check availability on your behalf. It is a QR code on a tag for your mic stand and a page behind it. If you want someone to handle wedding and event clients, that is agency work. GigTag covers enquiries from people who saw you play.
How would a ceilidh or wedding band use GigTag next to Hireaband?
Put the tag on the stand at public gigs. Dancers and listeners scan it with a phone camera, no app needed, and your page opens. They can see your next gig, follow your links and send a booking enquiry. The code never changes, so the same tag goes to every gig, and old links still work if the band is renamed.
How do bands join Hireaband?
Its site asks bands to contact its artist liaison team by email, with one contact for Scotland and another for England and Wales, and says only acts that meet its standards are accepted. See its sign-up page for details. GigTag is separate from all that: you make your own page and print your own tag.
Can a ceilidh band use a QR code at a dance?
Yes. A GigTag hangs on a mic stand, so the caller's stand is a natural place. Dancers scan it between sets and your page opens in their browser, with your next ceilidh, your links and a booking enquiry form. It is aimed at public dances, while Hireaband deals with clients planning their own events.
What happens to the QR code if the band changes its name?
The code stays the same. A GigTag code is permanent, and if you rename the act the old links still work, so anyone who kept the page can still reach you. You would let any agency you work with, Hireaband included, know about the new name in the usual way.
Do people have to download anything to see our next gig?
No. Scanning the tag opens your page in the phone's browser. There is no app and no account. They can see your next gig and your weekly residencies and add them to their calendar straight away. That is the public side of your diary, as opposed to the private events an agency such as Hireaband books.
Looking for Hireaband itself?
This page is GigTag's. Hireaband's sign-in, prices, reviews and support are on its own site.
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Hireaband is the name of its owner's product; GigTag is not connected with it. What is said about Hireaband 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.