Why we built YouRequestNow.
A short letter on where this came from, what we've learned in the first few hundred gigs, and what's shipping next.
I started YouRequestNow because I kept watching great bands leave money on the stage. Not because they weren't good — they were very good — but because the machinery of a bar gig is stuck in 1998. Paper tip jars. Yelled-out requests over a wedge monitor. A drummer forgetting the second verse to a song someone paid $20 to hear.
The DJs already had software. The touring acts had merch platforms. The working bands — the ones playing 200 nights a year in every honky-tonk between Boise and Biloxi — had a QR code someone taped to a table five years ago, and a Venmo handle written on a napkin.
"So what if the request tool was actually built for the band?"
That's it. That's the whole idea. Guests scan, browse the songs you actually play, request one, tip the band, watch it hit the stage. Lyrics on the monitor when you need them. Boost for a fiver when the request has to jump the line. Everything the DJ platforms did — for the band that's been carrying the room the whole time.
What we've learned in the first six months
- Tips at least double the first Saturday a band turns it on. Every time. We stopped being surprised around week three.
- Boosts are the sleeper hit. The average guest tips $3. The average boost is $10. Fans like moving their song up the list.
- Wedding acts are quietly crushing it. No one wants to shout requests at a wedding band. A QR on every table is a night-saver.
- Multi-band nights need routing. Two bands, same building, same QR — this is the venue-side of the product we're doubling down on. See /venues.
What's shipping next
- Per-song pricing. Charge $10 minimum for the Free Bird request. (Live now — go set yours in the catalog.)
- Instagram follow prompt. After a fan tips, one tap to follow the band on IG. Free growth loop.
- Post-tip Apple/Google/Cash App wallets. One-tap checkout — done.
- Venue analytics. Which band drew the crowd. Which set went dead. Data promoters actually want.
If you play out
The 14-day trial is real. No credit card, no gotchas — just plug in your catalog and see what happens next Saturday. Reply to this note (or email mike@yourequestnow.com) with what you'd change. We ship fast.
— Mike
Founder, YouRequestNow