Hello, music lovers! Today we’re going to talk about how technology has changed the way that tours create their setlists. Thanks to advancements in technology, tour management, and music streaming, artists can now predict what songs their audience wants to hear and optimize their setlist accordingly.

The History of Tour Setlists 📜🕰️

Before we dive into technology’s impact on tour setlists, let’s first go back in time and see how touring artists used to put together their setlists.

Back in the day, tour setlists were often written on pieces of paper that contained the names of songs in the order they were to be played. This method was flawed, as there would often be no indication of when to slow down a concert’s tempo or identify which songs were more popular. Additionally, the tour’s starting and ending locations and the demographic of the audience was never taken into account.

The Advancements in Technology 💻🚀

As technology began to grow and the use of electronic devices like smartphones, laptops, and tablets became more widespread, musicians and tour managers started to use digital setlists. Digital setlists were created through platforms like Dropbox and Google Drive and allowed updates from the team in real-time. Digital setlists also came with the ability to integrate smart analytics and even audience-request functions to predict real-time performance trends and modify the setlist accordingly.

Mobile app integration and remote access have also revolutionized the way concerts are created and presented. Applications like Songkick, Jukely, and Bandsintown have large databases on fan-listening trends, allowing artists to see in which geographic locations and venues their music is getting the most listens. This makes it easy for musicians to plan tours and setlists accordingly.

The Analysis of Setlist Optimization 📊📈

Advanced analytics provide tours with crucial feedback about which songs fans want to hear the most and engage with the most. Fans prefer songs with higher upvotes, plays, and shares on streaming platforms like Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music. Analyzing these listening trends enables tours to create setlists with higher audience engagement. This trend has increased the chances of a concert’s success and provided a better concert-going experience than ever before.

Moreover, versatile tools like Audiense unites platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook into a unified source. This enables tours to investigate fans’ online activity, comments, preferences, and even emotions to define concerts and events’ success.

The Future and Possibilities 🔮🌟

Setlist optimization continues to evolve as a key component of touring and concert management. As AI develops, we can come up with more advanced analytics and data-mining strategies to optimise the music experience for all stakeholders, from concert-goers to musicians. Furthermore, tech can provide tools to personalize setlists, to give a more intimate feel to the live entertainment experience. The Setlist.fm application is a great example, creating “unskippable” playlists based on preferences.

But this is just the beginning! Musicians, promoters and tours’ technological innovation seems to have been majorly impacted on all levels of music. Who knows what else could be done.

The Takeaway 🤔

Technology has revolutionized the way tours put together their setlists. From digital setlists, mobile app integration, and analytics, musicians can cater their concerts to audiences better than ever before. As technology continues to develop, we can only expect setlist optimization to continue to advance and provide new opportunities for musicians and fans alike.

 A music artist working on a digital setlist

🌟 Thanks for Reading! 🌟

We hope you enjoyed reading our analysis of the impact of technology on tour setlists. Do you have any ideas about innovation in setlists that you would like to share with us? Let us know in the comments below!

 A photo of an audience enjoying live music