Ever since the MySpace Boom in the early to mid-2000s, underground music has taken full advantage of connectivity via social media. On Facebook, the group known as NDE (Non-Denominational Emo) Rad Jams and Good Vibes has become an online hub for the current indie rock/emo/punk underground, growing in influence and reach to the point of spawning multiple subgroups and founding their own record label. On the local level, shared Google Spreadsheets have become a useful tool for laying out the venues, promoters, and bands available so that everyone in the area can keep track. However, these efforts rarely break beyond the regional or national level. To create a framework for full global connectivity, you need a site more airtight than a Facebook group, which is why we’d like to introduce you to tourdiy.org, which just went online today.
Created and moderated by Atlanta underground music collective ATL DIY and their partner label Megafuss Media, the site is described as, “a massive DIY booking support initiative. We collect contacts from around the world and give them freely to the underground, offering advice and resources to help bands book their own tours.” The site contains spreadsheets for venues, artists, and promoters divided by city, links to frequent collaborators and helpful resources, and an as-yet unfinished section on how to do DIY right. Although the site is still in its infancy, an official networking site for DIY music across the world could do wonders for fledgling bands desperately trying to string a tour together or promoters in search of a venue that won’t exploit them for money. Communication and connectivity are two of the most important pillars of an effective DIY scene, and a site gathering DIYers the world over is exactly what underground music needs in order to continue surviving on its own.