If you want to stay up-to-date on when your favorite musical artists are touring or performing near you, there are a few easy ways to get notifications and alerts. With the rise of social media and artist email lists, it’s easier than ever to follow your favorite musicians and find out about upcoming shows and concerts.
Follow the Artist on Social Media
One of the best ways to get notified about new tours and shows is to follow the artists you love on social media. Most musical acts are active on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. When they have a new tour or show announcement, they will usually post updates across their social channels. Fans who follow them online will see posts about upcoming tour dates in their feeds.
For example, if you follow Taylor Swift on Facebook or Twitter, you’ll likely see posts from her in your feed when she has a new round of tour dates or concerts coming up. Social media gives artists a direct way to notify fans about shows and touring. So be sure to follow your favorite acts on their official social pages to stay in the loop.
Following an artist on Facebook is a great way to get notifications about upcoming tours, as artists will often post tour announcements directly to their Facebook page timeline. Fans who like or follow the Facebook page will see tour date posts in their newsfeeds. You can like artist pages on Facebook to follow them and get live updates.
Similar to Facebook, following musical acts on Twitter can alert you to new tours and shows. Artists will tweet out messaging about their touring plans and upcoming concerts for fans following their official Twitter handles. Turning on notifications for an artist’s Twitter account will send you alerts on your device whenever they tweet major announcements like tour dates.
In Instagram Stories and feed posts, artists will frequently share graphics and details on forthcoming tours and shows. By following them on Instagram, tour announcements will appear right in your feed or Stories. Instagram is a top platform used by musicians today to update fans on their latest live performances and events.
Sign Up for Artist Email Lists
Another surefire way to find out about tours is to sign up for email newsletters and notifications from the musical acts you love. Most artists have official email lists you can join on their website to get news and updates directly sent to your inbox.
When you sign up for an artist’s email list, you’ll start receiving their messages which often include tour plans and concert information. So if Lady Gaga is embarking on a new tour, she’ll likely announce it via email to fans who are subscribed to her mailing list.
Here are some tips for signing up for artist email notifications:
- Visit the musical artist’s official website and look for a place to submit your email to join their mailing list. There may be a sign-up box on their homepage or a place to register on their Contact page.
- Check your email inbox for a confirmation message after signing up and click to verify your subscription.
- Add the artist’s email address to your contacts so their tour date emails don’t end up in spam.
- Keep an eye on your inbox for tour announcements and news from the artist.
Staying on top of your favorite musician’s email subscriber lists is a direct line for them to notify you about upcoming touring plans. You’ll get tour news straight from the source.
Follow Artist Fan Clubs and Communities
Many big-name artists have official fan clubs that you can join online. These club communities serve as hubs where devoted fans of an artist can come together. Fan club members will get inside access to things like pre-sale concert tickets.
But fan clubs also often share tour date announcements and event news with their members. By joining an artist’s official fan club community, you can count on learning about new tours that get announced. Fan club members are the first to find out when a new round of shows gets scheduled.
Some artists with popular fan clubs include:
- Beyonce – Beyhive
- Lady Gaga – Little Monsters
- Taylor Swift – Swifties
- Ariana Grande – Arianators
Google the artist you like + “fan club” to find out if they have an official fan community you can join online. Signing up with a fan club ensures you’ll be among the first to be notified when tour plans are revealed.
Check Artist Websites
Don’t forget to go straight to the source – check your favorite musician’s official website for the latest tour announcements. Most artists will post updates about upcoming shows and dates directly on their own site.
Often there is a “News” or “Events” page on an artist’s website where you can find info on newly announced tours, including:
- Cities and venues
- Dates and times
- Links to buy tickets
Bookmark your top artist’s websites and check their News or Events sections regularly for the latest tour plans. Going directly to their site cuts out the middleman for official tour news.
Use Artist Presale Codes
Another good way to find out about tours ahead of time is to use artist presale codes to access concert tickets before the general public. Presale ticket codes allow you to buy tickets to shows early, before sales open to the wider public.
Artists will often announce upcoming tours and dates when they provide fan club members or email subscribers with presale ticketing codes. You’ll learn about tours in the process of gaining access to presale tickets.
Ways to get presale codes include:
- Joining an artist’s official fan club
- Signing up for their email list
- Following the artist and checking their social media for presale announcements
Using presale codes to buy concert tickets alerts you to new tour stops and concerts before the general public knows.
Check Major Venue and Ticket Websites
Lastly, keep an eye major concert and live event venue websites in your area, as well as ticket seller sites like Ticketmaster or LiveNation. When new tours get announced, the concert venues and ticket retailers selling seats to the shows are often the first to post about them online.
By checking sites like these routinely, you can scoop new tour announcements as tickets go on sale:
- Local concert venues in your city
- Large arenas and stadiums nearby
- Ticketmaster
- LiveNation
- AXS
- StubHub
Stay diligent in watching these major concert sites and apps so you don’t miss it when your favorite act announces they are coming to your town.
Sign Up for Concert Notification Services
There are various concert and live music notification services you can use to stay up-to-date on tours getting announced in your area. These services do the work of monitoring artist websites, venues, and more to alert you anytime a major new tour or show gets announced.
Some popular concert notification services include:
- Bandsintown – App and website that tracks your favorite artists and sends alerts when they are playing concerts near you. Can customize alerts based on location.
- Songkick – Concert discovery platform that emails you when favorite acts schedule shows in your city. Syncs artists you love into a custom calendar.
- SeatGeek – Ticket search engine that allows you to follow artists and receive alerts for upcoming tour stops and events.
The major benefit of using these types of notification services is convenience. Rather than manually checking multiple sources for tour news, these services compile and deliver notifications right to you.
Set Up Google Alerts
For another passive way to discover new concert announcements, try setting up free Google Alerts based on the musicians you want to follow. Google Alerts allow you to get auto email updates anytime new results pop up in Google Search that match your monitored keywords.
Here are some tips for creating effective tour date Google Alerts:
- Use the artist’s name + keywords like “tour dates” or “new concerts”
- Optionally include your location, like city and state
- Set the alert frequency for “As it happens” to get notifications in real time
With Google Alerts configured, you’ll get automatic emails when new tour date listings and announcements are found by Google across the web. This requires no manual checking needed on your part.
Check Music Magazines and Blogs
Publications that report on the music industry and latest artist news can also be good sources for upcoming tour information. Music magazines like Rolling Stone often get exclusive content from artists about their touring plans.
Likewise, popular music blogs like Pitchfork, Stereogum, and Consequence will post news articles anytime noteworthy acts like Beyonce or Drake confirm they have new tours or shows in the works.
Follow music news sites like these to catch tour announcements as part of their regular artist news coverage:
- Rolling Stone
- Billboard
- Pitchfork
- Stereogum
- Variety
Having top music publications and blogs in your news diet gives visibility into newly unveiled tours that you may otherwise miss.
Follow Local Listings Calendars
To zero in on concerts happening near you, check local event calendars in your city or town. Sites like Time Out, local newspapers, and city-specific blogs will post about upcoming tour stops coming to venues in their area.
For example, sfist.com and DoTheBay.com both feature event calendars that highlight major concerts and shows coming up in San Francisco. Getting on email lists for sites like these can clue you into nearby tour dates.
Be sure to follow local happenings blogs and event calendars wherever you live to discover when beloved artists are coming to perform in your neck of the woods.
Use a Concert Tracking App
If you want an easy way to aggregate notifications across all these sources, use a concert tracking app. These apps compile tour announcements and upcoming shows into one place so you don’t miss key dates.
Popular options include:
- Bandsintown – Get alerts whenever artists you follow announce dates within 100 miles of your location
- Songkick – Imports your favorite artists and tracks their tour plans, sending updates on new shows
- ConcertHop – Lets you discover concerts based on location and get reminders for upcoming shows you added
Concert tracking apps make it simple to monitor multiple artists and locations in one spot. You can customize alerts and notifications so you never fail to hear about nearby shows again.
Conclusion
Don’t let a new tour from one of your favorite musical acts sneak by you again! With all these handy sources and services, you can get notified the moment artists announce they are hitting the road. Follow your cherished musicians on social media, sign up for their email lists, join fan clubs, monitor key websites, and use concert discovery apps. With several notification streams set up, exciting tour announcements will be delivered straight to you, wherever you are.
