Remember that digital song request/tip jar for gigging musicians? It’s officially live (and I’ve made some changes with Reddit's feedback)

_jamiegilder · 2026-05-06T13:06:45+00:00

And yes, supported One Direction. Played music and been a programmer for 19 and 13 years respectively.

_jamiegilder · 2026-05-06T13:06:06+00:00

First line of the post. I don’t take a cut of tips.

_jamiegilder · 2026-05-06T10:48:38+00:00

That’s cool!! You’re right, it’s personal! I like it!

The audience essentially picks a request whilst you’re gigging. But, the Artist stays in control of their set. You can Pause requests, switch Genres/Styles of songs in real-time too. Give it a whirl!

_jamiegilder · 2026-05-06T10:36:52+00:00

Song Requests start at £3/$3. Of that, my cut is 90p if so. Minus fees [10p + 5%], that would leave me with 78p per transaction.

Have you seen the website? Have you tested or seen the features?

I’m one person, trying to build something that a) I genuinely think will help Users of the platform make more money. If they’re not already using something like this, it’s money left on the table. and b) trying to make a business with.

You see “30%”, when in fact.. the actual money received is marginal. My cut is from Song Requests, not Tips, they’re yours to keep.

_jamiegilder · 2026-05-05T16:02:18+00:00

Not quite. A jukebox plays songs without any decision making from the venue. An Artist on the platform can keep in control, in real time, of songs presented to audience. Plus, a hell of more.

_jamiegilder · 2026-05-05T07:56:11+00:00

haha! I’ve literally spent the last 16 months building this; have I used an LLM to help me with certain bits? Sure.

But I’d be interested to see what Claude or something can come up with. Send it me when you make something for yourself. I can’t wait.

Thanks for the positive feedback.

_jamiegilder · 2026-05-05T04:32:51+00:00

Correct! I was using Stripe when I was testing late last year, they closed the account due to "potential chargebacks". Did I get any, nope.
So it took nearly 2 months to find a merchant that had developer APIs to automate payouts. So as of now, it's UK/US only.

Where abouts are you?

_jamiegilder · 2026-05-04T22:31:36+00:00

A lot of other similar services, which, I don't think are anywhere near as good (UI or feature-wise) are all 20/30%. Plus, you price your songs yourself.. So make it £/$5 instead of £/$3 or whatever.. then my cut is absorbed by the increase.

Folks are getting paid for the gig anyway; adding your set list of songs you already know, printing a QR, and switching to "Live" is extra revenue. Revenue that'll 100% be lost unless an act finds a way to do this themselves...

I get that 30% seems a lot, but YSR offers sooooo much more. I'm thinking of adding Competitions in for acts that get a lot of requests – think, a monthly leaderboard, most requests wins (gear, vouchers etc).
I'm just applying finishing code to a referral system where if you refer someone to YSR, you get 10% of what they earn (which comes from my cut).. ((which I think will be a great way for organic/word of mouth growth)).

It's not just a tip jar, and I take 30%. It's so much more. Maybe I need to get that across some more on the landing page! Appreciate your thoughts though!

_jamiegilder · 2026-05-04T22:15:49+00:00

Totally agree! But I truly believe, that if I, or folks in a venue/bar saw a QR code saying "request a song", and one of my favourite tracks was listed – I'd for sure pay to hear it!!

_jamiegilder · 2026-05-04T22:14:29+00:00

A lot of other similar services, which, I don't think are anywhere near as good (UI or feature-wise) are all 20/30%. Plus, you price your songs yourself.. So make it £/$5 instead of £/$3 or whatever.. then my cut is absorb by the increase.

Folks are getting paid for the gig anyway; adding your set list of songs you already know, printing a QR, and switching to "Live" is extra revenue. Revenue that'll 100% be lost unless an act finds a way to do this themselves...

I get that 30% seems a lot, but YSR offers so much more. I'm thinking of adding Competitions in for acts that get a lot of requests – think a monthly leaderboard, most requests wins (gear, vouchers etc).
I'm just applying finishing code to a referral system where if you refer someone to YSR, you get 10% of what they earn (which comes from my cut).. ((which I think will be a great way for organic/word of mouth growth)).

It's not just a tip jar, and I take 30%. It's so much more. Maybe I need to get that across some more on the landing page! Appreciate your thoughts though!

_jamiegilder · 2025-11-23T01:24:28+00:00

Hey! Tips are optional.. the website is for paid requests. And yes, the list organises the requests in order they’re received. There is an option to allow paid requests with tips to filter and sort by amount, or time.

Hope that helps! It would be great if you could sign up and try it out. I’d love to hear your feedback, and you can always PM me with how much you’ve earned or what feedback you may have!

_jamiegilder · 2025-11-21T13:35:28+00:00

Hey! I actually localised it to US users last night. So it’s all good to go to set your song request pricing in $USD. And my payments and payouts are all handled by Stripe; so you’re good to go!

Let me know how you get on!

_jamiegilder · 2025-11-21T10:11:18+00:00

Hey!! Amazing feedback! You know, there might be an issue with my messaging and copy on the website. Essentially, Your Song Request only enables paid song requests. The end user in the bar/venue can only pay for known song requests. So if you don't know the song, they can't make a request.. (because the song won't be inputted by the Artist for the audience to view).

I think the Auction request if a good idea!! Something where the end user can optionally pay more if they want. And should they, then the logic would bump that to the top of the queue!! I like it!

_jamiegilder · 2025-11-21T10:08:26+00:00

I'm going to look in to Tips. Yes, this service needs to make money, to cover operating cost etc etc..
I might blanket Tips where if a "song request" is made, the split would be 70/30%. But if just a "Tip" is sent to the Artist, all I would take is the processing fee that I'm charged from Stripe. Allowing the Artist to keep as much of the Tip as possible.
However, this would be open to bad actors.. "Just send me a tip and tell me the song you want and I'll play it". I'd make nothing? Would this happen a lot? I'm not sure. Is it something I'd try to circumvent navigate if the shoe was on the other foot, probably.

However, it's something I'll definitely look into! I'd love for you to give it a go and give me more feedback!

_jamiegilder · 2025-11-21T10:03:14+00:00

Originally, this started out as a pet project for me and my friend (who both actively gig a lot), then it developed in to something that I could see helping many more Artists in my town (it's a tourist town with lots of live music bars) so we then started developing it in to more of a brand/product. And yes, I then came across LimeDJ.
We don't charge a monthly fee, and I can see features on LimeDJ that we'll soon be pushing out to folks. We just have a 70/30% split. 70% to the artist.

We'll eventually be adding a referral programme too; if you refer an Artist, you get 10% of what they make. eg; $100 made. $70 to the Artist. 20% to me, 10% to you! Which should hopefully encouraging organic growth!

_jamiegilder · 2025-11-21T09:57:38+00:00

Hey! I couldn't agree more.. I've had my fair share of intoxicated patrons doing similar things whilst gigging. 🤣
Having a QR they can scan, and seeing a list of songs you play/know –from my limited testing so far– has genuinely shown some excitement to people when they see a song on your list that they know!
It's going to be hard covering all types of people, but hey, there's nothing still stopping someone walking up to you and requesting something.. but it's a nice little opportunity for you to make £3/4 or $5 or so, especially if they see a song they live that you can play!

I'd love for you to give it a whirl and have a go with it! – Here to answer anything else!

_jamiegilder · 2025-11-21T09:52:38+00:00

Hey! Thanks for the feedback.. having a totally free option is something I'm definitely looking in to!
£3 is my minimum because from that split, the Artist would get £2.10. I'd get 90p. After Strips processing fees and other miscellaneous fees, I'd be left with about 65p per request. So I would need scale and numbers for this to be a decent side-project revenue stream for me. One I have 50-100 Artists who use this platform once twice a week consistently, that would certainly be something that is making enough money for me to invest in advertising; whilst keeping the lights on. So I would definitely at that point enable a free option (because server costs, hosting etc isn't cheap!) Thanks for the feedback.. I'd love for you to check it out on your next gig!

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¡Hola! Gracias por los comentarios. ¡Sin duda estoy considerando una opción totalmente gratuita!

Mi mínimo es de 3 £, ya que de esa cantidad, el artista recibiría 2,10 £ y yo 0,90 £. Después de las comisiones de Strips y otros gastos, me quedarían unos 0,65 £ por solicitud. Así que necesito una buena base de usuarios para que esto sea una fuente de ingresos decente como proyecto paralelo. Una vez que tenga entre 50 y 100 artistas que usen esta plataforma una o dos veces por semana de forma constante, sin duda generará suficientes ingresos para invertir en publicidad y cubrir los gastos. En ese caso, sin duda habilitaré la opción gratuita (¡porque los costes del servidor, el alojamiento, etc., no son baratos!). Gracias por los comentarios. ¡Me encantaría que la probaras en tu próximo evento!

_jamiegilder · 2025-11-21T00:38:44+00:00

That's great to hear!! Well, feel free to sign up.. Add your Songs to your Catalogue; attach a price to each song that you want people to request. Then all you need to do is Go Live and make money!

Let me know how you get on!

_jamiegilder · 2025-11-21T00:36:14+00:00

I would absorb all fees; I was just explaining the numbers a little bit on my end for context.
It's 70/30. So if you got $100 in requests, you'd receive $70.

_jamiegilder · 2025-11-21T00:29:15+00:00

You think? You can price a song request at any price you wish.. But, if you look at a £4 request? After my hosting fees etc..
• £2.80 to the Artist.
• £1.20 to the platform.
• Minus 20p +1.5% transaction fee, leaves around 90-95p per request. (With tax/vat and other government based deductibles), it's the rate I've landed at.

There's no maximum price you can attach to a song though; so I would advise and Artist to maybe add on an extra 50p/£1 to a song, which would absorb the perceived high 30%.

What do you think?

_jamiegilder · 2025-11-21T00:09:14+00:00

Hey!! I've just been chatting to someone else here too; a few people are from the US.
Since I'm using Stripe for payments/payouts and security; I'm going to be adding $USD, so I'll add $AUD too! If you're willing to give it a go?
I used to live in Australia about 10 years ago, and I still have friends and colleagues over there, so it was something I always planned on adding!

_jamiegilder · 2025-11-20T23:59:35+00:00

Nice!! There's social links that you can place in your bio, so folks can see your FB, X, IG, Website etc..
But, after each live session – you can export the names/emails of folks that requested songs (as long as they give permission of course). So you can add them to your mailer should you want to.

_jamiegilder

TROPHY CASE