GigPig powers live music bookings between artists and hospitality venues across the UK, generating one of the largest structured datasets of hospitality based live music activity.

Unlike traditional event datasets that record only completed performances, the GigPig dataset captures the full booking lifecycle, from gig creation and artist discovery through bidding, booking decisions, travel, confirmed performances and cancellations. This provides a unique view of how the live music market operates.

Content

The dataset contains gig level, bid level, artist level and venue level information generated through activity on the GigPig platform.

Each record is linked across artists, venues and events, enabling researchers to analyse the complete booking journey, including artist engagement, booking behaviour, travel patterns, booking outcomes and venue characteristics.

The dataset supports research across a broad range of topics, including artist progression, labour markets, accessibility, regional disparities, market efficiency, hospitality performance, cultural participation and the wider economic contribution of live music.

Quality, Representation and Bias

The dataset reflects activity on the GigPig platform and therefore represents artists, venues and events that actively use the service. It should not be interpreted as representing the entirety of the UK live music market, particularly activity booked outside the platform.

Data quality is high as records are generated directly through platform interactions rather than manual reporting or secondary collection. Around 1% of artist records cannot currently be assigned to a UK Local Authority District due to missing location information or artists based outside the UK.

As the platform continues to grow, the scale, geographic coverage and representativeness of the dataset will continue to expand, making it an increasingly valuable resource for understanding the UK's live music ecosystem.