Panoramic Artists · Discovery Synopsis
Amy Ellen
Six Month Career Road Atlas
Three priorities. Six months. A clear defined order of operations.
Your music, your image, and your work ethic are already there.
This plan builds the machine around your goals.
Your Personal Mission
Make a Liveable Income With Your Music
Make a Liveable Income With Your Music
Replace sporadic and teaching incomes with music income, so the schedule opens and you can say yes to bigger opportunities. Our first call established the baseline: about €2,800 a month keeps the household standing still. €5,000 is the dream state. Everything below serves closing that gap.
Priority 01
Foundation & Funding
The entity comes first. It is the legal person the money lands in, and the French funds will not even talk to individuals.
- Establish the entity. Leading option: association loi 1901, free, grant-eligible, held by Amy. Confirm the structure with the accountant, then file. Week 1
- Open the association bank account and route gig income through it from the next show. Week 1
- Then the grants: Culture Ireland for the 2027 EU tour, next round 5 Nov 2026 covering events from 15 Feb 2027, plus Agility Award prep for the ~March 2027 window, where Amy applies as a non-resident and has to argue the Irish benefit. Amy + PA
- Explore credit options. ADIE, prêt d'honneur, France Active, bridge capital while grants process. Month 1–2
- Music Australia follows once bookings and fan revenue exist, they form the match (government grants cannot). Axel
Priority 02
Fan Revenue Engine
Every euro route in one place: the store, the merch table, the stage. Fix the pipe, then fill it.
- Website & store go live. One location for everything, store, tour dates, media. The hub for SEO. Week 3
- Collect every royalty. Claim the dashboards, verify distribution, switch on monetization, hunt sync placements. Week 1
- One front door, plus release links. The site in every bio, a free routing link per song. Week 3–5
- Email capture on site + merch table, wired in during the website build. Week 3–5
- Merch without debt. Print-on-demand apparel + on-demand vinyl and CDs. Nothing made before it sells. Month 2
- Festival submissions + paid show booking. Guarantees in FR / CH / DE / UK, live money is pipeline money. Rolling
Priority 03
Live Infrastructure
You are performance-ready. This gives you mixes you can trust, every night.
- What you actually need. Review the gear you own, then build the used-market purchase plan. First
- Hire a console for one rehearsal block. Prove it before buying. Month 2
- Build show files, FOH + in-ears dialled, saved, recallable. Month 2
- Buy a used X32 Rack + iPad once grant or gig money lands, or sooner, via savings, credit, or other funding. Month 2–3
- System travels. Becomes the spec for the touring engineer hire. Month 3+
- The paperwork: stage plot, input list, backline list. One PDF, attached to every booking. Month 2
The sun era · video stills + artwork
Six Months, Three Phases
Each phase ends at a gate. You do not move to the next phase until the gate condition is met. That is what keeps two people from pushing the cart in six directions.
Day 1 is 15 August 2026. Day 180 is 10 February 2027. Real dates are on every row below. One hard external deadline: Culture Ireland, 5 November, in Week 12.
Week 1
15 AugDiscovery call: the numbers, the structure, PRO statusPanoramic
15 AugDiscovery call: the numbers, the structure, PRO statusPanoramic
Week 1
15 AugEntity: confirm with accountant + file · claim all four for-Artists dashboards · create Bandsintown + Songkick profiles · distribution auditAxel
15 AugEntity: confirm with accountant + file · claim all four for-Artists dashboards · create Bandsintown + Songkick profiles · distribution auditAxel
Week 1
15 AugSocial cadence starts, Mon / Wed / Fri, Week 1 of the Social Plan calendarAmy
15 AugSocial cadence starts, Mon / Wed / Fri, Week 1 of the Social Plan calendarAmy
Week 3
29 AugDeclare entrepreneur de spectacles, the récépissé that replaced the licence, once the SIREN landsAmy + Axel
29 AugDeclare entrepreneur de spectacles, the récépissé that replaced the licence, once the SIREN landsAmy + Axel
Week 3
29 AugWebsite build starts, five pages, store, mailing list · fix the Facebook bio · one handle everywherePanoramic
29 AugWebsite build starts, five pages, store, mailing list · fix the Facebook bio · one handle everywherePanoramic
Week 5
12 SepWebsite live, first email captured, first sale · Culture Ireland draft + Agility account setup · film the Lake SessionAll
12 SepWebsite live, first email captured, first sale · Culture Ireland draft + Agility account setup · film the Lake SessionAll
Week 7
26 SepLake Session mixed, mastered + delivered to the distributor with the Spotify editorial pitchAxel
26 SepLake Session mixed, mastered + delivered to the distributor with the Spotify editorial pitchAxel
Week 7
26 SepCulture Ireland file written and parked for the 5 Nov round · first festival submission batch (10 targets)All
26 SepCulture Ireland file written and parked for the 5 Nov round · first festival submission batch (10 targets)All
Week 9
10 OctPrint-on-demand live, two designs · pre-save link live for the singleAmy
10 OctPrint-on-demand live, two designs · pre-save link live for the singleAmy
Gate 1The Culture Ireland file is written and parked for 5 Nov, the Agility account is built for March 2027, the first festival batch is out. A fan can buy something on the website.
Week 11
24 OctOn-demand vinyl + CD storefront live, no stock, no riskAmy
24 OctOn-demand vinyl + CD storefront live, no stock, no riskAmy
Week 11
24 OctGear review + purchase plan, what is owned, then the used-market list in dependency orderAxel
24 OctGear review + purchase plan, what is owned, then the used-market list in dependency orderAxel
Week 12
31 OctSubmit Culture Ireland, 5 Nov. Hard external deadline, the one fixed date in the planAll
31 OctSubmit Culture Ireland, 5 Nov. Hard external deadline, the one fixed date in the planAll
Week 13
7 NovConsole rehearsal block, build FOH + in-ear show files · draft the advancing pack from the channel listAxel
7 NovConsole rehearsal block, build FOH + in-ear show files · draft the advancing pack from the channel listAxel
Day 90
12 NovBook the mid-point review: what moved, what stalled, what changes for the second halfAll
12 NovBook the mid-point review: what moved, what stalled, what changes for the second halfAll
Week 15
21 NovSecond festival batch · ADIE / Initiative France capital meetingAll
21 NovSecond festival batch · ADIE / Initiative France capital meetingAll
Week 15
21 NovLake Session single + video out, the first release of the plan and the first real test of the funnelAll
21 NovLake Session single + video out, the first release of the plan and the first real test of the funnelAll
Week 17
5 DecContent push steps up, catalog spotlights and archive live clips, cadence already running since Week 1Amy
5 DecContent push steps up, catalog spotlights and archive live clips, cadence already running since Week 1Amy
Week 17
5 DecBuy the desk, used X32 Rack + iPad, show files loaded and verified well before the showAxel
5 DecBuy the desk, used X32 Rack + iPad, show files loaded and verified well before the showAxel
Gate 2Merch exists. Show files saved. Capital conversation started. Culture Ireland is submitted, a release is out, and the funnel has been measured once.
Weeks 19–20
19 DecQuiet fortnight. Holidays. One post a week, nothing launched, nothing announced. Planned rest, not driftBoth
19 DecQuiet fortnight. Holidays. One post a week, nothing launched, nothing announced. Planned rest, not driftBoth
Week 21
2 JanBack on cadence · backfill Bandsintown + Songkick with every past dateAmy
2 JanBack on cadence · backfill Bandsintown + Songkick with every past dateAmy
Week 23
16 JanFirst newsletter to the list built since Week 5, into open January inboxesAmy
16 JanFirst newsletter to the list built since Week 5, into open January inboxesAmy
Week 25
30 JanGig with full system, filmed and multitracked, merch table, email sheet, show files in useAll
30 JanGig with full system, filmed and multitracked, merch table, email sheet, show files in useAll
Week 26
6 FebSix-month review: grant status, sales data, festival replies → set the next six monthsAll
6 FebSix-month review: grant status, sales data, festival replies → set the next six monthsAll
Gate 3One show played on the new system with merch sold and emails captured. The EP and the 2027 tour have a funded runway.
Finding Grants · The Triple-Passport Advantage
Amy is Irish. Axel is French and Australian. Three funding systems at once: Irish money funds the touring, French structures fund the recording, loans bridge the gap while grants process. Tap any row for the detail. Figures checked against source, 26 July 2026.
| Source | Track | What it covers | Move | Apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Culture Ireland | Ireland | Travel, freight, accommodation and subsistence for Irish artists presenting abroad. Needs a partner already paying you a fee. Will not pay artist fees or production. | Target round: 5 Nov 2026, for events from 15 Feb 2027 | regular grant page · application portal |
| Agility Award | Ireland | €1,500–€5,000 paid to the artist, not to a structure. Funds development: skills, mentoring, collaboration. Not recording or performance. Amy applies as a non-resident, which is allowed but has to be argued. | 2026 round closed. Next likely March to April 2027. Build the online account now, it takes 5 days and needs a PPS number | agility award page |
| Ireland Music Week | Ireland | Export showcase, and the pipeline into ESNS, Great Escape, Primavera and SXSW. Open to Irish artists living overseas. Runs through Breaking Tunes, which Amy already has. | Applications open February, close late March. Competitive: 50 places | breakingtunes.com |
| CNM / Adami / Spedidam | France | Recording and live aid. Structures only, so nothing here is reachable until the association exists. | File association Week 1 | cnm.fr |
| Adami equality bonus | France | +20% on the total award when at least 3 of 6 key roles on the recording are held by women. | Claimed at filing, not after. Design the EP team for it | adami.fr |
| SACEM tour support | France | Up to €7,000 for a tour, €5,000 for a showcase. Paid to the producer, not the artist, so the association applies. Minimum 5 dates across 2 months. | Needs the récépissé and SACEM membership. Settle the PRO choice first. Verify current amounts | sacem.fr |
| Haute-Savoie | France | Département fund for cross-border projects in the Lake Geneva region. They live in it. | Small and local. Aimed at France–Switzerland work, not an Ireland tour. Worth one call | hautesavoie.fr |
| Prêt d'honneur | Capital | Zero-interest personal loan, no collateral. Initiative France lends roughly €3k to €50k, and the network reports about €9.50 of bank credit unlocked per €1 lent, which is why it is worth having even at a small amount. | Initiative France, regional branch | initiative-france.fr |
| ADIE microcredit | Capital | Up to €15k for people banks will not lend to, coaching included. Working capital for merch and gear. | Not cheap. Book the free advisory call | adie.org |
| France Active | Capital | Loans and bank-loan guarantees built specifically for associations and social-economy structures, with free advisory support. The door for equipment or tour-float credit once the entity has 6–12 months of clean statements. | Register the entity first; approach with the first grant award in hand | franceactive.org |
| Savings & family | Capital | The fastest money there is. If family helps, it goes in as a documented interest-free loan to the entity, repaid from grant or gig income. | One household conversation, one signed page. Your accountant blesses the format. | , |
| Music Australia Cat 1 | Australia | International touring and showcases. Matched grants AUD $5k–$75k, open to Australians living overseas. | Activity must be outside France. The match cannot be government money. Register early, there is a prerequisite quiz | creative.gov.au |
| Music Australia Cat 2 | Australia | International professional & artistic development, matched AUD $3k–$15k for collaborations, residencies, recording projects. The EP sessions could qualify if held outside France. | Quarterly rounds; one application per category per round | creative.gov.au |
| MEWEM mentoring | Europe | French mentoring programme for women building music businesses. No cost. | Amy applies, direct answer to her stated stress | mewem.eu |
| Culture Moves Europe | Europe | €85 a day plus €400–€800 travel, paid to the artist, for a 7 to 60 day project in another Creative Europe country. Music is eligible. Amy in France travelling to Ireland is the exact case. | 2025–26 call closed 30 Apr. Next call opens autumn 2026, inside this plan. Needs a partner at the destination | culture.ec.europa.eu |
| On the Move guide | Europe | The Music Mobility Funding Guide: 430+ recurring mobility funding programs across wider Europe, with eligibility, grant sizes, deadlines and links to national export offices. The discovery engine for everything not yet on this table. | Check before planning any tour, showcase, or writing camp | on-the-move.org |
Think Like the Funder
A grant application is not a request for money. It is evidence that funding this project is the safest way for the funder to hit their own targets. The project is the vehicle, never the objective: not "record an EP" but "grow the international audience for Irish work, and here is the EP that does it." Every application gets read through five lenses. Tap each one.
Grant anatomy
The five things every assessor reads for
- Your experience, proof you can deliver, because assessors score execution risk, not talent.
- The project, one project, one objective, because simple reads as low risk.
- The audience, who benefits and where they already are, named with numbers.
- The timeline, activities week by week, never inspiration.
- The budget, honest, market rate, and matched line for line to the timeline.
The Base Number
What it actually costs to move this ship: the website plus the live system plus the first physical product. One number to raise, from any mix of the sources above, festival fees, microcredit, savings, family, with grants reimbursing behind.
| Item | Est. |
|---|---|
| Website build, fixed scope (see The Website tab) | €1,500 |
| Used X32 Rack console | €1,000 |
| iPad for console control (refurb) | €300 |
| 2× wireless IEM packs (used) | €900 |
| 2× wired belt packs | €200 |
| Universal in-ears ×4 | €400 |
| Passive audio split (mics feed your rack and the house desk), cases, cabling | €300 |
| Contingency | €400 |
| Total to move the ship | €5,000 |
Structure Before Money
The last thing on this page, because it gates everything above it. Nothing gets filed, registered or applied for until these three are settled with your accountant.
Structural rule: nothing commercial gets registered in Axel's name until the intermittence exposure is checked with your accountant. Gigs feed the status, the point of the structure is that every gig lands as a salaried cachet from an employer that isn't him. The association loi 1901, held by Amy, protects his status and unlocks the French system at the same time. File online at service-public.fr.
Entity, the options, decided with your accountant: the leading candidate is the association loi 1901. Free to file, grant-eligible (French aid pays structures, not individuals), employs artists on cachets that feed intermittence, and pays no tax on ancillary commercial income up to roughly €80,000 a year.
The alternatives: a micro-entreprise, simplest, but taxed on turnover with no real expense deduction and not aid-eligible. Or a company, SASU or EURL, the right vehicle later, when there is actual profit to distribute, at €1–2k a year of overhead.
This is orientation, not financial advice. The choice, the officer structure, Axel’s intermittence exposure, and whether past gear buys can be reimbursed all get confirmed with your accountant before anything is filed. The association also needs a récépissé d’entrepreneur de spectacles; that one is on the To-Do List.
Start here: service-public.fr, create an association · guso.fr, employing performers
The alternatives: a micro-entreprise, simplest, but taxed on turnover with no real expense deduction and not aid-eligible. Or a company, SASU or EURL, the right vehicle later, when there is actual profit to distribute, at €1–2k a year of overhead.
This is orientation, not financial advice. The choice, the officer structure, Axel’s intermittence exposure, and whether past gear buys can be reimbursed all get confirmed with your accountant before anything is filed. The association also needs a récépissé d’entrepreneur de spectacles; that one is on the To-Do List.
Start here: service-public.fr, create an association · guso.fr, employing performers
Where You Stand
Your numbers, without decoration. The catalog has real streams and real press. The gap is infrastructure, not talent.
66k+
Lifetime streams, top 5 tracks
~4,600
Total social reach
3
Countries with radio play, IE · US · FR
71
Monthly listeners, the dormancy cost
€0
Direct fan revenue possible today
0
Bandsintown / Songkick profiles
~24 mo
Since last release
5
Competing handles across platforms
€1.5–1.6k
Axel take-home / month, today
€1.1–1.3k
Amy / month, lessons carrying it
€2,800
Household floor, stand still
€5,000
The dream state, your word: "insane"
What the first call told us
- No entity yet, gig money splits four ways, informally. The entity fixes this.
- You had a website that worked, the subscription cost was the only reason it went. The rebuild is free-hosted.
- Photo shoot already booked. Full gig video costs €300 with people you know.
- Amy ran the socials well before and takes them back, with direction and homework.
- You've worked with a manager before and liked having one. Representation is welcome.
- Booking, tour logistics, and admin are the loads to shed. Creative stays in-house, yours.
Day-180 Targets
Where you stand in six months if the plan is worked. Every number here is an engine metric, something you control by doing the work, not a vanity outcome. These are floors, not ceilings.
LIVE
Entity + bank account, gig income routing
1 IN
Culture Ireland submitted 5 Nov, Agility pack ready for March
LIVE
Website + store, first sale completed
100
Real emails on the list
€500
Direct fan revenue through the entity
20
Festival / venue submissions sent
1
Confirmed booking from those 20
1+
Shows played, 1 on the full system. Add any dates already listed on Facebook
~72
Posts, 24 Mon / Wed / Fri weeks plus a quiet fortnight
250
Spotify monthly listeners, up from 71
€2,800
Of the €5,000 base number assembled, covering website + desk
KNOWN
Credit ceiling, ADIE / Initiative France
What is deliberately not on this list: likes, follower counts, streams-per-day, playlist adds. Those follow the engine, they are not the engine. The six-month review measures this table and nothing else.
Top 5 Comp Bands
The bands you love that are working right now, your measuring stick. The bar under each name shows the climb, and the top row is you.
| Band | The numbers, July 2026 |
|---|---|
 Amy Ellen you · today 71 250 day-90 target |
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The scale on the bars is logarithmic: every step up is roughly 3 to 10 times the listeners, because this business grows in multiplications, not straight lines. Cliffords is step 1 because they are your next multiplication, not because they are small.
How to work the shelf
- Pitch language. "For fans of Slow Pulp, Momma, Wishy" is the sentence that makes a playlist editor or booker understand you in five words. Use it in every submission.
- Venue targeting. The rooms Cliffords and Florence Road played two years ago, and the room Momma played in Dublin last year, are the rooms to submit to now.
- Support slots. When the American bands on this shelf tour Europe they play 200 to 600 cap rooms, and their promoters need local support acts. Watch their EU announcements and pitch the promoter, not the band.
- Show volume. The shelf says a working band at this level plays 30 to 70 shows a year, doubling in album years. Your six-month target is the ignition, the annual pattern is the engine.
- The quarterly check. Log five numbers per band, every quarter: Spotify monthly listeners, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube subscribers, and shows announced. Thirty minutes, and your goals stay pinned to a moving market instead of a guess.
Figures above are a July 2026 snapshot. Monthly listener counts move constantly, so check the live Spotify artist page before quoting a number in any pitch.
One Name. One Look. Everywhere.
Brand unity is not a logo, it is repetition. The same name, the same mark, the same colours, the same bio, on every surface a fan can find. Merch is simply that brand printed on objects people want. Fix the identity once and everything downstream, socials, press, posters, product, comes for free.
The Rule
The handle is @amyellenmusic. Full stop. The "91" and "official" variants get renamed or retired within two weeks. One handle, one bio, one link, copy-pasted identically to every platform.
Kit 01
One Mark. Decide It.
Every great band identity has one symbol that works without the name, the Stones' tongue, Floyd's prism. You need to pick yours, and commit to it.
- The decision: one primary mark, chosen by you, that becomes the identifier of the band. Candidates already in your world: the sunflower from the artwork, the distressed AE monogram, the lips float. Or something new entirely. What matters is that there is exactly one.
- The test it must pass: reads at a 16px favicon and on a kick drum head, works in one colour, and means Amy Ellen without a word of text next to it.
- The rule once chosen: it appears on everything, avatars, merch, covers, the site, posters, stage, with no competing marks anywhere.
- Supporting cast: the distressed AMY ELLEN caps stay as the wordmark beside it; everything else retires. Decision deadline: before the merch designs in Week 5, because the mark is what gets printed.
Kit 02
Colour & Voice
Pulled from the current live footage, this is the era the brand ships in.
- Sky blue + sunflower yellow is the pair. The red hair is the third colour, it reads against both.
- Soft film, grain, sun flare on everything, warmth and wear, never clinical. The live shots keep their haze; print and web live in the sky palette.
- One bio, three lengths, 160 chars, 50 words, 150 words, written once, pasted everywhere.
- Genre line locked: the Bully cover on stage says the soft grunge shift is real. Decide the words on the call. Call 1
- New photo set, the whole visual foundation. Strong solo frames of Amy plus full-band frames, shot to match the direction of the release being planned, not the last era. Everything downstream uses these: website, socials, EPK, press, merch mockups, streaming profiles. Shoot wide and tight, vertical and horizontal, so one session feeds every format. Booked
Kit 03
Something to Sell
Every product below is the brand applied. No design debt, no inventory debt.
- Tee, longsleeve, hoodie, one-colour mark on the sky palette. The hoodie is the margin item: highest ticket in the apparel range, strongest merch-table seller in cold months, and print-on-demand carries the cost. Week 5
- Vinyl + CDs, cut on demand via elasticStage, film-border sleeves, the mark on the spine. Zero risk, live from store launch. Month 2
- Pins, patches, stickers, the mark as a pin, film-frame sticker set. Small ticket, high margin, impulse buys at the table. Week 11
- Merch is free advertising. Every tee worn to a festival, every sticker on a laptop, is the brand walking around unpaid. One stranger asking "who's that on your shirt" is a fan acquired at zero cost, and it keeps working for years after the sale.
- Why physical matters more than streams. One record sold is worth thousands of plays. The math
Reference · Dead & Gone (2023)
What Stays the Same
Look at this 2023 cover: teal water, red hair, film grain, melancholy shot in full sun. Those same four elements run through everything Amy Ellen has ever put out. The rebrand doesn't invent a look, it keeps these four constants and applies them to every surface, so old fans still recognise the artist and new ones meet a finished identity.
One fix: this cover uses script lettering, the chair artwork uses distressed caps, the socials use neither. Three type identities collapse into one, the distressed caps, from the next release forward.
Day 1–3Lock name, genre line, bio, the three decisions everything else copiesCall 1
Day 4–7Mark finalised from the new photo direction · avatar + banner set cut for every platform sizeAmy + Axel
Day 8–10Deploy: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, X, Spotify, Apple, Bandcamp, website, same avatar, banner, bio, linkAmy + Axel
Day 11–14Retire old handles with pinned redirect posts · press kit page updated with new assetsAxel
GateSearch "Amy Ellen" on any platform and find one band, one look, one link.
The Hub Everything Routes Through
One site, six pages, three jobs: capture the fan’s email, take the fan’s money, and send the fan everywhere else. Free hosting, owned by the entity, so the subscription cost that made the last website not worth keeping never comes back.
Build 01
The Pages
Five pages. Nothing more until the data says so.
- Home, hero image, latest release, one clear signup and one clear store button.
- Music, full catalog, streaming embeds, smart-link buttons per release.
- Lyrics. Every song's words, so fans can connect to the writing, not just the sound.
- Tour, Bandsintown embed, so dates update themselves once, everywhere.
- Store, merch and music in one place (see Build 02).
- EPK, the Electronic Press Kit. A single page: bio, press, photos, live video, tech rider, links, contact. On brand with everything else.
Build 02
The Machinery
Every function embedded from free or near-free tools, nothing custom to maintain.
- Mailing list: Brevo, French company, EU-hosted, GDPR-clean, free tier covers you for years. Signup on every page + paper sheet at the merch table, typed in weekly.
- Store: Bandcamp embedded for digital, elasticStage storefront for on-demand vinyl and CDs, Printful for apparel. Zero inventory, zero monthly fee.
- Social link-backs: header and footer icons to every profile, and every profile bio carries the site URL, the loop search engines index.
- Hosting: Cloudflare Pages, free. Domain renewal is the only recurring cost, about €12 a year, paid by the entity.
Build 03
The Investment
The build is professional time. The framing: the plan's first money pays for it.
- Fixed scope, fixed price, the five pages and machinery above, delivered complete. No open-ended hours.
- Panoramic builds, you own, code, domain, and accounts all belong to the entity from day one.
- Funded by the plan, first festival fee or grant tranche covers it, not the grocery budget.
- Handover included, 30 minutes of training: update a date, add a product, send a mailout. You run it after that.
Mailing list, the only audience channel no algorithm can throttle. Web store, the first place a fan can actually give the band money. Link-backs, every social profile points here, and this points back to every social, so search engines finally connect the five scattered handles into one artist.
Tap any circle for details
Before Day 1Assets in, clock starts: new photos, all logos & artwork, lyrics for every release, About text in Amy's voice, contact info, press quotes, video links, tech rider, one shared folder, filled onceAmy + Axel
Days 1–2Domain to the entity · Cloudflare Pages setup · site skeleton in the brand palettePA
Days 3–5Music, Tour, EPK, About pages built from the asset folder, photos, lyrics, bio, press quotes, contactPA
Days 6–8Store + Brevo signup live · Bandcamp and Printful connected · test purchase completedPA + Axel
Days 9–10Every social bio updated to the site URL · handover session · launch postAmy
GateOne real email captured. One real sale completed. Every profile pointing home.
On-Demand Merch, EU Providers
All cost nothing until a fan orders. Ratings and caveats below are the July 2026 read. One asterisk to hold: Everpress and elasticStage ship from the UK, so EU fans can get hit with customs charges post Brexit. Gelato and Printful print inside the EU and avoid that entirely.
| Provider | Best for | Why | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gelato | Tees, prints, posters | Produces locally in 30+ countries including France, a French fan's order prints in France, so shipping is fast and cheap. No monthly fee. | gelato.com |
| Printful | Full catalog + site integration | EU fulfilment (Riga, Barcelona), widest product range, cleanest embed into the website store. No monthly fee on the base plan. | printful.com |
| Everpress | Limited-run campaign tees | Built for bands: a design runs as a timed campaign, fans pre-order, it only prints if the minimum sells. Zero risk, built-in scarcity. | everpress.com |
| elasticStage | Vinyl + CDs, cut on demand | Each record or CD is manufactured only when a fan orders it, no minimums, no upfront cost, royalties from the first sale. Free storefront, ships to 90+ countries, bulk copies at a discount for the merch table. Made in London (PET, not PVC; black vinyl only). | elasticstage.com |
| Bandcamp | Music, digital | The music-side counter: digital sales and the artist-friendly fan base live here, embedded in the store page alongside the elasticStage storefront. | bandcamp.com |
Recommended split: Printful or Gelato wired into the site for apparel, Everpress for one limited launch design to test demand, elasticStage for vinyl and CDs cut on demand, Bandcamp for digital.
The Merch Ladder
Read the five stores bottom to top and you get the whole industry playbook for selling to fans, one stage at a time. This is the machine your own store enters at stage one, with one advantage none of them kept.
Five bands, five stages of the same machine
- Cliffords, 54.8k: an outsourced official store (On Repeat) full of local identity merch, £5 Cork salmon pins up to a £40 sweatshirt, with the EP vinyl already sold out, plus Bandcamp and the tour table. Professional even at step 1, but it lives on a third party domain, not their site. Yours will live on yours.
- Wishy, 165k: the smartest shop on the shelf. Album preorder in three vinyl tiers with a 300 copy limited edition and a bonus gift, a membership club with member pricing and free shipping, and a $30 logo tee hand embroidered by their guitarist, a seamstress by trade. Scarcity, membership, and a handmade story at indie scale.
- Momma, 389k: the professional stack. Their site routes to three outsourced stores by region, Ambient Inks official, Polyvinyl for the US, Lucky Number for UK and EU. The band never touches a shipping box.
- Slow Pulp, 1.49M: fully label operated through Anti. Clean price tiers, $13.99 CD up to a $149 collector's bundle, zero band run retail.
- Florence Road, 2.2M: the major label version. No store of their own at all, Warner sells everything, including a 1,000 copy limited pressing with exclusive live tracks, and tour merch is announced drop by drop on Instagram.
Who Does What
Every task in the plan, in order, with a name on it. Nothing here is vague and nothing is owned by "someone." Tick the boxes as you go, accountability is the whole point of this page.
Phase 1 · Days 1–60 · Open the Doors
Book the accountant meetingOne session covering: entity choice, officer structure, intermittence exposure, PRO registrations (IMRO / SACEM), retroactive gear reimbursement.Send the agenda ahead: entity choice, officer roles, intermittence exposure, PRO registrations, gear reimbursementIMRO or SACEM for Amy. Not just admin: SACEM tour support is only for SACEM members and SACEM repertoireWho holds the bureau roles, given Amy and Axel are a coupleConfirm Axel can be the named competent person for the spectacles declaration without taking a bureau seatDoes the association need an APE / NAF code in the artistic fieldDoes Adami still bar releases distributed via aggregators (DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby). If so, the biggest French pot may be closedGather current paperwork: income records, past gear receipts, any registrationsBook the session within the first weekAmyAxelAccountant
Establish the entityStructure confirmed by the accountant, then filed at service-public.fr. Amy holds it, with the purpose clause drafted alongside the accountant.Confirm the structure with the accountantDraft the statuts and purpose clause with the accountantChoose the officers per the accountant's advice: Axel stays out of the bureau; a trusted third president may be safestRequest the APE / NAF code, and let the statuts allow the association to own masters. Both are Adami conditionsWrite live performance into the objet social. The récépissé cannot be declared without itFile online at service-public.fr and keep the récépisséWatch for the Journal Officiel publication and SIREN numberDeclare entrepreneur de spectacles at mesdemarches.culture.gouv.fr once the SIREN lands. Free, valid 5 yearsAmyAxelSageAccountant
Grant pre-flight checkRun before any application leaves the building. Applications win by proving low risk, so every box below is a risk removed.The ask names the funder's objective, not the activity: never "record an EP", always the outcome it createsTriangle check: every budget line is in the timeline, every timeline item is in the project description the triangle ruleTimeline reads as activities week by week, zero inspiration languageAudience section cites the comp bands and their live numbers from the Numbers tabArtist fees at market rate for both of you, not zero, not inflatedPartnerships listed with letters of support: presenter, venues, Panoramic, engineersBudget roughly breaks even across the funded periodSageAmyAxel
Open the entity bank accountRoute the next gig fee through it. Every fee after that, same path.Compare association accounts (traditional bank vs online)Open with the statuts, récépissé, and officer IDRoute the very next gig fee through itAmy
Claim the four artist dashboardsSpotify, Apple, Amazon, Deezer. Pull listener geography, it decides which festivals to target.Claim Spotify for Artists, Apple, Amazon, DeezerPull listener geography and map it against the festival listUpdate profile photos, bios, and the site link on eachAxel
Distribution auditWho distributes the catalog (DistroKid, CD Baby, TuneCore, Amuse…), is every release live on all services including Amazon Music, is YouTube monetization (Content ID + YouTube Music) switched on, and do the royalties land in the right account. One call with the distributor dashboard open.Find the distributor account and loginVerify every release is live on every service, including Amazon MusicSwitch on YouTube monetization: Content ID + YouTube MusicConfirm where royalties pay out, and start the sync target listRegister the recording side: SoundExchange for US digital radio and webcast play (the KEXP history), plus Adami or Spedidam for performer shares and SCPP/SPPF or Irish PPI for the producer share. No ASCAP or BMI needed, IMRO/SACEM collect US airplay through reciprocal dealsAxelSage
Create Bandsintown + Songkick profilesMinutes each. Needed before the website build embeds the tour page.Create and verify both artist profilesAdd every confirmed upcoming dateLink both to the socials so the embed works when the site is built, Weeks 3–4Axel
Send the website assets inEverything the build needs, in one folder: new photos (latest shoot when it lands), all logos and artwork files, song lyrics for every release, a written About section in Amy's voice, contact info (booking + management email, entity details), press quotes, video links, and the tech rider.Create one shared folderDrop in photos, logos, and all artwork filesWrite the About text in Amy's voice + lyrics for every releaseAdd contact info, press quotes, video links, and the tech riderAmyAxel
Brand decisions: one mark, one handleThe two identity calls the whole rollout waits on, made together, then deployed everywhere in one sitting.Decide the one primary mark (deadline: before the Week 5 merch designs, because the mark is what gets printed)Lock the genre line and the one bio, written at three lengthsConsolidate to @amyellenmusic everywhere, including the YouTube handle change from @amyellenmusic91Fix the Facebook bio and deploy the same avatar, banner, bio and link on every platform in one sittingAmyAxelSage
Start the content cadenceAmy runs the Mon / Wed / Fri system from the Social Plan tab: one 90-minute Sunday block, three scheduled posts, two 10-minute reply windows a day. Ignore likes; Brevo and the store keep the score.Sunday: the 90-minute block, three posts cut and scheduled, formats pulled from the Content BankName one recurring series in month one (Lake Sessions, The Story Behind, or your own)Mon / Wed / Fri publish automatically + one story each dayTwo 10-minute reply windows daily, then the app closesAmySage
Build the websiteFive pages, store, Brevo mailing list, Bandsintown embed. Ten working days from asset delivery. Fixed scope: €1,500.Days 1–2: domain to the entity, hosting, skeletonDays 3–5: Music, Tour, EPK, About pages from the folderDays 6–8: store + Brevo live, test purchase completedSage
Connect the merch storefrontPrint-on-demand and elasticStage wired into the store page during the build, so something is buyable on launch day. Gate 1 depends on this.Pick the provider from the fulfilment table on The Website tab (Printful, Gelato, Everpress)Wire both storefronts into the store page and test an order end to endConfirm at least one product is purchasable the day the site goes liveSageProvider
Launch check: first email, first saleTest purchase, test signup, every social bio updated to the site URL. Then the launch post.Site URL into every bio and caption template; generate the free per-release routing links from the distributor for song posts and adsOne real signup lands in BrevoOne real purchase completes end to endEvery social bio updated to the site URL, then the launch postEveryone
Film and deliver the Lake Session singleOne take at Lac Léman, golden hour, the series already named in the Content Bank. A live recording of an existing catalog song, never an EP track, so the funded project stays untouched. Filmed Week 5, delivered Week 7.Pick the song from the catalog. 'Leave Me' is strongest: 34k streams already there to re-activateConfirm nothing released here is part of the EP funders will be asked to pay forFilm one take at Lac Léman, golden hour, phone or borrowed camera, audio captured properlyAxel mixes and masters the live takeArtwork cut from the locked mark, so the single is the mark's first public outingDeliver to the distributor Week 7 with the Spotify pitch. Four weeks lead is the targetAmyAxel
Write Culture Ireland + prep AgilityCulture Ireland aimed at the 5 Nov 2026 round, which funds events from 15 Feb 2027, the 2027 EU tour window. Agility waits for March 2027. Amy writes as the applicant. Panoramic application review is available as a booked session.Gather the evidence: confirmed dates with presenter fees, routing plan, travel budget, press, EPK linkAmy writes both narratives as the applicantOptional: book a Panoramic session to pressure-test the file before submissionCreate the Arts Council Online Services account for Agility (needs PPS, allow 5 days, desktop only)Agility residency: Amy applies as a non-resident, so the case for Irish benefit has to be written. Do it first, not lastCheck Amy is eligible: no individual Arts Council funding since 2016, no Bursary the same yearAmy applies to MEWEM mentoring, free, and a direct answer to the workload stressAmySage
Park Culture Ireland + first festival batchThe grant file finished and held for the 5 Nov round. Ten festival targets go out now, because the confirmed bookings are what the application is built on.Finish the file now, submit 5 Nov. Applications are never accepted outside a roundLog the Music Australia rounds. Tour dates pick the round, and the match comes from fees, entity funds and fan money, never other grantsAxel completes the Go Global Toolkit quiz and registers in Fluxx. Both are prerequisites, neither is quickBuild the 10-target list from the listener geographyAxel sends each submission with the EPK linkAxelSage
Phase 2 · Days 61–120 · Build the Machine
Launch the first two merch designsWeek 5. Two designs from the Brand Kit go live on the print-on-demand storefront, zero inventory risk, nothing manufactured before it sells.Upload the two launch designs from the Brand Kit, built on the locked markOrder one sample of each to check print and fit before promotingAnnounce in the Week 5 social slot, worn in a song post that weekSageAmy
Release the Lake Session single + videoPre-save live Week 9, drop Week 15. The website launch gives fans a site; this gives them a reason to visit it. First real traffic through the funnel, and the first numbers worth reading.Pre-save link live in Week 9 and in every bio, running to the dropRelease Week 15: audio to all services, video premiered on YouTube and cut into Reels, TikTok and ShortsEvery post that week ends at the site link, never at the streaming link aloneBaseline the funnel: pre-saves, bio clicks, Brevo signups, store visits. These become the number every later campaign is measured againstGuardrail: numbers get checked once, on day seven, then the app closes. Release week is exactly when the post-and-close rule matters mostAmyAxelSage
List the catalog on-demand: vinyl + CDsEvery release live on elasticStage so the physical catalog exists from launch with zero upfront cost.Create the elasticStage artist account and storefrontUpload masters and artwork for every releasePlace one test order and check quality before announcingAxel
Gear review + purchase planAxel inventories what's owned, then specs the used-market shopping list for FOH, monitors, and multitrack recording. One list, priced, in dependency order.Inventory everything currently ownedSpec the list across FOH, monitors, multitrackPrice the used market against the €5,000 base numberSageAxel
Console rehearsal blockX32 Rack hired, show files built together, FOH and in-ears dialled and saved.Hire the X32 Rack and book the roomBuild the FOH mix together, then each in-ear mixSave the show files and back them up twiceFull bandSage
Advancing pack: stage plot + input listDrafted from the rehearsal-block channel list, stage plot, input list, and a backline list with alternatives for fly dates. One PDF, attached to every booking and festival application from then on.Write the input list from the rehearsal channel listDraw the stage plot with power and monitor positionsAdd the backline list with alternatives for fly datesExport one PDF, attach it to everythingSageFull band
Meet ADIE / Initiative FranceWorking-capital conversation, with the base-number budget from the Funding Map in hand.Book both conversationsBring the €5,000 base-number budgetADIE is not cheap. Ask first about the separate €3,000 at zero interestLeave knowing the approved ceiling, even if nothing is borrowedAmyAxel
Book the mid-point reviewMidpoint course correction: grants, website data, festival replies, blockers. One hour, day 90.Gather statuses: grants, site data, festival replies, blockersOne hour together, named blockers, no blameRe-cut the second half against realityEveryoneSage
Second festival batchTen more targets, now with the live EPK and any early replies as leverage.Ten new targets, chosen from what replied first timeAttach the live EPK and any early repliesSend, and log every responseAxelSage
Phase 3 · Days 121–180 · Point at the Audience
Buy the desk, own the systemThe used X32 Rack + iPad purchase once money has landed, closing Priority 03: the rig, the ears, the split and the show files become one travelling system.Confirm the funding source: grant tranche, gig income, credit ceiling, savings, or documented family loanBuy used, test every channel, purchase runs through the entity as its assetLoad and verify the show files on the new deskWrite the one-page touring engineer spec: the system, the files, the rate tiers, ready for when guarantees support the hireAxelSage
First newsletterShort, personal, one link. Merch-table emails typed in first.Type in the merch-table emails firstWrite it short and personal, one clear linkSend via Brevo and note the open rate for the monthly reviewAmy
Backfill listingsPast shows and all confirmed dates onto Bandsintown + Songkick.Add past shows to Bandsintown where possibleList every confirmed future date on both platformsAxel
Play the full-system gigShow files on the desk, merch on the table, email sheet beside it.Show files loaded and checked at soundcheckMerch table stocked, email sheet beside itBrand assets visible; same-night story recapFull band
Film the full-system gigThe Week 11 show, same night as the full-system debut. €300 videographer, multitrack recorded on the desk you now own, mixed by Axel. Becomes the EPK live session and a month of clips.Book the €300 videographerRecord multitrack on the desk the same night, desk purchase must already be closedAxel mixes; cut clips for the EPK and the feedAxelVideographer
Book the six-month reviewGrants status, sales data, festival replies, list growth, measured against the €2,800 floor. Output: the next six months.Fill in the Day-180 targets table with real numbersDecide together: what scales, what gets cutDiarise the two deadlines after this plan: Ireland Music Week, Feb to March 2027, and Agility, around March 2027Write the next six-month planEveryoneSage
Note: ticked boxes on this page don't save between visits, it's a working checklist for meetings, so keep the exported file as the master copy.
Amy's Social Plan
You ran the socials well before, 700-like posts prove it. Then the algorithm moved and watching the numbers fall became genuinely unhealthy. This plan is built around that lesson: a system you can run in under three hours a week, measuring the numbers that pay, ignoring the ones that hurt.
The Rules
Post and close the app. No refreshing, no counting. DMs and comments get answered twice a day at set times, ten minutes each. The only numbers that matter live in Brevo and the store: signups, link clicks, sales. Likes are weather. The real numbers get reviewed once a month, in one sitting, never daily.
System 01
Film Once, Post Everywhere
One vertical clip becomes four posts. No platform gets its own content.
- Every rehearsal and gig gets filmed, phone on a stand, one wide angle, whole set. Free raw material, every week.
- One clip = IG Reel + TikTok + YouTube Short + FB post. Same file, four uploads, ten minutes.
- Instagram is home base (2,300 followers, the biggest room). TikTok and Shorts are discovery. Facebook is the local French audience and venues.
- Every caption ends the same way: the site link. The funnel never varies.
System 02
The Four Pillars
Rotate these and the feed stays alive without inventing anything.
- The songs: 20–40s live or rehearsal clips, one song moment per post, title in text overlay.
- The world: the lake, the Alps, film photos, the aesthetic that's already yours. Zero-effort beauty.
- The work: studio glimpses, in-ears going in, the desk, cables, people love seeing the machine.
- The milestones: website launch, first vinyl sold, gig announcements, newsletter moments, the plan itself is content.
System 03
The Weekly Block
One 90-minute session, once a week. Batch it, schedule it, walk away.
- Cut three clips from the week's rehearsal or gig footage. Caption all three, site link at the end.
- Schedule Mon / Wed / Fri in Meta's free planner, posts publish themselves.
- Stories between posts: 30 seconds, unpolished, in the moment. Stories are allowed to be casual.
SundayThe 90-minute block, cut, caption, schedule the week's three postsAmy
Mon / Wed / FriPosts go out automatically, one story on each posting day, then close the appScheduled
DailyTwo 10-minute windows, reply to DMs and comments, engage with 3–4 accounts in the scene, doneAmy
MonthlyNumbers review, signups, clicks, sales, follower trend. The only scoreboard that countsAmy
GateFour consecutive weeks of Mon / Wed / Fri without a missed post. Consistency is the entire game.
The Six-Month Posting Calendar
Thirteen milestone weeks across six months, three posts a week, every post filmed once and published to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Facebook together. Click any week for that week’s strategy. The calendar follows the plan, when the plan hits a milestone, the feed announces it.
The songs
The world
The work
Milestones
Week
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Week 1Reintroduce
Rehearsal clip, first look at the live band
The world, lake / Alps film shot
Song moment, 30s live cut
Week 3Warm up
Song moment, catalog cut
In-ears & desk, building the sound
“Something’s coming” teaser
Week 5Launch
Website launch announcement
Store walkthrough, what’s inside
Song moment + link in bio
Week 7Catalog
‘Leave Me’ spotlight, the 34k-stream song
The world, where the songs come from
Filming the Lake Session, behind the scenes
Week 9Merch + pre-save
Tee launch, the first designs
Song moment, wearing the merch
Pre-save the Lake Session, link in bio
Week 11Physical
Vinyl & CD on demand announcement
First vinyl in hand, the object itself
Song moment, the song on the record
Week 13The sound
Console block, dialling the in-ears
Show-file moment, our sound, saved
Song moment, rehearsal room take
Week 15Release
Lake Session single + video out
The lake it was filmed at, the story
Best moment from the session, site link
Week 17Live era
Archive live clip, past show footage
Crowd / room moment
Archive clip two, the loud one
Weeks 19–20Quiet
One post only, no launch
Holidays, off the grid
Draft January’s newsletter
Week 23The list
Join-the-newsletter push
Past shows, the history, backfilled
Song moment, fan favourite
Week 25Gig week
Gig announcement, full system debut
Day-of stories + soundcheck clip
The show, same-night story recap
Week 26Recap
Best live moment from the gig
Thank-you post, the room, the people
Six months ago vs now, the change
The Content Bank
When a calendar slot needs filling, pull from here. Every format below is shot on a phone, costs nothing, and fits the pillars. The best ones become recurring series with their own name, which is how a feed develops a personality instead of a schedule.
Series ideas
Recurring Formats
- Lake Sessions: one-take acoustic performances at Lac Léman, golden hour, one song per episode. The location is free, ten minutes away, and already part of the brand.
- 90s, Her Way: a covers strand. The Bully cover already in the set proves the concept; Nirvana, Mazzy Star, Cranberries and Fazerdaze territory is hers to claim.
- The Story Behind: Amy, 45 seconds to camera, one song's origin per clip. The catalog has eleven singles of material waiting.
- Rig Diaries: Axel building the system, in-ears, show files, the desk. Musicians and bookers watch this more than anyone admits.
One-offs & textures
Fill Formats
- Lyric clips: a verse over the sun-era film footage, band name and title overlaid. Fast to cut, endlessly reusable.
- Bilingual moments: short French-language posts and captions. The local audience is French; almost no competitor at this level speaks to them directly.
- From the archive: Dead & Gone era photos and clips resurfaced with a line of hindsight. Nostalgia posts consistently over-perform for returning fans.
- Artwork process: film photos developing, cover mockups, the sleeves taking shape. The physical era is inherently visual.
Interviews & interaction
Talk Formats
- Three Questions: each band member answers the same three questions, one clip each. Four posts, one shoot, and the audience meets the whole band.
- Monthly Q&A: a story sticker collects fan questions; Amy answers the best five in one clip. The audience writes the script.
- Local radio, revisited: La Radio Plus has had them on before. A new session or interview clip cross-posted is earned media plus content in one move.
- Duets and stitches: TikTok-native replies to covers, gear debates and scene conversations. The only format here that rides other people's reach.
On paid promotion: nothing gets boosted until the funnel works, there is no point paying to send people to a store that doesn't exist yet. Once the website passes its gate, a small test budget (€50–100) goes behind the single best-performing clip, aimed at the release and gig announcements.