November 24, 2014 Keep Your Life in Order While on Tour
Traveling from one city to the next like a kid on the playground monkey bars, there isn't time to get much else done but your performances when you're on tour. Since life doesn't stop back home when you're on the road, here are four helpful tools to automate your responsibilities so you can focus on the music.
Dropbox
Space is limited when you're on tour, both on the bus and in your laptop. Your recording files, performance videos and photos can take up a lot of bandwidth, which is why a cloud-based file-sharing app like Dropbox is essential. Link up to your desktop computer files at home and save your largest files to the cloud so they don't slow you down. Another advantage of Dropbox is the ease of file-sharing. You and your bandmates can share new edits, videos and anything else easily without the lag time of trying to send big files via email. You can limit access to shared folders so your producers can show you their latest mixes quickly, streamlining the feedback loop immensely for production of your next album, no matter how far you are from the studio.
Price: Free for 2GB; $9.99 per month for 1TB of storage
LifeLock
Face it, while you're on tour you are so busy that someone could steal your identity and it could take you weeks or even months to notice. After all, you barely have enough time to pay your bills and keep up with family and friends. LifeLock provides comprehensive identity protection services. This service include the monitoring of more than a trillion data points daily in search of any suspicious activity in your name. If anything is found, you'll be alerted right away and one of the company's resolution specialists will remedy the situation for you, so you won't have to worry about handling it on your own.
This service isn't just limited to full-blown identity theft. If you lose your wallet after a wild after-party, simply call and the member service team will help you get all of your cards and identification replaced as quickly as possible. If your wallet is stolen, you may even be eligible to be reimbursed for the cash inside and even the cost of the wallet itself.
Price: Ranges from $9.99 to $29.99 per month
Mint
If financial management isn't your thing but a financial manager isn't quite in your rockstar budget yet, Mint is the perfect solution until you make it big. This web-based tool links all of your accounts securely to a single interface so you can easily manage your finances and investments, budget your monthly income and keep track of your bills, all in one place from anywhere in the world. It's accessible through Mint.com or on the free iOS app. Given how easily time can get away from you with a fast-paced schedule traveling from one gig to the next, one of the best features of Mint is the bill reminders. Simply enter in all bill due dates and then you can get reminders sent to you via text or email whenever something is due so you can pay on time.
Price: Free
IFTTT
Short for If This Then That IFTTT is the ultimate in web-based automation, allowing you to create rules (known as recipes in IFTTT lingo), to streamline technology usage. You can automate everything from your email inbox to accessing your favorite blog posts in a single document. Spending too much time keeping up with fans on social media? Create a recipe to update your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare accounts simultaneously. Like Mint, IFTTT can be used through its website or the app for the ultimate in accessibility. The possibilities with IFTTT are impressive with robust offerings that are only limited by your creativity.
Price: Free
Reader Comments (1)
Check out our platform on Artist Growth too! Literally, the easiest way to stay sane during tour life.