Fan-powered global touring platform TOORLY launched

Founded by Hong Kong-based industry professional Jenny Tan – who boasts more than 15 years in emerging markets in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East – the platform was originally conceived in Nigeria “out of frustration with the absence of concerts.” It claims to be the first of its kind, guided by a mission to “amplify fan voices and foster geographically inclusive touring through real-time demand insights.”

TOORLY brings artists to underserved locations by empowering fans to demonstrate local demand collaboratively, thereby shifting tour planning from streaming data to direct fan input. Artists can also launch requests for cities they plan to tour, gathering fan feedback to gauge genuine hard-ticket demand locally.

The platform tracks fan interactions to compile ‘fan demand analytics’, providing artists with real-time insights into their fan base’s geographic distribution and demographics, which aids in strategic tour planning. Through ‘touring demand analytics’, TOORLY offers artists detailed data on fan locations by city, country and region, enhancing their ability to plan tours effectively and engage with their audience. ‘Request analytics’ further assists artists by guiding their selection of tour cities based on direct fan feedback.

“We live in a data-driven world, and we’re also living in a world where fans are immensely powerful,” Tan said. “So why not give fans the chance to show artists where they want to see them, so that artist teams can use fan demand data to plan their tours? It seems like a no-brainer, and yet it doesn’t exist.”

She added: “In a way, what I’m most proud of is that I was able to develop a platform that’s valuable for all industry players with no one losing out ... everyone benefits from reliable touring demand data: artists, agents, promoters, venues, and of course fans.”

In Africa, TOORLY aims to support local artists touring within and outside the continent as well as facilitate international acts that want to tour Africa. Speaking at the Measure of Music 2022 conference, Tan emphasised the platform's role in addressing underserved markets such as Nigeria and South Africa, where traditional touring metrics often prove inadequate.

Tan also touched on streaming data and its limitations for live music planning. “Streaming data is actually not very reliable for touring. Anyone who works with streaming data and tries to make sense of that for touring would probably know that there could be a lot of demand and a lot of listening in certain cities based on having been on playlists or having features, but that doesn’t mean that people would necessarily come out and buy tickets,” she said.