One QR for gigs and tips: why we joined Jamma Music and JamJar at the hip
For years these were two separate problems with two separate apps. Jamma Music helped artists find gigs and helped venues and bookers find artists. JamJar gave performers a QR tip jar so a cashless crowd could actually say thank you. Different logins, different profiles, different data.
That split never made sense, because the person is the same person. The set that earns a £10 tip on Friday is the same set a booker wants proof of on Monday. So we rebuilt the whole thing as one platform: one account, one profile, one QR, tips on one side, bookings on the other, each feeding the other.
The loop: tips become bookings become tips
Here is the simple version of how the unified platform works. You join once, free, and get a profile with a personal QR. Point it at a crowd and it is a tip jar; point a booker at it and it is a live, verified track record.
Every tip that lands through your QR carries a rating and often a tagged comment. Those aggregate into your public Jar Profile, not testimonials you wrote yourself, but numbers attached to real payments from real audiences. When you pitch a venue through the UK venues directory, that is the evidence that goes with you.
- Play, fans scan your QR, and tips, ratings and tags land in your jar.
- Your Jar Profile updates automatically, verified by money, not favours.
- Venues and bookers see the live numbers and book you through Jamma Music.
- The booked gig puts you in front of a new crowd, with the same QR on stage.
Your tip jar is your CV now. Every scan is a receipt a booker can trust.
What changes for artists
Practically, nothing gets harder and several things disappear. There is no second app to maintain and no separate JamJar login, tips, tracks, gigs and payouts live on one dashboard. Your gig history and your tip history sit side by side, and both are visible (as aggregates, never private messages) to people deciding whether to book you.
Payouts are unified too: gig fees and tips settle through the same Stripe connection, and Premium members keep 100% of both, 0% commission on gigs, 0% platform fee on tips.
What changes for venues and bookers
Bookers stop gambling. Instead of a demo reel from 2023 and a promise, an artist arrives with a live profile: how often they play, how audiences rate them, what people say most ('Made my night', 'So friendly'), all attached to actual payments. It is the difference between a reference and a receipt.
And because the venue side runs on the same rails, a venue can go from 'found you in the directory' to 'booked and paid' without leaving the platform, the same account it might also use to run team tipping for its own staff.
One account, every role
The unification is bigger than artists. Hospitality staff run personal jars on the same system. Venues run team boards and leaderboards. Fans and bookers keep a history of everyone they have tipped and booked. It is one graph of people who make nights out good, connected by payments rather than follows.
If you want to see it working before you commit, the login page has a full demo, you can walk through the platform as an artist, a venue owner, a staff member or a fan without creating anything.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need separate accounts for Jamma Music and JamJar?+
No, that's the point of the rebuild. One free account gives you a profile, a QR tip jar and access to gigs. Everything shares the same login, dashboard and Stripe payouts.
Will bookers see my private tip messages?+
Never. Written messages from tippers are private to you, full stop. Your public profile shows aggregates only: tip counts, average rating and the tags fans tap most.
What does it cost?+
Joining is free. Standard members pay a platform fee on tips and commission on gigs; Premium (£9.99/mo, or £7.99/mo annually) drops both to zero.
