Playbook · Edition 2026
The International Artist Playbook
How to build demand outside your home market.
Going international is not the same as travelling internationally. Flights can be booked. PR can be bought. Shows can be announced. The harder question is whether there is a market waiting when you land. This playbook exists to help you answer it before you spend the budget, not after.
Secure checkout. Instant access in My Library. Chapter 01 is free to read below.
Who this is for
This is for you if
- You have momentum at home and no system for turning it into demand abroad.
- You are being asked about international dates and cannot yet answer commercially.
- You have spent money on travel, PR or content without a market response.
- You need to decide between three territories and want evidence, not instinct.
This is not
- A course, a coaching programme or a membership.
- A list of contacts, promoters or playlist pitches.
- A promise of bookings, streams or results.
Inside the Playbook
- 01
International Readiness
Before asking where to go, ask whether you are ready to go.
- 02
Choose The Market, Don’t Chase The Map
Not every country where people stream you deserves investment.
- 03
Positioning Before Promotion
New markets do not owe you context.
- 04
Build The Bridge Audience
International audiences rarely appear all at once.
- 05
Demand Signals
Attention is useful. Behaviour is better.
- 06
Promoter & Buyer Readiness
A promoter is not buying your ambition. They are buying risk.
- 07
Live Market Strategy
The first show should prove something.
- 08
PR & Partnerships
PR cannot create a market by itself.
- 09
Routing Before Romance
Touring is logistics before it is glamour.
- 10
The 90-Day Market Entry Plan
Do not announce first and strategise afterwards.
- 11
The Market-Entry Dashboard
Track only the things that help you decide.
- 12
From The Field
Case studies, proof, not theory.
- 13
The Worksheet Library
Every tool in this playbook, in one place.
- 14
The Final Go / Test / Build Decision
Everything in this playbook exists to produce one clear answer.
- 15
The Final Action Plan
Leave with a plan, not just an analysis.
Drawn, not just described
Chapters carry interactive diagrams you can explore as you read. Here is one of them.
Figure 04.1
Where a market actually sits
Every candidate territory sits somewhere between what it costs you to enter and how much demand already exists. Select a market to read what that position asks of you.
Little demand
Demand is visible and the cost of showing up is high. This is where you spend, because the audience is not a guess.
Select any part to read more
The fifteen tools
Every chapter ends in a tool you complete on this site. Your answers save as you work and export into one completed workbook.
01
Readiness
Readiness Scorecard
An honest read on whether the market question is even the right one yet.
02
Market Selection
Market Comparison Matrix
Which territory to commit to, compared on evidence rather than instinct.
03
Positioning
International Positioning Canvas
How the artist is understood by people with no local context.
04
Bridge Audience
Bridge Audience Map
The diaspora and adjacent audiences who carry you into a market first.
05
Demand Signals
Demand Signal Tracker
What real demand looks like in the data before you book anything.
06
Promoter Readiness
Promoter Proposition Builder
The case a promoter needs to see to take the risk on you.
07
Live Market Strategy
Live strategy planner
When to play, at what size, and what a first show is actually for.
08
PR & Partnerships
Partnership planner
Which partners move demand and which only produce coverage.
09
Routing & Budget
Show Economics Calculator
What the run costs, what it earns, and what it can lose safely.
10
The 90-Day Plan
90-Day Market Entry Planner
The next ninety days, sequenced so nothing runs before its evidence.
11
The Dashboard
Market tracking dashboard
The handful of numbers worth watching once entry is live.
12
Case Studies
From the field
Real artists, the sequence they used and where it held or broke.
13
Worksheet Library
Every worksheet in one place
The full set to reuse for each new market.
14
The Final Decision
Routed decision
Go, wait, or build first, with the reason recorded.
15
The Final Action Plan
Exportable brief
One page built from your own answers, ready to share with your team.
Real pages
Free to read
Introduction
Going international is not the same as travelling internationally.
An artist can land in London, Lagos, Accra, Johannesburg, Paris, Sydney or New York tomorrow. That does not mean there is a market waiting for them.
Flights can be booked. PR can be bought. Content can be created. Shows can be announced. Meetings can be arranged. All of it is available to anyone with a card and a calendar.
The harder question is the one this playbook exists to answer:
Has enough demand been built for any of it to matter?
International growth works when several things begin moving together: audience, positioning, proof, relationships, live demand, infrastructure and timing.
The rest of this chapter, the scorecard and the remaining fourteen chapters are in the full Playbook.
Questions
- Is this a course?
- No. It is a working decision system. You read it, complete the tools, and leave with a market, a position, an audience, an economic model and a 90-day plan.
- Who is it for?
- Artists, managers, labels and teams preparing to build demand outside their home market, and the promoters, agencies and cultural organisations who work with them.
- What do I actually get?
- The complete web edition, the downloadable PDF, fifteen interactive tools that save as you work, and branded exports of your completed workbook, your promoter proposition and your final action plan.
- Do I need an account?
- Yes, so your answers and progress are saved and available on any device. Your account is created at checkout.
- Will it be updated?
- Yes. Buying the Playbook gives you lifetime access to this edition and every update to it.
Want this applied to your situation with me in the room? See the Strategy Intensive.
Want this applied to your specific situation? See the Artist International Readiness Audit.
Decide where to go, and why
£49. Lifetime access. Web edition, PDF and 15 interactive tools.
Already bought it? Open it in My Library.