# BandMate AI — full reference

> The tax tool for working gigging musicians, and the platform that runs the band.

## About

- Product: BandMate AI — The tax tool for working gigging musicians, and the platform that runs the band.
- Built by: Pulse AI Solutions (CM3 Solutions Inc)
- Who it is for: working gigging musicians and their bands; also venues, fans and church worship teams
- Home market: Baltimore / Washington DC; works anywhere in the US
- Free to start; Band $19/month per band ($15 billed annually); Band Pro $49/month ($39 annually). Member seats are always free.
- Apps: web at https://bandmateai.com, Android on Google Play, iOS in review
- Support: cm3solutionsinc@gmail.com

## Pricing

- Free: $0 forever — Enough to run a few shows and see whether this fits how your band works.
  - Up to 10 gigs
  - Payment splits across the band
  - Mileage logged at IRS rates
  - Expense tracking and CSV export
  - Setlists, songs and chord charts
  - A public band page and EPK
  - Unlimited free member seats
- Band: $19 per band / month ($15/month billed annually) — Everything the product does today, with no cap on the year.
  - Unlimited gigs
  - Mileage and tax reports for Schedule C
  - Equipment, maintenance and depreciation
  - Offline perform mode and backing tracks
  - Venue booking and fan notifications
  - AI Insights over your own gig history
  - Riff, the AI assistant, with a daily quota
  - Claude connector: ask Claude about your gigs, miles and taxes
- Band Pro: $49 per band / month ($39/month billed annually) — For bands that want the work done, not just recorded.
  - Everything in Band
  - The full AI crew — Miles, Penny, Lex, Echo, Harmony
  - Delegation between them on one request
  - A band-level AI budget, not per seat
  - Contract review and money terms

Comparison:

| Feature | Free | Band | Band Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gigs | Up to 10 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Member seats | Unlimited, free | Unlimited, free | Unlimited, free |
| Payment splits | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mileage at IRS rates | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tax reports | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI Insights on your history | — | Yes | Yes |
| AI assistant | Riff, 5/day | Riff, 40/day | Full crew, 150/day |
| Claude connector (MCP) | — | Yes | Yes |
| Delegation between personas | — | — | Yes |

Free forever:
- Every member seat: only the person who subscribes pays; nobody else is charged, ever.
- Fan accounts: following bands, checking in at shows, requesting songs and sharing photos is free.
- Venue accounts: booking requests, a venue calendar and band discovery cost venues nothing.
- Worship teams: free up to 25 volunteers, then $19/month flat at any size.

Prices are what Stripe charges and are verified against https://bandmateai.com/api/v1/billing/plans.

## Musician features

- Gig Tracking: Keep all your gigs organized in one place. Track dates, venues, set times, pay, and status. See your full schedule at a glance and never double-book again.
- Payment Splits: Automatically calculate each member's share based on equal splits or custom percentages. Track who's been paid and who hasn't. No more spreadsheets or awkward money conversations.
- Mileage Tracking: Auto-calculate round-trip mileage from your home to any venue using Google Maps. Apply current IRS mileage rates automatically. Export your mileage log for tax deductions at the end of the year.
- Earnings Reports: See exactly how much you've earned by band, month, venue, or payment method. Filter by date range and export to CSV for your records or accountant.
- Team Management: Invite bandmates via email or shareable link. Assign roles (Owner, Manager, Member) with different permission levels. Owners control everything, Managers handle day-to-day, Members can view.
- Setlists: Build setlists from your song library. Track keys, tempos, and duration per song. See total set timing to stay on schedule. Share setlists with the whole band.
- Backing Tracks & Performance Mode: Upload your band's backing tracks, click tracks, and stems to each song. Play them from any setlist in performance mode with auto-advance between songs and a built-in click at each song's BPM — right in the browser, on any device.
- Chord Charts with Transpose: Store lyrics and chords in ChordPro format and see chords rendered above the lyrics. Transpose to any key instantly — and every band member can save a personal transpose, so capo and horn players see their own key.
- Equipment Tracking: Maintain an inventory of your band's gear. Log purchase dates, values, and serial numbers. Keep maintenance records and know where every piece of equipment is.
- Expense Tracking: Log band expenses like gas, strings, repairs, and promo costs. Categorize expenses for tax purposes. Attach receipt photos. Generate expense reports by date range.
- Claude Connector: Connect BandMate to Claude and ask about your gigs, mileage deduction, pay and setlists in plain English, or have it add a gig. Band and Band Pro plans.

## Other audiences

- Musicians (https://bandmateai.com/for-musicians): Track gigs, split pay, log mileage at IRS rates, keep setlists, backing tracks and chord charts, and export the year for Schedule C.
- Venues (https://bandmateai.com/for-venues): A venue profile, booking requests, a calendar, direct messages with bands, and ratings after the show. Free.
- Fans (https://bandmateai.com/for-fans): Discover local bands and upcoming shows, follow bands, check in at gigs, request songs and share photos. Free.
- Churches (https://bandmateai.com/for-churches): Worship team scheduling, service plans, transposable chord charts and change notifications. Free up to 25 volunteers, then $19/month flat.

## Mileage and taxes

- Business rate: 72.5¢ a mile Jan 1 – Jun 30 2026, 76¢ from Jul 1 2026 (current: 76¢). Each trip is rated by its own date.
- Charitable rate (volunteer gigs): 14¢ a mile, fixed by statute.
- A trip counts when the gig is in the past, not cancelled, and the member confirmed they played. Miles are round trips from the member's home address to the venue.
- Not tax advice. BandMate logs and exports; the user's preparer files.

- Q: Can musicians deduct mileage to gigs?
  A: Generally yes, if you are performing as a business rather than a hobby — which for most working musicians means the income lands on a Schedule C. The drive from your home to a paid gig and back is business travel, deductible at the IRS standard mileage rate: 72.5¢ a mile for the first half of 2026 and 76¢ a mile from July 1. This is general information, not tax advice — your own situation is worth a conversation with whoever files your return.
- Q: What is the IRS mileage rate right now?
  A: 76¢ per mile for business driving, effective July 1, 2026. It was 72.5¢ a mile from January 1 until June 30, 2026 — the IRS revised it mid-year. The charitable rate, which applies to volunteer gigs, is fixed by statute at 14¢ a mile.
- Q: How much is that actually worth?
  A: Take one 60-mile round trip a week — a fairly ordinary regional gig. That is $2,880 miles a year, or about $2,189 of deduction at the current rate. What that saves depends on your bracket, but it comes straight off the income you are taxed on, and most musicians never claim it because nobody wrote the trips down.
- Q: Do I need receipts for mileage?
  A: Not receipts — a log. The standard mileage method needs a contemporaneous record of each trip: the date, where you went, the business purpose and the miles. That is exactly the shape of what BandMate keeps, because every trip is attached to a gig with a date and a venue.
- Q: Does driving to rehearsal count?
  A: Yes, as travel between business locations, at the business rate. Practices are logged the same way gigs are.
- Q: What about a gig I played for free?
  A: If it was for a qualified charity, the drive is deductible at the charitable rate of 14¢ a mile, and BandMate tracks volunteer gigs on that separate line. A free gig for a for-profit venue is a business expense question rather than a charitable one.
- Q: Is the mileage tracker free?
  A: Yes on the free plan, which covers up to 10 gigs with mileage, payment splits and expense tracking. Past that, Band is $19 a month for the whole band with unlimited gigs. Member seats are always free.

## Claude connector (MCP)

BandMate is an MCP server. A Band or Band Pro member connects Claude (or Claude Code, Cursor, any MCP client with OAuth) to their own account and the agent acts as them.

- MCP endpoint: https://bandmateai.com/api/v1/mcp (Streamable HTTP, JSON responses, tools only)
- Auth: OAuth 2.1 with PKCE and dynamic client registration. Discovery: https://bandmateai.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/api/v1/mcp and https://bandmateai.com/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server
- An unauthenticated request to the endpoint returns 401 with a WWW-Authenticate challenge naming the resource metadata; follow it.
- Scope: the connected user's bands only, with the permissions of their role; delete_gig and merge_venues require the user's confirmation. Band-scoped tools need that band on Band or Band Pro.
- Guide for people: https://bandmateai.com/claude

Tools:
- list_bands: bands, your role, plan, booking contact and whether the connector is enabled
- list_gigs: upcoming or past gigs with your pay and miles; owners and managers see the band total
- get_gig: one gig in full, including tech notes
- check_availability: what you already have on a date or range, across every band
- create_gig: add a gig to a band you own or manage; a city/state-only address gives an estimated distance
- update_gig: edit a gig: date, times, venue, pay, status, notes; only the fields passed change
- cancel_gig: cancel a gig and keep it in history
- delete_gig: delete a gig permanently; owner only, and only after you confirm
- list_members: a band's members with role, position and how each is paid
- invite_member: invite someone by email with a role, position and pay type; they get a join link
- resend_invite: send a pending invite again and extend it a week
- cancel_invite: revoke a pending invite
- set_member_pay: set one member's pay on a gig, apart from the band total
- set_member_rate: put a member (sound engineer, sub) on a flat fee with a dated rate schedule
- mark_paid: record a payment: amount, date, method (cash, Venmo, Zelle, check)
- log_mileage: log your own round-trip miles for a gig
- create_expense: log an expense with category, vendor, receipt note and gig
- list_venues: a band's venues, with ids for create_gig
- create_venue: add a venue with address, load-in notes and contact; reuses an existing match
- update_venue: edit a venue's details or your band's notes and contact for it
- merge_venues: merge a duplicate venue into the one to keep, moving its gigs; after you confirm
- set_band_contact: store the band's leader or booker name, email and phone
- calendar_feed: your personal ICS calendar URL plus per-band feeds, with subscribe steps
- mileage_summary: a year of deductible miles, effective rate and each trip
- tax_summary: income marked paid, expenses by category, the mileage deduction
- list_expenses: your logged expenses
- list_equipment: your gear with purchase details and rig notes
- list_setlists: a band's setlists
- get_setlist: every song on a setlist with key, BPM and duration

Setup in Claude:
1. In Claude, open Settings, then Connectors, then Add custom connector.
2. Paste https://bandmateai.com/api/v1/mcp as the URL and save.
3. Click Connect. You land on bandmateai.com, sign in if you need to, and click Allow once.
4. Ask Claude something. It only sees the bands you belong to.

Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http bandmate https://bandmateai.com/api/v1/mcp

What it can see:
- List your bands and the gigs, practices and volunteer dates on each calendar
- Your pay on each gig, and the band total if you are an owner or manager
- Mileage for any year at the IRS rate for each trip, with the dollar deduction
- A Schedule C summary: income marked paid, expenses by category, the mileage deduction
- Expenses, gear inventory and rig notes, setlists with every song
- Add, edit or cancel gigs; invite members; set member pay and flat rates; add and merge venues (owners and managers)
- Log your own miles and expenses, and record what you were paid
- Hand you a calendar feed URL so every gig lands in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook
- Delete a gig or merge venues only after you say yes in the chat

Example questions:
- “How many deductible miles have I logged this year, and what is that worth?”
- “What gigs do I have in December? Which ones still have not paid?”
- “Put together my Schedule C numbers for 2026: income, expenses, mileage.”
- “What is on the Saturday setlist, and how long does it run?”
- “Add a gig at the Blue Note on the 14th, 8pm, $600.”

FAQ:
- Q: Which plans include the Claude connector?
  A: Band and Band Pro. A plan is per band, so Claude answers for the bands that are on one. Every member of a paid band gets it, not just the person paying.
- Q: What can Claude change in my account?
  A: On a band you own or manage: add, edit and cancel gigs, invite members, set member pay and flat rates, add, edit and merge venues, and store the booking contact, with the same splits, mileage rating and notices the app applies. On any band: log your own miles, expenses and payments received. Deleting a gig and merging venues ask for your confirmation first. It cannot remove members or change band settings or billing.
- Q: Can Claude see other people’s bands?
  A: No. The connection is to your account and sees exactly what you see: your bands, your pay, your mileage. Band totals are only shown to owners and managers, the same as in the app.
- Q: How do I disconnect it?
  A: Settings, then Claude connector, then Disconnect next to the app. That revokes its access immediately. Removing the connector inside Claude works too.
- Q: Does it work with Claude Code, Cursor or other MCP clients?
  A: Yes. BandMate is a standard MCP server with OAuth, so any client that supports remote MCP servers with authorization can connect. The URL is the same.
- Q: Is this tax advice?
  A: No. Claude reports what you logged in BandMate at the IRS rates for each trip date. Take the numbers to whoever files your Schedule C.

## Public API for agents

No account needed. JSON, enveloped as { "data": ..., "meta": ... }. Same-origin on bandmateai.com.

- GET https://bandmateai.com/api/v1/public/bands?q=&state=MD&genre=&sort_by=name|followers|newest&limit=20&offset=0 — search public bands. Each has a slug.
- GET https://bandmateai.com/api/v1/public/bands/{slug} — a band profile; /{slug}/gigs, /{slug}/members, /{slug}/songs, /{slug}/last-setlist, /{slug}/stats, /{slug}/similar
- GET https://bandmateai.com/api/v1/public/gigs?q=&state=&city=&genre=&from_date=YYYY-MM-DD&to_date=&limit=50 — upcoming public shows; /{gig_id} for one
- GET https://bandmateai.com/api/v1/public/venues?limit=100&offset=0 — venues with public profiles; /{slug}, /{slug}/gigs, /{slug}/reviews
- POST https://bandmateai.com/api/v1/public/bands/{slug}/booking-inquiry — ask a band to play, on a client's behalf. JSON body: name, email, venue_or_event_name, details (10–5000 chars); optional proposed_date (YYYY-MM-DD), budget_range, is_booker. 201 on success; 403 if the band has inquiries off; 429 after 3 a day per email. Say which agent is submitting in details.

Human-readable pages: https://bandmateai.com/band (directory), https://bandmateai.com/band/{slug}, https://bandmateai.com/gig, https://bandmateai.com/gig/{id}, https://bandmateai.com/venues, https://bandmateai.com/venues/{slug}.

## FAQ

- Q: What is BandMate AI?
  A: BandMate AI is a platform for live music that brings musicians, venues, and fans together in one place. Musicians track gigs, split payments, and log mileage for taxes. Venues manage bookings and discover bands. Fans follow bands, find shows, and share photos.
- Q: Is BandMate AI free?
  A: Yes — BandMate AI is free to get started. Create an account as a musician, venue owner, or fan and start using the core features at no cost.
- Q: Can BandMate AI help with taxes?
  A: Yes — it is the main reason most musicians start. BandMate measures the round trip from your home to each venue and logs it at the IRS standard rate (76¢ a mile for business driving as of July 2026, 14¢ for volunteer gigs), tracks expenses and gear depreciation, and exports the lot to CSV for your Schedule C.
- Q: Does BandMate AI handle payment splits between band members?
  A: Yes. Set equal splits or custom percentages per gig and BandMate AI calculates each member’s share. You can mark who has been paid and track unpaid balances.
- Q: Can venues use BandMate AI to find local bands?
  A: Yes. Venue owners can browse local bands, send booking requests, message bands directly, and rate bands after gigs.
- Q: How is BandMate AI different from a generic calendar app?
  A: BandMate AI is purpose-built for working musicians and venues: payment splits, IRS mileage rates, setlist management, backing tracks, chord charts, equipment tracking, fan discovery, and venue ratings are all native — not a calendar with notes.
- Q: Can BandMate AI play backing tracks?
  A: Yes. Upload your band's own backing tracks, click tracks, and stems to each song in your library, then play them from any setlist in performance mode — with auto-advance between songs, a built-in click at each song's BPM, and playback right in the browser on any device, including Android and desktop.
- Q: Does BandMate AI have chord charts with transposition?
  A: Yes. Store lyrics and chords for every song in ChordPro format, and BandMate AI renders chords aligned above the lyrics. Transpose to any key with one tap — and each band member can save a personal transpose amount, so the capo or horn player sees their own key while everyone else sees the original.
- Q: Can I use BandMate AI from Claude?
  A: Yes. Band and Band Pro members can add BandMate as a connector in Claude and ask about their gigs, mileage deduction, pay and setlists, or have Claude add a gig. See bandmateai.com/claude.

## Links

- Sign up: https://bandmateai.com/register?src=llms
- Pricing: https://bandmateai.com/pricing
- Claude connector: https://bandmateai.com/claude
- For AI agents: https://bandmateai.com/ai
- Markdown pages: https://bandmateai.com/index.md, https://bandmateai.com/pricing.md, https://bandmateai.com/claude.md, https://bandmateai.com/ai.md, https://bandmateai.com/for-musicians.md, https://bandmateai.com/musician-mileage-tracker.md