AI by NicheJob 3 of 8ChatGPTClaude
Set up a pitch record sheet and three short reply drafts (received, on hold, not this time) for artist submissions
A festival that takes submissions or gets unsolicited pitches builds up a backlog quickly. A festival job advert from Australia lists entering each application into a spreadsheet with technical needs, accommodation preferences and requested fee, with a committee deciding. Two things go wrong: pitches get lost or answered late, and a careless reply reads like a promise. A blank record sheet with the same columns for every pitch, and three short replies that commit to nothing, fixes both. The AI lays out the blank sheet and the replies only: it never sees a pitch, a name, a link or a fee ask, because those are artists’ personal details. Whether an act is right for the programme is a taste decision that stays with you and your committee.
Time: About 45 minutes once, then 5 minutes per pitchTool cost: you can start with a free AI tool
Steps
- Decide the columns you need and write them down: act, contact route, link to music, available dates, fee asked, technical needs, accommodation needs, date received, status, decided by, decision date, reply sent date. Cut any column you will never use; a long sheet does not get filled in.
- Decide who makes the decision on each pitch (you, or a committee) and which status words you will use (for example new, under consideration, on hold, declined, moved to an offer). Write them down. Decide, with your committee, whether you can promise a reply date: if not, the replies will not mention one.
- Run the prompt below with its brackets left as they are. Never paste a pitch, an artist name, an email or a link into the AI tool. You get back an empty record table and three short replies.
- Build the sheet in your own spreadsheet and enter each pitch by hand. Keep the sheet where only the people who need it can open it. Decide how long you will keep pitches that go nowhere, and say so on your submissions page or in your own privacy notice.
- For each pitch, a person makes the decision first. Then fill in the brackets of the matching reply in your own email, check it for any hint of a booking, fee, date or slot, send it, and put the date in the sheet.
The exact prompt
Write two things for a music or arts festival programmer. 1. A blank pitch record as an empty table with these columns: act, contact route, link to music, available dates, fee asked, technical needs, accommodation needs, date received, status, decided by, decision date, reply sent date. Leave ten empty rows. Do not fill in anything. 2. Three short replies from [PROGRAMMER NAME] at [FESTIVAL] to someone who sent a pitch, each under 90 words, in a warm, plain tone, each starting “Hello [FIRST NAME],”: A. Received: thanks for sending it, it is with the programming team, no decision has been made, and [IF A REPLY DATE HAS BEEN AGREED BY THE COMMITTEE: we will reply by DATE; OTHERWISE LEAVE THIS SENTENCE OUT]. B. On hold: thanks for your patience, we are still deciding on parts of the programme, nothing is confirmed either way, and [IF A DATE HAS BEEN AGREED: we will be in touch by DATE; OTHERWISE LEAVE OUT]. C. Not this time: thanks for getting in touch, it is not right for this year’s programme, we wish them well. Give no reasons, do not say “maybe next year”, do not offer feedback. None of the replies may say or hint that the act will be booked or give any fee, date, slot or opinion of the music. Under each reply add the line: Send only after a person has made the decision. RULES FOR THIS CHAT: I will give you only my own festival wording, headings and dates that I have typed in. I will not give you, and you must not ask for, any artist, agent, manager, volunteer, sponsor, funder or ticket-buyer name, email address, phone number or address, any fee, deposit or contract term, any access need or health detail, or any ticket-sale figure. Use the blanks in square brackets exactly as I give them. Do not invent fees, dates, availability, terms, facts about any act, or claims such as “sold out”, and do not say what is standard, usual or legal. Do not give legal, licensing, safety, safeguarding or access advice. Where something is missing write [FOR THE PROGRAMMER TO COMPLETE]. Everything you write is a draft that a named person will check before anything is sent.
✓ Check before you send
- No pitch text, artist name, email address, link, fee ask or technical need was pasted into the AI tool: the sheet was filled in by hand.
- No reply says or hints at a booking, a fee, a date or a slot, and a reply date appears only if your committee agreed one.
- Every decline or hold reflects a decision made by a named person or the committee, not a sorted list.
- The sheet is stored where only the people who need it can open it, and you have chosen how long unsuccessful pitches are kept and told submitters.
- The reply was sent from your own email and its date is in the sheet.
UK notes extra
- UK: if you keep names and contact details from pitches, tell people what you do with them. The ICO’s small-organisation guide to privacy notices lists what to cover; the ICO marks that page as under review, so check it on the day. This job states no data protection duty. ICO: how to write a privacy notice and what goes in it (UK; the ICO page says the guidance is under review and may change).
- Jurisdiction: the festival wording in this job works anywhere. Items marked UK are UK rules or UK practice guidance. If your festival is outside the UK, rules on contracts, personal data, licensing, safety and access will differ: ask a local adviser, and do not rely on this page for them.
Last reviewed Oct 2026. Free tools change. If a screen looks different, the steps still apply.Back to top ↑