A Songkick alternative that tells you about new dates, not just nearby ones

If you want an alert whenever an artist you follow announces new tour dates, wherever they are, CatchWorm is a free, UK-based alternative to Songkick that does this by email. Songkick and Bandsintown mainly alert you about shows near the locations you set; CatchWorm lets you choose Worldwide or your country, then helps you plan the trip.

CatchWorm is a free, UK-based concert discovery and trip planning service that emails you when artists you follow announce new tour dates worldwide, not just near you, and helps you find ticket links, travel and somewhere to stay.

CatchWorm is in beta. It's a small, independent service run from the UK, and it's still growing.

Why people look for a Songkick alternative

Songkick is a well-established concert app with millions of users, and for many people it works well. But its alerts are built around location. Songkick's App Store listing says it will "notify you as soon as they announce tour dates nearby", and its help centre explains that you get notifications when tracked artists announce events in the cities you track.

That's fine if you only go to gigs in your home city. It's less helpful if:

• you'd happily travel to Manchester, Glasgow or Dublin for the right show
• your favourite artist is only playing a handful of dates, none of them near you
• you want to know a tour exists before deciding where to see it
• you're planning a city break around a gig abroad

Some app reviewers say the same thing. One Google Play review of Songkick puts it plainly: it "only gives notification for concerts near the location you pick, instead of notification that the artist is going to tour".

Bandsintown works in a similar way. Its help centre says you can only set one city at a time for notifications, with a distance radius around it.

How CatchWorm is different

Worldwide concert alerts or updates in your country

When you set alerts for an artist on CatchWorm, you choose Worldwide or the country shown in your preferences. Worldwide is useful if you're willing to travel for a show. You aren't limited to a radius around your postcode.

Choose the updates you care about

For each artist, you can choose email alerts for:

• New tour dates
• Tickets going on sale
• Tickets back on sale from the official seller
• New announcements

We don’t monitor resale marketplaces or send resale alerts. The ticket provider confirms the ticket type and availability.

Each show has a page to help you plan the trip

Every show on CatchWorm has its own page with:

• Ticket status and ticket-seller links, where available
• Getting there: estimated travel options from your city
• Venue & stays: whether you might need a bed for the night, and places to stay nearby
• Links to the artist on Spotify and recent setlists on setlist.fm, where available

Travel times and prices are estimates. You complete any booking with the provider you choose.

Free to use, with no added fees

CatchWorm is free for users. It doesn't sell tickets and adds no fees. Some links are partner links, so CatchWorm may earn a commission if you book through them. The seller sets the ticket price and any booking charges, which you can review before you pay.

No social media needed

For now, alerts come by email, so you don't need Instagram or any other social app to hear about new dates. CatchWorm uses sources including artist websites, public Instagram announcements and event listings from ticket providers such as Ticketmaster and Skiddle. See where CatchWorm gets its updates, and how to find out about UK tour announcements without social media.

Where Songkick may still suit you better

We'd rather you pick the right tool than the wrong one. Songkick may be the better choice if you:

• want a native phone app with push notifications. Songkick has iPhone and Android apps; CatchWorm is currently a web app that sends alerts by email only.
• want to import artists automatically from your music library or streaming services. Songkick supports imports from Apple Music, Spotify and others; CatchWorm doesn't offer imports for now, so you search for and follow artists yourself.
• want the biggest catalogue. Songkick says more than 15 million music fans use it. CatchWorm is new, and its sources may not list every performer or show.
• only go to gigs locally. If you never travel for a show, location-based alerts may be all you need.

Plenty of fans use more than one service. You could keep Songkick for local discovery and use CatchWorm for the artists you'd travel to see. Songkick, Bandsintown, Ents24 and CatchWorm compared.

How to switch (or add CatchWorm alongside Songkick)

1. Go to CatchWorm and search for an artist, or browse Explore artists. For example, open Ed Sheeran.
2. Open their page and choose Set alerts.
3. Pick the updates you want and choose Worldwide or your country.
4. Sign in with your email to save your preferences.
5. Repeat for each artist you follow. You can change or stop alerts any time from Manage alert preferences.

Following an artist doesn't email you every show that's already listed. Alerts are sent when CatchWorm's sources report something new.

Honest limits of CatchWorm today

• It's in beta. Features may change as it develops.
• Coverage varies by artist. If an artist or date is missing, you can send the artist's name and an official announcement link through Contact. Missing an artist?
• Alerts may not be immediate. CatchWorm checks its sources periodically.
• Alerts don't give you presale codes, priority access or guaranteed tickets.
• "On sale" doesn't mean tickets are still available. The ticket seller confirms what you can buy at checkout.

Why CatchWorm exists

CatchWorm was started by Lelen, a UK product designer and mum, after her daughter kept finding out about her favourite artists' shows too late. Between work and everyday life, keeping up with every newsletter, social account and tour page wasn't realistic. CatchWorm is for anyone who's ever said, "I wish I'd known." Read the full story.