How matchmaking works
Weekend Finder ranks every venue in your radius by how well it fits your act — not just by how close it is.
When you'd use this
You want to understand why Mintoor ranks what it does — and why two venues at the same distance can score very differently.
The fit score
Every venue in your radius gets a fit score, shown on its card. Five things feed it:
- Distance — the largest single factor. Closer to home base scores higher, scaled to your radius setting (so 40 miles scores well on a 120-mile radius and poorly on a 50-mile one).
- Capacity fit — the venue's room size against your expected draw. A 150-cap room for a 60-person draw is a strong match; a 2,000-cap shed is not. Rooms far above your draw get flagged right on the card.
- Books live music — confirmed live-music rooms score above general venues.
- Reachable booker — a ✓ Verified booker email is worth the most, any contact email is worth some, and "site only — no direct contact" earns nothing. Reachability is half the booking battle.
- Genre — the venue's primary genre against your act's tags.
No draw, no score
The fit score needs your honest expected draw — it's set on your act profile. Without it, capacity fit is meaningless, so Weekend Finder shows results unscored until you set one. If your cards have no score, that's the first thing to fix.
Be honest, not aspirational. An inflated draw matches you to rooms you can't fill, and a half-empty room is the worst rebook pitch there is.
What you control, right on the page
Your location and radius are editable at the top of the Weekend Finder itself — change either and the whole list re-ranks instantly. No settings round-trip. The weekend chips pick which upcoming Friday/Saturday you're targeting.
From score to gig
A high score doesn't book the gig — it tells you where pitching is worth your time. Shortlist the strong fits, then pitch them from the page. See Shortlisting and pitching.
Why you're not seeing matches
The three most common causes, in order: no expected draw set (cards render unscored), radius too narrow, and a genuinely sparse market. See Why you're not seeing matches for the full diagnostic.