Ben Melman became immersed in the touring industry at a young age when he started booking shows in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The shows were smaller, mainly consisting of local bands from around the city, but Melman developed a deep passion for both booking shows and the music industry as a whole. At Drexel, Melman’s interest in the music continued growing, and he had the opportunity to serve as the president of the concert committee as a second-year student.

“Through this experience, I got to take responsibility over booking all shows on campus, and got to connect with some big names in the music industry,” said Melman. “I got to network with some incredible people, some of which I still have relationships with today.”

Experiential learning at Drexel instills a problem solving mindset

These experiences, along with what he was learning through his classes in LeBow and Close, helped Melman think differently about how to fix inefficiencies he was noticing in the touring industry. This is where the idea of his startup began, and Drexel provided the perfect space for Melman to begin working towards development with other like-minded entrepreneurs. He and a few classmates began to sketch up an algorithm that would help booking agents determine the most profitable route a tour should take.

As a fourth-year Drexel student, Melman worked at a major booking agency in New York. Here, he realized which ideas could work and which wouldn’t when attempting to develop agency software. These insights helped Melman develop a prototype of what eventually would turn into Daysheets, an organizational tool that allows tour managers to organize the logistics of concert tours.

Introducing Daysheets – a central event planning platform

Huge concert tours can involve hundreds of traveling team members on different schedules, and Daysheets works to centralize all of their information. Daysheets’ mobile app provides each individual with a personalized itinerary and schedule, depending on their role within the tour. The itinerary includes venue details, event times, and the hotel they will be staying at, among other logistical information.

“When an artist logs in, they would see what time they have to be at the venue for the show, but when a crew member logs in, they would see the time they need to get there to start setting up.”

Since Daysheets’ introduction as a prototype around eight years ago, Melman utilized his industry connections to travel with artists on tour. He’s toured the world with Grammy award-winning artists such Rod Stewart, and Philadelphia’s own Jazmine Sullivan, seizing the opportunity to learn how to improve Daysheets’ functionality. The pandemic put a pause on Melman’s touring days, but allowed him to focus entirely on Daysheets once he arrived home from an Asia tour with Omar Apollo.

How an experiential learning at Drexel shaped Daysheets

Nowadays, Daysheets is a tool used by the production managers of names like Billie Eilish, John Legend, and Olivia Rodrigo, among other legendary artists working today.

Melman emphasizes just how important his time at Drexel was to the development of his company. Not only did his involvement in the concert committee help him network with huge industry names, but an early concept titled “Booksmart”, which would later develop into Daysheets, placed second in the Baiada Incubator Competition. This further invigorated Melman to dedicate himself to developing his software.

“The idea definitely started at Drexel,” Melman reflected. “I said, “I’m going to make decisions in my career to work on software that helps the music industry,” and that really started at Drexel.” 

Advice from Ben Melman to aspiring entrepreneurs – “Networking is key”

For aspiring entrepreneurs, Melman shared some advice about how to approach growing their ideas into a business.

“Networking is key. Cold emailing people and reaching out to people on LinkedIn is important, too. If you never do it, you will never know who accepts,” said Melman. “The whole story of how I got into touring is because I sent a cold LinkedIn message to a tour manager.”

Melman ended our interview with some advice he would give back to his 20 year old self; some advice applicable to anyone looking to get into launching their own startup.

“Take care of yourself mentally and physically, along with your relationships. Don’t just work work work,” said Melman. “Make sure that you leave time to maintain your relationships and friendships, along with your relationship with yourself.”

To learn more about Ben Melman, and how his product Daysheets is revolutionizing the touring industry, find him on LinkedIn, or visit www.daysheets.com.