AI and data-driven mapping of live music networks and development of tools

TOURBUS is an international research project founded by researcher Brandon Farnsworth, which is working to develop methods to map live music networks and movement patterns. The goal is to create practical tools for artists and organizations working internationally, as well as a better statistical basis for understanding and describing live music.

TOURBUS includes a number of sub-initiatives:

• TOURBUS Pilot (2025)
• TOURBUS Nordic (2026)
• TOURBUS Europa (2026-27)

Common to all sub-initiatives is that the development of new methods and tools, the TOURBUS Method and the TOURBUS Tool, is central.

The TOURBUS Method uses web scraping and AI to collect concert data and has so far analysed more than 500,000 websites with a focus on the concert and movement patterns of individual musicians.

Since 2025, Art Music Denmark has worked with Farnsworth and a number of European music organisations to develop and test the potential of the method.

TOURBUS Tool

In parallel with the TOURBUS Method, the TOURBUS Tool is being developed, a new online tool and interface that will operationalise the collected data. The tool’s target group is professional musicians and consultants. The purpose is, among other things, to help plan better coherent international tours: In technical terms – Synthetic Block Booking.

The tool will be tested in 2026 by a professional advisory network planned by Art Music Denmark. Applications will be opened for musicians and venues in Denmark, Germany and Sweden to apply for participation in the test.

Open calls for workshops and pilot project

At the start of 2026, six Northern European music organisations are currently involved in TOURBUS’ various sub-projects and initiatives.

In 2026, the project will be opened to the international music community through a series of online workshops. In addition, musicians and venues can apply for admission to a consulting program, where selected participants receive free advice and sparring from professional consultants. The TOURBUS Tool, the new tool developed for professional music players and consultants, is also being tested here.

Analyses and mapping

One of the most exciting aspects of the TOURBUS Method is that it is based on the activities, concerts and movements of individual musicians. The method reveals which musicians collaborate with each other and which environments and concert venues they frequent. It is independent of genres, national borders and other silos into which the music scene is often divided, and this provides ample opportunity for new and different perspectives, analyses and mapping.

Through the pilot project in 2025, we identified more than 1,200 venues in the Nordic region and created a visual representation of music environments and the musicians and concert venues that connect them.

Sub-projects and partners

TOURBUS is an ambitious and rapidly growing project. TOURBUS started in 2025 with TOURBUS Pilot as a Danish/Swedish collaboration on the mobility of musicians in the Øresund region. Since then, the project has grown and has sub-projects both in the Nordic region with TOURBUS – Nordic and in Europe with TOURBUS Europa. Today, partners from Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Iceland and Finland participate in TOURBUS’ various sub-projects

1. TOURBUS Pilot 2025

In 2025, Art Music Denmark, in collaboration with Lund University and researcher Brandon Farnsworth, carried out the “TOURBUS Pilot”. The sub-project aimed to investigate the mobility of musicians in the Øresund region. The results were shared at a major workshop at the Swedish Ambassador’s residence in Copenhagen on April 23, 2025. The results of “TOURBUS Pilot” were published in the report “TOURBUS Pilot: Network Analysis of Live Music Ecosystems Using Automated Data Collection”.

“TOURBUS Pilot 2025” was created in collaboration between Art Music Denmark and Lund University. The project was supported by Culture Moves Europe, the Augustinus Foundation and LU Innovation.

2. TOURBUS Nordic

TOURBUS Nordic started in 2026. The project uses the TOURBUS method to segment Nordic musicians based on their concert and collaboration history in order to create more nuanced artist profiles across genres and career paths. At the same time, a Nordic method network of music organisations that work with data is being established.

The Nordic organisations in TOURBUS Nordic are all national music organisations with extensive experience in music data and knowledge and with national commitments to make knowledge available to the professional music community.

TOURBUS Nordic is a collaboration between Art Music Denmark, Iceland Music and Music Finland with support from the Nordic Cultural Foundation.

3. TOURBUS Europa

TOURBUS Europa is led by Lund University with partners in Denmark, Germany and Sweden. The sub-project, which is supported by Creative Europe, will run in 2026-2027 and aims to develop the TOURBUS method, collect new data and test the TOURBUS Tool in a large international pilot project. As part of TOURBUS Europa, the music world will be invited into TOURBUS through public workshops and an ambitious test process, where musicians and venues can apply to participate in data-assisted consulting and tour planning.

TOURBUS Europa is a collaboration between Art Music Denmark, Lund University, Föreningen Svenska Tonsättare and Initiative Neue Musik Berlin. The project is supported by Creative Europe.

Contact Art Music Denmark if you want to know more about TOURBUS.