artisten.ch

A booking portal with a wedding shortlist

artisten.ch is a Swiss artist agency whose website works as a searchable catalog of musicians and performers. The French version of the site calls itself an "Agence d'artistes" and, in its header, a portal of artists for corporate events. It sits alongside three sister sites named in the same header, team-events.ch, erlebnisessen.ch and seminarlocations.ch, and it offers advice by phone on 034 533 34 35.

For couples, the relevant part is a selection called "Musique pour les mariages" (music for weddings). Its tagline promises a fine voice for the party or a dance band for the celebration, and the counter at the top reads "272 offres": 272 acts in the wedding selection. This is a portal and agency, not a band. The musicians are independent acts listed on the site, and a couple choosing through artisten.ch is choosing one of them.

What each listing shows

The strength of the page for a couple planning from abroad is that every act carries the same short set of facts:

• a one-line description of the act,
• an audience size range ("10 - 1000 personnes" and so on),
• a starting price in Swiss francs, introduced with "de CHF" (from CHF), sometimes marked "pauschal" (flat rate),
• the area served, usually "Toute la Suisse" (all of Switzerland), sometimes narrower,
• and the languages the act works in.

That last field matters most to a couple from abroad, and it appears on every card. It makes it possible to filter a long list down to acts that can talk to an English-speaking couple and, for singers, perform for an international crowd.

A sample of the acts

The wedding list is broad. A few examples from the page show the range:

• Mijo Matic, a wedding, gala and party singer who performs solo or with other musicians, for 10 to 1,000 people, from CHF 700, working in German, French, English, Italian and Croatian.
• Streeo, a clarinet, double bass and drums trio playing from jazz to pop, for 10 to 5,000 people, from CHF 1,000, in German, French and English.
• Dan Ward, a British-born singer-songwriter and one-man band playing his own songs and covers, for 10 to 200 people, from CHF 500, in German, French, English and Swiss German.
• The Swiss Alphorn Trio ("Trio suisse de cors des Alpes"), three musicians playing modern and traditional alphorn, for 10 to 1,000 people, from CHF 1,200, in German, French and English.
• Isabel Goller, a harpist for solo concerts or wedding ceremonies, from CHF 600.
• Jürg Maurer, a pianist playing in the style of Elton John and Ludovico Einaudi, sometimes jazzy, sometimes classical, sometimes meditative, for 5 to 250 people, from CHF 250.
• Feel Good Inc, described as a versatile party band, for 10 to 2,500 people, from CHF 3,100, in German and English.
• The Singing Pinguins, an a cappella group billed as "A cappella à son meilleur !", for 10 to 2,500 people, from CHF 3,500.
• Beinhart, a rock covers band for 10 to 10,000 people, from CHF 3,000, covering Switzerland, Austria and Germany.
• The Melodians, a live band singing in ten languages, including German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Yiddish and Polish, from CHF 1,100 flat.

Swiss folk music is well represented, with a Schwyzerörgeli quartet (the small Swiss button accordion) from Längenberg, the folk group Urtönig, and a Bern singer-songwriter, alongside jazz trios, several saxophonists, the cellist Stefania Verità, the flutist Kathrin Oplatka, Richard Schneider's Argentine tango with guitar and bandoneon, Latin and Balkan bands, and one act, Brian Bruno, that combines music and magic.

How the site is organized

Beyond the wedding collection, the portal sorts its acts by genre (jazz and blues, rock and pop, a cappella, human beatbox, world music, country, lounge, Swiss folk music, classical, DJ and more) and lists non-music categories such as comedy, cabaret, magic, acrobatics, caricaturists, children's entertainment, moderators and speakers. It also offers other ready-made selections: background music, dance music, music for small budgets, music for big occasions and music for New Year's Eve. A couple could use "Musique de fond" for the aperitif and "Musique pour la danse" for the evening. The site has a budget filter and a search function.

The page is published in French, with German and English versions of the site linked from the language switch.

Areas served and the limits of "all of Switzerland"

Most wedding acts are marked "Toute la Suisse". A few are narrower: Beat Reber and Nico Arn serve German-speaking Switzerland only, and Adi Halter all of German-speaking Switzerland. A few go further, such as Räbse Gnom (Switzerland and neighboring countries) and pianist Ralph Lohaus (Switzerland and nearby countries abroad). The area field states willingness to travel, not travel costs.

What the page does not settle

• Booking process. The wedding page does not explain how a booking runs, whether contracts are with the agency or the act, or what the agency charges. The phone line is labeled "Conseils" (advice).
• What a starting price covers. The French "de CHF" means "from". The page does not say what set length, travel or equipment the starting price includes.
• Reviews. The cards carry descriptions written for the act, not client reviews. A "Références" section exists in the site menu.
• Couples outside German-speaking Switzerland. Many acts list French, but almost every card on the page lists German, and some list German only, so a couple marrying in Geneva, Vaud or Ticino should check the language and area fields first.

Who it suits

artisten.ch suits couples who want to compare many acts at once, with prices and languages side by side, before contacting anyone. For an English-speaking couple, the language field is the practical filter: plenty of acts list English, and some list several more. It is especially useful for Swiss touches such as an alphorn trio or a Schwyzerörgeli quartet at the aperitif.

It suits less well a couple who wants a single band's detailed page, a full setlist or reviews from past weddings, which the listing cards do not give. Every starting price is only a floor, so the real cost needs a quote.