TAP vs spreadsheets is the practical comparison between running music PR campaigns from Google Sheets or Excel versus a purpose-built system, covering contact management, pitch drafting, outcome tracking, and client reporting.
I ran Liberty campaigns from spreadsheets for years. I know where they break because I broke them repeatedly. The moment that pushed me to build TAP wasn't a missing feature. It was a March 2025 reply from a 6 Music producer: "Thanks, I'll give it a spin this week. Send the next one the same way." Useful information. The kind that compounds across releases. Six weeks later I needed to find that thread again, which producer, which show, which exact phrase they'd used. It was buried in three Gmail labels and a column-M note in a sheet I'd already archived.
The lesson: a spreadsheet can store data. It can't remember context. And in PR, the context is the asset.
This isn't a sales pitch disguised as a comparison. It's an honest read of what works, what doesn't, and where the switch makes sense.
Where spreadsheets work fine
Let's start with what spreadsheets do well enough:
- Small contact lists (under 50 contacts) are manageable in a sheet
- Simple campaigns (one artist, one station group) don't need complex tracking
- Solo operators who can hold campaign context in their head don't need a system to remind them
- Budget-zero scenarios where any monthly cost is a genuine barrier
If you're running one campaign at a time for one artist with a small contact list, a well-organised spreadsheet is fine. Don't fix what isn't broken.
Where spreadsheets break
The problems start when you scale past one simultaneous campaign. Here's what happens:
Contact data goes stale, and worse, it stays unsorted
Your spreadsheet has 300 contacts. When was each email last verified? Which ones have changed roles since you added them? Which addresses belong to a named producer and which are submissions@ catch-alls?
In a spreadsheet, the answer is usually "no idea." You find out when emails bounce, when pitches go to the wrong person, or when half your sends land in inboxes nobody reads.
That last one is the expensive failure mode. Across Liberty's 2024-2025 sends, named producers replied at roughly five times the rate of generic studio@ and submissions@ inboxes. A spreadsheet doesn't tell you which is which. It also doesn't tell you that Bro Radio's admin@ is unmonitored but [email protected] is read, or that Flex FM's submissions@ is for DJ mixes only and song submissions go via Instagram DM. You learn those by burning sends.
TAP difference: every contact carries an inbox-type flag, a confidence score, a last-verified date, and the campaign-level memory of whether they've replied before. You know what's stale, what's named, and what's worth pitching, before you press send.
Context lives in your head
You pitched Sarah at 6 Music last month. She responded positively but asked you to follow up for the next release. Where is that information?
In a spreadsheet: maybe a note in column M, maybe a separate "notes" tab, maybe just your memory.
TAP difference: Pitch outcomes are tied to contacts. When you open Sarah's contact card, you see every previous interaction, response, and note.
Campaign tracking becomes archaeology
Three campaigns running simultaneously. Which contacts were pitched for which campaign? What's the response rate for each? Who needs a follow-up this week?
In a spreadsheet: multiple tabs, colour-coding, filter gymnastics, and eventually a moment where you accidentally delete a formula and lose your tracking.
TAP difference: Each campaign has its own outcome tracking. Contacts are linked to campaigns with pitch status, follow-up dates, and outcomes recorded per interaction.
Client reporting takes a full day
Your client wants a campaign report. That means:
- Export the relevant tab (10 min)
- Clean up the data for presentation (30 min)
- Calculate response rates manually (15 min)
- Screenshot the good outcomes (15 min)
- Format into a PDF or email (45 min)
- Send and hope you didn't miscalculate (5 min)
TAP difference: Generate a client report from campaign data in minutes. Shareable via link with optional password protection.
The real comparison
| Capability | Spreadsheets | TAP | | --- | --- | --- | | Contact storage | Unlimited rows | Unlimited (Pro/Agency) | | Contact enrichment | Manual (15-30 min per contact) | Automated (2 min per batch) | | Email verification | None (find out when it bounces) | Built-in with confidence scores | | Pitch drafting | Separate tool (Gmail, etc.) | Integrated with contact context | | Follow-up tracking | Manual colour-coding | Automated reminders and logging | | Campaign analytics | Manual calculation | Automatic response rates | | Client reports | Hours of formatting | Generated in minutes | | Multi-campaign view | Tab-switching chaos | Dashboard with campaign overview | | Contact relationship history | Notes column (if you remember) | Full interaction timeline | | Collaboration | Share link + merge conflicts | Multi-user with role permissions |
The hidden cost of "free"
Spreadsheets don't have a subscription fee. But they have a time cost that compounds:
- 10 hours/month on manual contact research and verification
- 3 hours/month on campaign tracking maintenance
- 5 hours/month on client report formatting
- 2 hours/month on data cleanup and deduplication
That's roughly 20 hours per month spent on data management instead of actual promotion. At a conservative agency billing rate, the "free" spreadsheet costs more than any software subscription.
When the switch makes sense
Based on the agencies I've spoken with, the tipping point is usually:
- 3+ simultaneous campaigns: the tracking overhead becomes unsustainable
- 100+ contacts: manual enrichment and verification doesn't scale
- Client-facing reporting: when you need professional reports, not screenshot collages
- New hire onboarding: when campaign knowledge needs to transfer, not live in someone's head
- Repeat campaigns: when you're running similar campaigns quarterly and want to build on previous outcomes
What the switch looks like
You don't have to migrate everything at once. The typical path:
- Import your contacts: CSV upload, one-time, 5 minutes
- Run your next campaign in TAP: keep the spreadsheet as backup
- Compare the experience: is pitch drafting faster? Is tracking easier? Is the report better?
- Migrate remaining campaigns: if the first one validates the workflow
TAP's free tier covers 2 campaigns, 25 contacts, and 10 enrichments per month. Enough to run a real test without commitment.
Run your next campaign from TAP, not a spreadsheet
Import your contacts, enrich them in minutes, and see the difference in your first campaign. Free tier available.
Start freeHonest caveats
TAP isn't perfect and spreadsheets aren't useless. A few things to be straight about:
- TAP has a learning curve: it's a new tool, and any workflow change costs short-term productivity
- Your spreadsheet data is yours: you can export everything from TAP as CSV at any time
- Some agencies prefer spreadsheets: if your current system works, there's no obligation to switch
- TAP is early-stage: we're building in the open and shipping weekly, but it's not a 10-year-old product with every edge case handled
If your spreadsheet works, keep using it. But if you're spending more time managing data than running campaigns, that's a sign, not a character trait.
