Taxi is a website/comapny that puts musicians together with industry needs, check it out, and give me some feedback, I have not personally used them, but am currently looking into using their services. Reminds of sonicbids in a way.
Website
Taxi
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Resource of The Day - Craigslist.com
Craigslist is basically a large classfieds site, but its a great place to meet other musicians and to find gear and other music related items.
Website
Craigslist
Website
Craigslist
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Resource of the Day - Google Ad words
If you have a minimal budget, this is a great way to drive traffic to your website based on certain key words that you provide. There is a wealth of information and help in using the system. I would suggest starting of using the basic system and grow into using all the other tools like traffic analysis and custom keyword control.
Website
Google Ad Words
Website
Google Ad Words
Monday, April 21, 2008
For your Submission - SnoCap
It is a safe assumption that you have a myspace by now, instead of just getting plays for your songs, might as well sell them as well. This is a great feature because it is a point fo sale right where people are listening to your music, a true no brainer.
The link for this one is in you admin view in myspace, make sure you look for the link.
The link for this one is in you admin view in myspace, make sure you look for the link.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Myspace that Matters : reverbnation.com
I wouldn't call myspace the mecca of all places to get exposure for music, and sometimes it all comes down to saturation, actually with myspace it really is all about whoring the music out and hopefully a few people along the way become fans, which seems to be the case. Interacting with the fan base is crucial though, not just adding friends for friends sake. I have made some great contacts with myspace so i can't really knock it...
so another site that works cool is reverbnation.com
Pick your best track and use the message board and comment away with it! Don't do a thousand bulletins...one to your fan base is enough. After that go to highly saturated sites and leave a comment...not a lot of comments on one site, one comment per site and schedule to do this as you have the free time. Also, pick artist sites that are related to your style...no one cares about folk on a Hip Hop site!
so another site that works cool is reverbnation.com
Pick your best track and use the message board and comment away with it! Don't do a thousand bulletins...one to your fan base is enough. After that go to highly saturated sites and leave a comment...not a lot of comments on one site, one comment per site and schedule to do this as you have the free time. Also, pick artist sites that are related to your style...no one cares about folk on a Hip Hop site!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Expose Yourself! - FIZZKICKS.com
So this is a very interesting idea for getting your songs to the masses at your shows or if you are walking down the street talking to someone and they ask what you sound like. Instead of giving away a CD give them a music card they can use to down. Now my take on this is you can use it as a way to peak some curiousity and lead the horse to water. If they like the one track they bought using the card, they might be more likely to purchasde so more. I am thinking great online POS type of concept.
Link
fizzkicks.com
Haven't had the chance to upload songs but our future fizzkicks site went up
Mystic Nation FizzKicks site
Here is there selling point as found on sonicbids.com...some reason that site keeps coming up, wonder why, have a clue yet....and I must repeat I have no association with them :)
Link
fizzkicks.com
Haven't had the chance to upload songs but our future fizzkicks site went up
Mystic Nation FizzKicks site
Here is there selling point as found on sonicbids.com...some reason that site keeps coming up, wonder why, have a clue yet....and I must repeat I have no association with them :)
Monday, April 16, 2007
Resource of the Day - Friend Bot
This resource is a compliment to the myspace strategy. Essentially it allows you to pull from a certain demographic or a bands page and then send add messages to these lists. Very effective tool for exposing people to your music and your myspace page. It is essentially the equivelent of leaving a flyer on someones door, though some people see it as spam. I am on the side of the flyer philosophy.
Recommendations.
1. Start with the bands list, typically these people are more into music than your average myspace joe.
2. Focus on your local demographic, say within 20 miles of residence or where the band thinks it is centered.
3. Make sure you check the box that makes sure you don't send duplicate adds, this can piss people off pretty quick.
4. For saftey limit add requests to 300 a day, keeps you off the myspace radar.
Disclaimer, don't blame me if you account gets frozen because you got to hyper with the resource!
Website
friendbot.com
Recommendations.
1. Start with the bands list, typically these people are more into music than your average myspace joe.
2. Focus on your local demographic, say within 20 miles of residence or where the band thinks it is centered.
3. Make sure you check the box that makes sure you don't send duplicate adds, this can piss people off pretty quick.
4. For saftey limit add requests to 300 a day, keeps you off the myspace radar.
Disclaimer, don't blame me if you account gets frozen because you got to hyper with the resource!
Website
friendbot.com
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Resource of the Day - Music Connection
Great resource for submitting player wanted ads, and also a chance you can get your demo reviewed if they select to review it.
Website
Music Connection
Website
Music Connection
Friday, April 13, 2007
Resource of the Day - Constant Contact
Todays resource is extremely important if you have a fan base and want to be able to communicate with them via email. Constant Contact is one of the easiest resources to use for managing and adding to your band mailing list.
Constant Contact has a great interface for building both HTML and text based emails and also provides great tracking of what people do once they get the email.
Website
Constant Contact
Constant Contact has a great interface for building both HTML and text based emails and also provides great tracking of what people do once they get the email.
Website
Constant Contact
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
The Business Side Part 1 - AllMusic.com
Sending your product to allmusic.com is mandatory. Don't think why, don't ask why, Submit your finished CD to this website. It has many benefits.
1. When you decide to join the Recording Academy as an artist, this is the site they use to validate your existence.
2. Wikipedia editors look here to see if you have the necessary three works of art to be a artist with a bio on wikipedia.
Basically it is one of a thousand sites you will want to put your music on this happens to be a more important one than most. You existence on this website shows that you put a little more effort and thought into your music career and are really trying to be the Little Engine that could.
1. When you decide to join the Recording Academy as an artist, this is the site they use to validate your existence.
2. Wikipedia editors look here to see if you have the necessary three works of art to be a artist with a bio on wikipedia.
Basically it is one of a thousand sites you will want to put your music on this happens to be a more important one than most. You existence on this website shows that you put a little more effort and thought into your music career and are really trying to be the Little Engine that could.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
The Publics First Glimpse - Part V myspace
myspace. It's a blessing and a curse. Regardless, these types of forums are a great way to get ones self out in front of a mass audience. Myspace is the big one, and contrary to popular belief it does not level the playing field between you and everyone else, but it serves its own purpose, cheap exposure.
So if you dont have any idea of myspace.com by now, go to www.myspace.com amd start an account, it is a painless process.
There are quite a few sites out there that do the same thing, but myspace is the most popular right now.
Big warning...you will get a lot of junk messages. Swet your comments sections so that you have to approve comments, otherwise all of your friends will think you are pushing penis and diet pills...trust me.
Some other words of wisdom, be engaged with the people who truly are interested in your music, it makes for great relationships and a closer connection.
There are a few more points to cover with myspace before we move on, this is just a starter.
So if you dont have any idea of myspace.com by now, go to www.myspace.com amd start an account, it is a painless process.
There are quite a few sites out there that do the same thing, but myspace is the most popular right now.
Big warning...you will get a lot of junk messages. Swet your comments sections so that you have to approve comments, otherwise all of your friends will think you are pushing penis and diet pills...trust me.
Some other words of wisdom, be engaged with the people who truly are interested in your music, it makes for great relationships and a closer connection.
There are a few more points to cover with myspace before we move on, this is just a starter.
Friday, March 30, 2007
The Publics First Glimpse - Part IV Branding
Time to put on the marketing cap and bring your checklist to life. Initial step in that process is branding, how are you presenting your name to the world. In the end it is how people are going to recognize and identify an artist or band.
With the Mystic Nation we choose a symbol that had a lot of depth and ancestral meaning and choose a font that related to that history. The Logo on the album is a direct take on our intial marketing push which include a very simple black and white version of the logo with the Band name and website on it. In my opinion it is a very distinct logo and very visible when put in and around the area.
The whole point was to have something that people could quickly make a connection with at a show or when they were driving around town and saw the barrage of stickers everywhere. F54 and Volcom clothing both do an excellent job as well with their logos and a very distintive and I am remind of them constantly everyday because their stickers are everywhere. Others in the music industry whom have had great sucess in using their brand is Metallica, Queensryche, Iron Maiden, Perfect Circle or No Doubt. Those are just the ones that hit my mind as I type.
Ok so sticker aside, as thats an item on the list and not the branding approach I am talking about, choosing your brand is very important so take some level of effort and time to finalize it, because the intention is to stick with it for the life of the project.
A couple paths one can go down is to hire a graphic artist for a couple hundred dollars or use one of those assembly line logo companies. Either way have a general concept sketched otu for them ahead of time so you can better explain your idea. More power to you if can actual design one, saves cash...and we all want to do that.
This branding should be consistent across all your items on the list, from T-Shirts to Hats to the website and your bio. Keep a uniform message as this leads to brand awareness as you force your presence upon the world. Being indy means it's all gurilla marketing warfare, don't be afraid to push your brand.
Some logo resources:
Logo Works
The Logo Co
Good do it yourself article
With the Mystic Nation we choose a symbol that had a lot of depth and ancestral meaning and choose a font that related to that history. The Logo on the album is a direct take on our intial marketing push which include a very simple black and white version of the logo with the Band name and website on it. In my opinion it is a very distinct logo and very visible when put in and around the area.
The whole point was to have something that people could quickly make a connection with at a show or when they were driving around town and saw the barrage of stickers everywhere. F54 and Volcom clothing both do an excellent job as well with their logos and a very distintive and I am remind of them constantly everyday because their stickers are everywhere. Others in the music industry whom have had great sucess in using their brand is Metallica, Queensryche, Iron Maiden, Perfect Circle or No Doubt. Those are just the ones that hit my mind as I type.
Ok so sticker aside, as thats an item on the list and not the branding approach I am talking about, choosing your brand is very important so take some level of effort and time to finalize it, because the intention is to stick with it for the life of the project.
A couple paths one can go down is to hire a graphic artist for a couple hundred dollars or use one of those assembly line logo companies. Either way have a general concept sketched otu for them ahead of time so you can better explain your idea. More power to you if can actual design one, saves cash...and we all want to do that.
This branding should be consistent across all your items on the list, from T-Shirts to Hats to the website and your bio. Keep a uniform message as this leads to brand awareness as you force your presence upon the world. Being indy means it's all gurilla marketing warfare, don't be afraid to push your brand.
Some logo resources:
Logo Works
The Logo Co
Good do it yourself article
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Publics First Glimpse - Part III The Checklist
One thing that helped us when the Mystic Nation was getting set release our first CD was to sit down and ponder all the ways we could reach the audience. Regardless of the cost, we listed everything we could think of to help market our cause. Having a CD is great, but if nobodby knows about it, you might as well not make a first run of 2000 CDs.
Everything from matchbooks to a music video. It was amazing at how many ideas this spawned and from that we managed the list down to specific action items to pursue.
Basically it is a wave, once the first set of tasks is taken off, the next phase I pursued, and on and on.
It sounds like a simple idea, but it was an approach I had never seen taken in the 5 or 6 other bands I had been in, and the productivity and focus because of the list proved to me that it was a valuable tool.
Going over the top with organization, I highly recommend Microsoft Project. If you have the patience and organization skills, this is a very powerful tool. At this point you are starting to run your career like a business, with intent and focus, not just hoping you will get discovered playing in a coffee house.
Everything from matchbooks to a music video. It was amazing at how many ideas this spawned and from that we managed the list down to specific action items to pursue.
Basically it is a wave, once the first set of tasks is taken off, the next phase I pursued, and on and on.
It sounds like a simple idea, but it was an approach I had never seen taken in the 5 or 6 other bands I had been in, and the productivity and focus because of the list proved to me that it was a valuable tool.
Going over the top with organization, I highly recommend Microsoft Project. If you have the patience and organization skills, this is a very powerful tool. At this point you are starting to run your career like a business, with intent and focus, not just hoping you will get discovered playing in a coffee house.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
The Publics First Glimpse - Part II - The Demo
Part of the joys, or pains, of the artist/band development process is putting one foot in front of the other and try not to miss a step on the way to achieving ones goals. One such step is trying to go out and book oneself at the local clubs and coffee shops without some proof that the artist or band is actually a good fit for the venue.
From the last post, at this moment there are two choices, the demo and or the full blown piece of work. Getting shows does not require a full blown production, and often times most clubs only want to hear a sample. So unless the end desire is to launch into the public in a blaze of glory, it is extremely time and cost effective to focus on a demo to get the bus on the road.
A demo does not need to be polished master quality, it can help, but it's highly unlikely to cause you to not get a gig, the music itself however probably will. Spending an extra $300 or $400 on a demo package at the local recording studio can save many frustrations and headaches, but if you are a savvy home engineer with a good ear, go for it.
Some key things to consider before the demo is recorded.
1. Whats the focus of the project? What type of club or promoter is getting this demo.
2. Pick the best three songs in the repertoire
3. Take these three songs and rehearse them to death, the tighter they sound the better you will be in the long run
4. Be honest and open about the focus as you go through the process, drop a tune if your gut says something just isn't right
I have never been the engineer on my own demo, so I can't honestly recommend any books, but I am sure there are plenty on amazon.com
Once the demo is recorded...
From the last post, at this moment there are two choices, the demo and or the full blown piece of work. Getting shows does not require a full blown production, and often times most clubs only want to hear a sample. So unless the end desire is to launch into the public in a blaze of glory, it is extremely time and cost effective to focus on a demo to get the bus on the road.
A demo does not need to be polished master quality, it can help, but it's highly unlikely to cause you to not get a gig, the music itself however probably will. Spending an extra $300 or $400 on a demo package at the local recording studio can save many frustrations and headaches, but if you are a savvy home engineer with a good ear, go for it.
Some key things to consider before the demo is recorded.
1. Whats the focus of the project? What type of club or promoter is getting this demo.
2. Pick the best three songs in the repertoire
3. Take these three songs and rehearse them to death, the tighter they sound the better you will be in the long run
4. Be honest and open about the focus as you go through the process, drop a tune if your gut says something just isn't right
I have never been the engineer on my own demo, so I can't honestly recommend any books, but I am sure there are plenty on amazon.com
Once the demo is recorded...
Monday, March 12, 2007
sonicbids.com - Part III. - Selecting Opportunities
Once you get your EPK all set up and dialed in and looking great. It is time to pursue the purpose of using this tool to begin with. The main objective is to set goals based on certain objectives. Do you want press? Are you looking to play festivals? Are you looking to get the attention of A&R? These are questions you should be asking yourself going into the submission process. The big mistake I initially made was to submit to everything all at once without a focus.
Pick a goal and focus on that. Then filter out the opportunities that are relevant. You many want to play a mega festival or a college, but if you are a band just starting out and have not much of a touring history, unless a stroke of luck occurs, chances are you willnot get picked and now you have wasted $5 or $10...this adds up quick when you pick every possible opportunity.
Also, some opportunities ask questions, answer these honestly. It also is a great way to filter yourself out of an opportunity. If you can't answer the opportunity honestly or if the answer looks to be a disadvantage to you, I would suggest that you not submit to the post.
Keep it real, and eventually things start clicking...
Pick a goal and focus on that. Then filter out the opportunities that are relevant. You many want to play a mega festival or a college, but if you are a band just starting out and have not much of a touring history, unless a stroke of luck occurs, chances are you willnot get picked and now you have wasted $5 or $10...this adds up quick when you pick every possible opportunity.
Also, some opportunities ask questions, answer these honestly. It also is a great way to filter yourself out of an opportunity. If you can't answer the opportunity honestly or if the answer looks to be a disadvantage to you, I would suggest that you not submit to the post.
Keep it real, and eventually things start clicking...
Monday, March 5, 2007
sonicbids.com - Part II. - Setting up the EPK
I am going to assume you may have read the first blog on sonicbids.com or that maybe you already had a sonicbids.com account. "Here's the deal" (trademarked by BTLS)...now that you have created an account, what next, so many options, so many choices...
Before you get so excited about the opportunities and spend as little time possible prepping your EPK, SLOW DOWN! The biggest mistake I made once I created an account was to put together a basic EPK with no content and little focus, and then submit to as many offerings as I could afford...THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO DO IT! It took me about three weeks to realize that my initial promotional effort was all for nothing because I didn't take the time to "present" the band.
So here are some ground rules that seemed to help my response rate as I learned the system(well I am still learning it).
1. Every aspect of the EPK should be filled in, right down to the Set List and stage requirements. Nothing worse than an EPK with empty links...it's wasting peoples time who are interested in you.
2. Pictures...cram them in, including Hi Rez. They don't allow many, even with the super package, put as many as you can, and make sure they are consistent with the theme or vibe you are trying to present yourself as.
3. Songs. This is frustrating to me, because they have a limit of 5MB for the songs...which sucks, most of my files are 8+ so I ended up dumbing the quality down. There are two tricks here...give a sample and fade it out, or give in and include a complete song at a worse than CD quality. Don't forget lyrics!!!!
4. Keep your elevator pitch consistent with your Band bio...DON'T BE ALL OVER THE MAP! keep your message clear and consistent...on a personal note, I hate bios that sound like a big reach around...be humble and focus on the band mission...get the attitude when 4 million people buy your cd :)
5. Once you have finished your EPK, link to it everywhere you have a website, blog or related link. They have a tool under "Promote My EPK" in the "My Account" section.
That's a good chunk for now...next step will be throwing yourself at the opportunities.
Before you get so excited about the opportunities and spend as little time possible prepping your EPK, SLOW DOWN! The biggest mistake I made once I created an account was to put together a basic EPK with no content and little focus, and then submit to as many offerings as I could afford...THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO DO IT! It took me about three weeks to realize that my initial promotional effort was all for nothing because I didn't take the time to "present" the band.
So here are some ground rules that seemed to help my response rate as I learned the system(well I am still learning it).
1. Every aspect of the EPK should be filled in, right down to the Set List and stage requirements. Nothing worse than an EPK with empty links...it's wasting peoples time who are interested in you.
2. Pictures...cram them in, including Hi Rez. They don't allow many, even with the super package, put as many as you can, and make sure they are consistent with the theme or vibe you are trying to present yourself as.
3. Songs. This is frustrating to me, because they have a limit of 5MB for the songs...which sucks, most of my files are 8+ so I ended up dumbing the quality down. There are two tricks here...give a sample and fade it out, or give in and include a complete song at a worse than CD quality. Don't forget lyrics!!!!
4. Keep your elevator pitch consistent with your Band bio...DON'T BE ALL OVER THE MAP! keep your message clear and consistent...on a personal note, I hate bios that sound like a big reach around...be humble and focus on the band mission...get the attitude when 4 million people buy your cd :)
5. Once you have finished your EPK, link to it everywhere you have a website, blog or related link. They have a tool under "Promote My EPK" in the "My Account" section.
That's a good chunk for now...next step will be throwing yourself at the opportunities.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
The Band Website. Part I - Beginnings
This is a loaded topic with many sub layers of information. The band website is one of the most key components of representing yourself as a real band, especially if you don't have a million dollars behind you.
The easiest part, and first step, is getting a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), better known as your web address. In most cases your band name, if it isn't a funny spelling of something, is occupied or being used by some spammer/fake search engine hack, don't despair, just means you will have to put on the creativity cap. Go to register.com or godaddy.com and search for the url of your choice (ie ournameband.com, ournameband.info, ournameband.biz) once you find your URL reserve it. This does not commit you to a webhost, but at least you have now gotten one step of a long journey out of the way. godaddy is way cheaper and they provide cheap hosting if you are going to build the site yourself. I like Register from a usability point of view(silly I know).
As a web/software programmer I have gone many routes over the last several years, building very simple band sites to fully loaded sites where I even built my own windows based content tool, which never go used in real time because I decided on the template site by then. What drove me nuts, and this is a personal issue, was how much time I was committing to maintaining websites, versus creating music.
In the end, for Mystic Nation, I found an awesome template driven hosting company that focuses primarily on band websites. Unreal was that once I configured this tool, I have freed up so many extra hours of work now, I actually have free time. Currently we are using Rock-n-Roll Design as our template provider right now and there is so much stuff to cover on this topic it will be a post all by itself...great tool though if your time comes in short order and don't want to rely on a web developer. The end result for us is mysticnation.info
If you want to learn how to actually build your own website, take the first step at W3 Schools and see if it is for you. I recommend going through the HTML tutorial, which is free like all the other tutorials on that site.
A couple of tips for creating your own website that I find helpful
1. Keep the site clean and easy to navigate. Too much can be too much, too little if done right can be intriguing.
2. Make sure your website matches any offline marketing scheme you may have, nothing beats consistency when trying to enforce a message.
3. Create calls to action like signing up for a newsletter, joining the myspace, downloading a song, viewing a picture, posting to a blog...this adds to the experience far more than if you just throw the band bio up with a picture adn say here we are. Constantly involving content is far more effective in bringing people back.
Resources
Books - a list of some books for the HTML beginner
1. HTML for Dummies
2. HTML, XML, CSS
Internet
1. Do it yourself start at W3 Schools
2. Template Driven Sites
A. Rock-n-Roll Design
B. BandZoogle
3. Hosting
A. godaddy.com
B. Reinvent Inc (Great .NET hosting provider)
The easiest part, and first step, is getting a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), better known as your web address. In most cases your band name, if it isn't a funny spelling of something, is occupied or being used by some spammer/fake search engine hack, don't despair, just means you will have to put on the creativity cap. Go to register.com or godaddy.com and search for the url of your choice (ie ournameband.com, ournameband.info, ournameband.biz) once you find your URL reserve it. This does not commit you to a webhost, but at least you have now gotten one step of a long journey out of the way. godaddy is way cheaper and they provide cheap hosting if you are going to build the site yourself. I like Register from a usability point of view(silly I know).
As a web/software programmer I have gone many routes over the last several years, building very simple band sites to fully loaded sites where I even built my own windows based content tool, which never go used in real time because I decided on the template site by then. What drove me nuts, and this is a personal issue, was how much time I was committing to maintaining websites, versus creating music.
In the end, for Mystic Nation, I found an awesome template driven hosting company that focuses primarily on band websites. Unreal was that once I configured this tool, I have freed up so many extra hours of work now, I actually have free time. Currently we are using Rock-n-Roll Design as our template provider right now and there is so much stuff to cover on this topic it will be a post all by itself...great tool though if your time comes in short order and don't want to rely on a web developer. The end result for us is mysticnation.info
If you want to learn how to actually build your own website, take the first step at W3 Schools and see if it is for you. I recommend going through the HTML tutorial, which is free like all the other tutorials on that site.
A couple of tips for creating your own website that I find helpful
1. Keep the site clean and easy to navigate. Too much can be too much, too little if done right can be intriguing.
2. Make sure your website matches any offline marketing scheme you may have, nothing beats consistency when trying to enforce a message.
3. Create calls to action like signing up for a newsletter, joining the myspace, downloading a song, viewing a picture, posting to a blog...this adds to the experience far more than if you just throw the band bio up with a picture adn say here we are. Constantly involving content is far more effective in bringing people back.
Resources
Books - a list of some books for the HTML beginner
1. HTML for Dummies
2. HTML, XML, CSS
Internet
1. Do it yourself start at W3 Schools
2. Template Driven Sites
A. Rock-n-Roll Design
B. BandZoogle
3. Hosting
A. godaddy.com
B. Reinvent Inc (Great .NET hosting provider)
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
sonicbids.com - Part I. - An Introduction
I thought I would finally post something related to getting the wheels of progress turning, rather than another post on the philosophy of being in a band. After all this blog is dedicated to sharing useful information, not just my opinion...though my opinion will still be used as a weapon :)
Of all the tools that has produced the most results in terms of tangible music industry results, http://www.sonicbids.com has been the most effective.
In a nutshell this website allows you to create an eletronic press kit (dubbed "EPK") that not only is great to shoot out to the media, but also to submit to many different opportunities in the industry, as well as make available to your fans, plus it makes you look more organized and professional. The amount of opportunities are staggering. Festivals, Interviews, Licensing, Promoters, Magazines, College promoters...all available for you to submit your band to if you see the fit (hint...that's the key to using the tool).
Part Two of my discussion about Sonicbids will focus on what I have learned in terms of the submitting process and what to expect and basically how to get around the website. They have a ton of useful information and I will share what has been glaringly obvious for me.
Some of the opportunities Mystic Nation has been fortunate to be selected for using this tool:
For an example, check out our EPK... http://www.sonicbids.com/mysticnation
This is what goes out to the industry...so if you do set an EPK up, use every part of the EPK. Even more exciting is the interface they have to interact with the industry...but thats for another time.
Of all the tools that has produced the most results in terms of tangible music industry results, http://www.sonicbids.com has been the most effective.
In a nutshell this website allows you to create an eletronic press kit (dubbed "EPK") that not only is great to shoot out to the media, but also to submit to many different opportunities in the industry, as well as make available to your fans, plus it makes you look more organized and professional. The amount of opportunities are staggering. Festivals, Interviews, Licensing, Promoters, Magazines, College promoters...all available for you to submit your band to if you see the fit (hint...that's the key to using the tool).
Part Two of my discussion about Sonicbids will focus on what I have learned in terms of the submitting process and what to expect and basically how to get around the website. They have a ton of useful information and I will share what has been glaringly obvious for me.
Some of the opportunities Mystic Nation has been fortunate to be selected for using this tool:
- Exposure to 100 college related websites
- Booked Several large clubs in LA that are difficult to get booked with just their phone number and persistence.
- Our product shopped in Asia for distribution and promotion
- Several podcast and internet radio sites putting us into rotation
Some of the things we are under consideration for:
- Interviews with several online and print publications
- Licensing for several different film and TV opportunities
- College Booking
- A couple different compilations
For an example, check out our EPK... http://www.sonicbids.com/mysticnation
This is what goes out to the industry...so if you do set an EPK up, use every part of the EPK. Even more exciting is the interface they have to interact with the industry...but thats for another time.
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