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:

1. Exposure to 100 college related websites
2. Booked Several large clubs in LA that are difficult to get booked with just their phone number and persistence.
3. Our product shopped in Asia for distribution and promotion
4. Several podcast and internet radio sites putting us into rotation

Some of the things we are under consideration for:

1. Interviews with several online and print publications
2. Licensing for several different film and TV opportunities
3. College Booking
4. A couple different compilations

This will all start to make sense as I explain http://www.sonicbids.com in future posts. For now I would encourage you to check their site out and read their spin on things, cause they know their marketing message better than me.

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.

A beginning...

This blog will serve a purpose to condense as much infomation about tricks and tips and things that have worked and not worked over the years in the do it yourself music business. I am only an authority on the subject in my own world, so take the info with a level of seriousness or counter with even better information, or we can even be sarcastic all day long.

There are plenty of books out there on the art of being in a band, the key difference here is...I am not trying to make any money off you. The idea to blog this stuff really came to a head when I found myself repeating the same type of info to musicians I know, over and over, so this is a way to place all the info in one central location and let the feedback, if any, roll in and expand on the concepts.

I want this to serve as a communucation point between people who don't expect a label to hand them something, and honestly, don't care if they do. A place to express frustration and triumph with all the excellent tools available to the indy artist or even to the hobby musician looking to at a minimum get their product on the market and in distribution.

Over time I will go through several commercial sites that are beneficial...but I want to make clear I am not endorsing the use of these tools, merely pointing them out. I take no reponsibility for anyones failure or success along the way. Just because it worked for me, does not mean it will work for you...and there are many reasons this may be the case, but I am not one of them.

If you have any links or tools worth mentioning, please feel free to email me at goliath@mysticntion.info , provide me with the basics and I will do some research and report back on the blog.

Now let's go do some discovery!