Well, it’s hard to believe CMJ has come and gone.  Mike wrote an awesome recap about some of the artist showcases we saw, but I thought I’d give some other highlights about the conference.

I spent my days with Aliki at the tradeshow and, as always, I loved meeting our members face to face. If there’s one thing I can say, is that Sonicbids has some of the craziest, hilarious and most talented artists in the world!  We took some great photos, videos (more on that below), and even found some time at the end to pal around with our friends like Paul Bodlovich, the Executive Director of WAMi – that’s him and me underneath the box he put on my head!

Mike spent a lot of time at the Artist Lounge at the Bowery, meeting and talking with more members.  Over there, he was also giving away free D’Addario strings – a must have when you’re touring and rocking a bit too hard on that guitar. (more…)

Tuesday @ Crash Mansion/BLVD
Sydney Wayser was someone I had been meaning to see for a few months, and her set at Crash Mansion was really enjoyable. Backed by a guitarist, drummer, and standup bassist/toy pianist, the quartet clearly has musical chops but show considerable restraint. They understand how less-is-more works; “Banjo Bayou” has a Spoon-like swagger and climaxes without a desire to build a loud crescendo. It just doesn’t need to.

Later in the evening, I heard the opening notes of “And the Hazy Sea” upstairs at BLVD, and was in for a set of several songs by Cymbals Eat Guitars. I saw their show in Boston earlier this summer, and now believe Joseph D’Agostino has some of the best vocals in rock and roll these days. Like Malkmus he can be hushed and quiet one second, only to explode into a scream that never runs away from him, never cracks unless he wants it to. The quartet played several shows during CMJ’s duration; this was not going to be their best attended (maybe 25 people there?), but it did not seem not affect the members. (more…)

Hey all,

Thought it’d be cool to share that the Sonicbids SXSW Tweetup was a HUGE success and we had a ton of fun!  Thanks to all that came down to our office and spent their evening with us. An extra special thanks to Scott McNearney and Brent Grulke from SXSW for flying in to meet folks and give their insights.

I personally got to meet some awesome members like Adam Payne, Neara Russell, Lauren Flaherty… I even met another Tess from the group Miss Tess! Below are a couple photos for you to check out, but I’d recommend you check out our Facebook event at http://tinyurl.com/SonicbidsTweetup to see a whole bunch of them. (By the way, feel free to tag up those photos if you’re in them or you know who are!)

Finally, it wouldn’t have been a Tweetup without Twitter, so you can check out the hashtag that we used #sonicsxsw. You can click on that to see the tweets and photos that folks who attended posted during and after.

Thanks again for all who attended. We had a blast!

Tess

PS: Panos just posted a blog that you might find interesting also about the Tweetup, “7 Tips To Get You Noticed by SXSW” Check it out!

Hi all, Darlene here. Last week, I stopped into the Boston Music Conference to check out some panels. I make it sound like it was so breezy (stopping in, that is), but I may have gone to the wrong place at first. And by “may have,” I mean, I most certainly did. Anyway, once there, I did get to listen in on some great sessions, including one featuring one of our own – Kimberly, our VP of Marketing.

Don Gorder, the Chair of the Music Business/Management Department of Berklee, kicked things off on Friday with a keynote speech. He talked about how the internet has empowered today’s DIY artist with lots of tools for building a music career. And, like what we believe here at Sonicbids, he reinforced that we’ll continue to see the emergence of the artistic middle class – people who can make a living and can have a life in music. His parting words – make great music, build intimate relationships with your fans and continue the creativity and passion.

Next up was the panel on marketing, which included Barry O’Connell of Licensing and Entertainment Relations for VerveLife, Elizabeth Healy, Executive Director for The Recording Academy NY Chapter, John Stringer, Partner for Indie HitMakers, Angel Martinez of G-Unit Records and moderator Tim Estiloz.

Here are some of key takeaways.

• Artists need to treat their music careers like a small business.
• Focus on the small wins. Develop a marketing plan and start ticking away at it.
• If you don’t know where to start, seek people out who can help you develop or execute on your plan.
• There are tons and tons of tools available to musicians to help them market themselves – things like YouTube, Facebook, Simpleology, Zazzle, MySpace, Twitter (and Sonicbids!). You don’t need to use all of them. Just try a few and see what works for you.
• Teaming with brands has become a great way to get your name out there.
• When it comes to partnering with brands, understand the demographic that a specific brand reaches and decide if it’s right for you. Find brands that match your image and goals.
• Make good relationship, build your Electronic Press Kit, build your personal brand.
• If your band doesn’t show up on Google – you’re not that hot. Get the word out.
• You are responsible for your own career.

And the overall message – it’s never been a better time to be an independent musician.