I quit my band a few months ago. That’s a great conversation starter.
To be honest, my heart wasn’t really into it, I was writing songs myself that didn’t really fit our ‘sound’ (we played all-instrumental progressive rock), and it was just too much of a commitment that I didn’t feel was making me happy in the long run.
So what now? I’ve decided to take my creative independence to heart and start a solo project. I’ve been toying with the idea for some time now and have been recording material myself for an EP or two, as well as a full-length record. And, while I’m not technically playing live (since I don’t have a band, yet) or have any great publicity for myself yet, I’ve still got a Sonicbids EPK. Why would it make any sense for me to have an EPK? A couple of reasons (and not just because I work here!)
A great press kit. A common misconception is that the Sonicbids press kit is a paid version of internet presence, something like a MySpace page. I’ve got a MySpace and a Facebook page for my music, but one must consider who exactly will be viewing each page. Sonicbids press kits are just that — promoters, publicists, judges and others are viewing this to determine if your band is right to work with them. I use my other sites to interact with my friends and small fanbase, provide them with demos of new tunes and updates from my life. Sonicbids’ clear, concise EPK format allows me to organize all of my information into a neat little package for these people to view, because I want to focus this type of viewer on my 4-5 best songs.
Some sections of the EPK that I feel many artists do not take advantage of are the Set List, Basic Requirements, and Calendar pages. These are crucial for informing promoters about what you require and can provide live. The EPK Calendar is especially useful, even as a non-performing musician. Take the time to include any past gigs you’ve played, to demonstrate your live show experience (think of it as a resume of sorts). I’m going to use my calendar to inform about my music releases once I have more clear-cut dates on these.
Gigs before I start looking for gigs. Sonicbids has literally hundreds of gig listings that artists, bands and agencies can submit their EPKs to for consideration. Yes, many of these are live gigs, but we are constantly growing in the vein of opportunities for non-performing musicians, and non-musical acts as well. One type of gig I’ve been checking out recently is the category of online radio and other forms of publicity, which is a way to get my music out there before an album is released or much is done in terms of publicity. Once my music is copyrighted I plan on moving into the realm of licensing and hopefully getting my tunes into some films and TV, or at least in a placement library.
An artist always needs to be careful and make sure they check out the station (or any gig for that matter) to make sure it is truly right for them. We’ve implemented some great tools to help you out with this: the Advanced Gig Search, Pick-o-Meter, Rate/Reviewing of Gig Listings, and the Success Stories page (feel free to check out MR rep Tony’s article on these tools here). You can also check out other areas of site for more information on that promoter — some of our promoters leave phenomenal tips and info about their gigs elsewhere in the Lounge that is great to know at any point in your career.
A chance to network and practice my industry etiquette. When you’re working on your own, or starting something new, it’s imperative that you leave your ego out of the picture. While my old band was not a household name, we had some great press in the prog-rock community and sold some records here and there. But my new project has nothing to do with the original band — I may send my EPK to some contacts I made while in that band, and I’ve got a good amount of industry experience under my belt, but that does not guarantee success.
It’s a little sad to get that “Not Selected” status update. But if I don’t get selected for a gig, I try hard to use that as an opportunity to follow up with the promoter and perhaps change that to a potential gig, or even get feedback as to why I wasn’t selected. Maybe a relationship can be started in just a couple of emails. Lastly, while Sonicbids does a pretty good job at allowing you to submit and receive a response, it doesn’t just end there — many gigs require some sort of follow-up, and again, it’s a great way to establish a relationship with that promoter or gig.
Some other cool ideas! The EPK Hits Tracker tracks individual hits to each section of the EPK and I’m going to use that info to my advantage; once I have all the material recorded and mastered for my album, I had this idea to set up a “virtual listening party” on my EPK. I’m going to upload my entire album (it should fit within the boundaries of a Supersonic EPK) to my EPK and use Email My EPK to target some industry contacts I have, fans, friends and others who may take interest and direct them to my songs, which they’ll be able to listen to. I’ll then be able to track the hits to each song, to see what songs are played most. Also, I’ll be able to see what information they take most interest in — this is a great way to not only show me what parts of the EPK are most compelling, but also lets me see what they are looking for in an artist by which pages are viewed most frequently.
It might sound strange, but you can also use the EPK format to present yourself as a musician looking for work or a band — fill up your Audio page with music you’ve worked on in the past, add some press reviews to emphasize your skill as a musician. Even add a video of yourself playing with one of your old bands (if they’re cool with it). You can still use the EPK to promote to other artists, bands, songwriters, producers and more with Email My EPK and the Artist Search tool within your account.
You can check out my new EPK if you want here. It’s nothing special right now, as I’m just starting out anew, but it’s good to share. Also, feel free to send us any feedback you have about the site, or any little idea you might have for making this site better or more useful for you — comment on this post, write to our Support Center, give us a call.
Also, how do you use your EPK? Feel free to comment with some ideas you might come up with. I’ll do that too – these days it’s all about creativity anyway.
Brandon
