Sonicbids, the leading matchmaking site for bands and music promoters, today announced a new type of Gig Listing on the site, which the company is calling “Token Listings.” The launch sponsor of this category Gig Listing is leading online music instrument retailer Musician’s Friend. Now, as part of the value of a Sonicbids membership, members can submit to more than 60% of the gigs found on Sonicbids at no additional fee. Members can use their Musician’s Friend Tokens to connect to more than half – and soon to grow to 90% – of the Sonicbids’ promoter network at no additional charge to their membership fee.
“We are extremely pleased to work with Sonicbids and pave the road for musicians globally in finding gigs. Together, we’re creating opportunities that support our community of gigging musicians and help artists advance their careers”,
Historically, all of the Gig Listings on Sonicbids carried a submission fee for applying. In July of last year, Sonicbids introduced a beta test of Token Listings to give bands more opportunities to experiment with submitting to gigs. Since that test, more than 14,000 gigs were booked and nearly 1,500 new promoters joined the site to accept submissions from bands. For the first time in the site’s history, last month more than 50% of submitting bands on Sonicbids got gigs. The company plans to keep a submission fee-based type of Gig Listing that will be called a “Premium Listing.” Exclusive partners such as South By Southwest and CMJ will fall into that category.
“Our sole mission is to empower emerging artists by helping them get gigs and build a sustainable audience. We won’t rest until the site does exactly that,” said Panos Panay, Founder and CEO, Sonicbids. “We want to remove every barrier preventing an artist from getting a gig on Sonicbids, and we saw the cost associated with applying to multiple gigs every month as a major barrier. We’re aiming to offer members, within a few months, up to 90% of the gig listings on the site at no additional cost beyond their membership fee.”
Musician’s Friend Tokens work as a new form of “currency” on Sonicbids enabling members to submit to gig listings at no additional fee. Musician’s Friend Tokens are included as part of the value of a Sonicbids membership. “Sonic” members (the site’s basic level) get 10 Tokens per month and “Supersonic” members (the site’s premium level membership) will get 25. Tokens renew each month and they are offered on a “use it or lose it” basis. Tokens carry no monetary value on the site.
“We are extremely pleased to work with Sonicbids and pave the road for musicians globally in finding gigs. Together, we’re creating opportunities that support our community of gigging musicians and help artists advance their careers,” said Keith Brawley, Vice President of Merchandising and Creative, Musician’s Friend. “We’re thrilled that our sponsorship of this initiative makes it possible for thousands of artists to get gigs. It’s aligned with our mission as a business to provide musicians the tools to create and then spread great music.”
To learn more, watch this video that will walk you through Tokens. If you don’t have a Sonicbids account, sign up for a 14-day free trial membership here.
About Musician’s Friend
Musician’s Friend, Inc., is a global top 50 Internet retailer and the largest direct marketer of musical instruments in the United States. Musician’s Friend is a wholly owned subsidiary of Guitar Center, the largest retailer of musical equipment. Musician’s Friend, Inc., was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Medford, Ore. With more than 80,000 unique products for sale, the company covers a wide range of musical needs, including guitars, basses, amplifiers, keyboards, live sound, recording equipment, drums, percussion, woodwind, brasswind and orchestral stringed instruments, as well as related accessories that are marketed through its print catalogs and websites, including musiciansfriend.com.
About Sonicbids
Sonicbids is the leading matchmaking site for emerging bands and music promoters. Since its launch in 2001, Sonicbids has become the de-facto standard for submitting music to events and opportunities around the globe, counting as partners thousands of prominent events and festivals in North America, Europe, and Australia. Today, the Company boasts a registered membership base of 300,000 bands from over 100 different countries, who use the site daily to connect with 25,000 music “promoters” – ranging from some of the world’s largest music festivals and music conferences, to clubs, coffee houses, cruise ships, colleges, advertising agencies, brand managers, podcasters, music supervisors and other people looking to book, license or broadcast music. In 2010, bands and artists using Sonicbids booked close to 80,000 “gigs” through the site. Sonicbids’ mission is to empower the Artistic Middle Class. Get a Gig or Book a Band at www.sonicbids.com.
