Alkaline Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 and the earlier post from betamax about press packs is spot on. whilst commending the amount of time some bands would spend putting the things together at the end of the day its the music thats the important factor here. funny thing is i always found the hastily put together packs (e.g. one cd with some writing scribbled on it and one peice of A4 paper with a bit of info) tended to contain much better music than bands who sent in professional photos (always made great coffee coasters) and 10 pages of how this band were 'the next big thing...' when your receiving shedloads of demos all proclaiming to be the next big thing it does get a tad tedious after a while (and the cd's would make even better coffee coasters not that i ever did that kind of thing!!!)I guess you haven't learned the benefit of computers and the internet either.....By EPK i wasn't meaning a physical one. I was just pointing out that it was easy enough to use your bands website or myspace as one and direct promoters to that. You can have any of the information that you're required to have on either and both are easy enough to use by promoters etc. Most promoters use myspace at some point these days anyway. In the case of this GoNorth situation it would've been easy enough for the artists to apply on a simple form pointing people in the general direction of their website/myspace and having all the information they needed there. I know this website has bigger implications on the promoting side of it, but it still requires someone clicking on a link and reading a whole heap of bumph about a band. It's just the same as recieving a pack, you've still got to wade neck deep in shite to find something good. But in this case the bands have to fork out a wee bit of cash to do it when they really shouldn't have to. As i've said already it doesn't seem to be any more of a useful tool to bands that they aren't already open to just now for free if they put in the time and effort themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkaline Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 You added your 'tuppence worth' but due to inflation it is more like 'ten pence'. See what I did there? Humour just ain't worth it when it needs to be explained. Not every post on here must have a serious tone, surley. I encourage getting some 'take things less serious pills'. Boots have them, 4.65 for 50 they can go quite far if you use them right... If that's not on the agenda then go to the Lemon Tree tomorrow night!That's what i thought you meant Just thought i'd check though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delboy Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 I guess you haven't learned the benefit of computers and the internet either.....what is this computer and internet you speak of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkaline Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 Your experience of promoters looks a bit limited.There are promoters who may be looking for exactly a certain type of band but dont actually want to be stalked by bands and then bombarded with a thousand promo packs with myspace adresses written on them. Never mind then having to trawl Myspace. Anything that streamlines band selection by promoters is a good thing imo, having worked on both sides of the band/promoter fence. Good for bands too. Myspace is more or less saturated with useless cack now anyway. Any decent (or busy) promoter is unlikely to have the time on his hands to give it much attention.I disagree. We (Genevieve) get gig offers all round the UK from promoters both little and large in scale on a weekly basis (that's not trumpet blowing as i'm sure many other bands do as well) on our myspace and also through our email address (displayed on our myspace) it is somewhat frustrating that at the moment we are unable to take those requests into consideration. It's a promoters job to track down bands that fit their bills and the search functions on myspace are easily navigated and not in the least time consuming if you know what you're doing, as i'm sure most promoters do. There's nothing wrong with bands getting their fingers out their arses and looking in areas where they want to play, finding the local promoters/venues and asking for gigs now is there? At least that's the way it used to be done, as i'm sure you well know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeC Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 As a matter of interest, are there any bands on here who have been approached by a promoter who has seen your myspace site?Are there any promoters on here who have approached a band who's myspace site impressed you?Just interested...G... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeinzHines Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 As a matter of interest, are there any bands on here who have been approached by a promoter who has seen your myspace site?Musically based yes, not because it looks ace or has any sort of important info on it.Has helped us get international radio play aswell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cloud Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 We were told last year after the 3rd year in a row applying that we would never even be considered because we've been going too long, and as such are not fresh or up and coming...despite the fact that several acts have played it two years in a row.It's not like the lineup is decided by submissions anyway, so I wouldn't really worry about it. No doubt if you get an important person lobbying for your inclusion, you'll play I notice with that Sonicbids thing, not only do you have to pay to join the site (apart from the free trial), but you also might have to pay to submit your pack to GoNorth.The sad thing about this is that if GoNorth are charging a fee to submit a press kit, then they're effectively making money from bands who most probably won't play anyway. Bit sad, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeC Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 Musically based yes, Sorry I'm not with you there...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RF Scott Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 Sorry I'm not with you there...?Pretty straight forward, based on their music as opposed to the presentation of their myspace page, which is pretty basic, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MDP Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 i've booked MANY (infact most) of the bands that have played my nights through myspace, it's really good foor promoters, you can see how many views their profile has had, how many friends they have, and listen to their music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeC Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Pretty straight forward, based on their music as opposed to the presentation of their myspace page, which is pretty basic, etc.Oh right...I wasnt thinking any further than the music...do you think that any promoter would be influenced by a bit of bling?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betamax Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Definately.My problem - and I think a lot of people's problems - with myspace stem from the fact that the site is incredibly poorly designed, you can't get logged on easily, it's slow, it constantly crashes and a lot of band's music players simply decide not to work at random points. Not to mention to face you get stuck with a bloody mp3 at the end of it all - though I understand why they sue MP3's. I detest using myspace for band related stuff and prefer keeping in personal contact with promoters, sending people cd's, discussing things over the phone etc etc.Personally, I recoil at the thought of having to search myspace for bands. I mean, its good that bands are linked with other bands etc etc but its just so badly designed. Id much rather go to an actual website that actually worked that having to revisit myspace in some sort of hope that its in a good mood that day.I agree with you. I just cant see any of the promoters or industy people we know, spending ages on Myspace searching for random bands in the hope they discover something worth following up, when in fact they are already well informed, know exactly what they want and already have the contacts and info sources they need in terms of whats hot and whats not. The fact that they also have lives to live is a reason that trawling Myspace and reading a zillion promo packs is unlikely to be top of their ''to do'' lists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betamax Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 There's nothing wrong with bands getting their fingers out their arses and looking in areas where they want to play, finding the local promoters/venues and asking for gigs now is there? At least that's the way it used to be done, as i'm sure you well know.Nout wrong with that at all. But very hard work and inevitably unrewarding in a lot of cases. Ideally though you would get onboard with a booking agency before embarking on any grand touring plans however to actually make it worthwhile. DIY touring kills most bands.But going back to the original point you are against, any new way of making it easy for industry people to access new material from bands is good..... go on admit it....its good! Work smarter not harder. (I nicked that) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeC Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Definately.My problem - and I think a lot of people's problems - with myspace stem from the fact that the site is incredibly poorly designed, you can't get logged on easily, it's slow, it constantly crashes and a lot of band's music players simply decide not to work at random points. Not to mention to face you get stuck with a bloody mp3 at the end of it all - though I understand why they sue MP3's. I detest using myspace for band related stuff and prefer keeping in personal contact with promoters, sending people cd's, discussing things over the phone etc etc.Personally, I recoil at the thought of having to search myspace for bands. I mean, its good that bands are linked with other bands etc etc but its just so badly designed. Id much rather go to an actual website that actually worked that having to revisit myspace in some sort of hope that its in a good mood that day.I'm even more confused, you seem to be suggesting that promoters would be affected in their judgment of a band by the non musical content of their myspace, you then rubbish it as a tool for checking the bands out.....so if you detest using it, why wouldnt they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkaline Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Nout wrong with that at all. But very hard work and inevitably unrewarding in a lot of cases. Ideally though you would get onboard with a booking agency before embarking on any grand touring plans however to actually make it worthwhile. DIY touring kills most bands.But going back to the original point you are against, any new way of making it easy for industry people to access new material from bands is good..... go on admit it....its good! Work smarter not harder. (I nicked that)I really understand what you mean and yes i agree there are helpful aspects to it, but it's just going to make promoters and record execs even more lazy than they are just now ultimately. The internet seems to have all but killed off guys going around and randomly checking up on word of mouth buzz bands at their own gigs (which is a shame).I still think bands need to be more aggressive marketing wise themselves and make an effort to give these guys a reason to get off their arses and come and see them.As for myspace, there's 'bling' and then there's functionality (functionality being the more important aspect). You don't need fancy codes to tell someone about the requirements of your backline/stage set-up. Clearly labeled blogs are a great tool for making people aware of what you offer and need (i hasten to add that i mean blogs, not bulletins ).I still like the old postal campaigns though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stripey Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 myspace is good because it makes people with their own domain name and well designed websites look far more professional. I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.As for making people use this sonicbid thing, could it be just because GoNorth would find it easier to browse through applications when they are all in a standardised layout and file format? It's interesting, because for years people have been saying the internet does away with the need for all these middlemen and industry leeches - but it's quickly being colonised by these types because artists are still too willing to jump through the hoops these people set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkaline Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 myspace is good because it makes people with their own domain name and well designed websites look far more professional. I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.Aye obviously your own website is the best option. But not everyone has the resources/time/cash/knowledge to keep one up-to-date and running. Myspace is an easy, suitable (but i admit not ideal) place for bands to start off their internet based promotion. Let's face it, you have to be a fucking idiot not to be able to use myspace and if you can't you might as well give up on computers all together. If you can get a mate/colleague etc to set up and maintain a proper functional website for you for next to nothing then that'll be better in the longterm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 To be honest, a lot of 'industry' people I know DO detest it... and merely use it as it's the done thing just now.and a few we have met have told us that it one of the best things to happen to smaller bands and have gone as far to say that its just as good as having a proper website set up for the band, depends who you speak to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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