Thanks for the information!

This was actually a very helpful insight on the festival! We do keep our pages updated and our tours going, although it is getting harder and harder to book outside of the state. Clubs seem to be only willing to book you if you have another local act from that particular city to join with. We’d absolutely love to play SXSW! We just hope that we aren’t too far fetch from “family friendly” to play. Some festivals have rejected us due to the mature content. That is our genre’however, and our fans respect us for saying what’s on our minds. The plus side of My Own Sin, is we put on one hell of a performance!

Very informative ,thanks guy’s.

This interview was great! Very informative and interesting to listen to. I have had the great fortune to have played SXSW twice now and hope to again in the future. I learned some great tips by listening to this interview.

Thanks very much!

Thank you for the information… Looking forward to attending SXSW and hopefully getting accepted as a showcasing act…
http://www.sonicbids.com/trinanestibo

Thanks Sonicbids,
this is awesome, everyone should listen to this.

As usual, this is always about BANDS!!! Probably implied is NEW and/or YOUNG bands.

I learnt nothing about the usefulness of this festival for seriously experienced solo performers such as I.

Also, is this only about ROCK, or does this festival coiver such other genres as, for instance, Jazz…?

Finally, what about performers NOT from the USA?

none of the above topics were even mentioned?

Earl Okin.

Thank you very much for the invite to listen to this conversation. it helps a lot to hear what really matters when subscribing to a gig like sxsw. I would never guess that they would weigh so much on the media reviews. they did not talk about pictures, event pictures, gigs pictures, which could somehow give a taste of the band alive… or even videos.
thank you very much
nicole

I dont think any band on here that pays the membership and submission fees should be cast aside and not listened too if some of their answers arent answered 100% to the promoters specification.

There are people on here working full time jobs juggling money to pay the bills and buying food just to keep their band alive, because thats all they want in life is to make it.

Some people/bands dont have time to update their sites as often as they would like too either and why things like this have such a big say over the quality of their music is such a shame.

Festivals and Showcases should be about the music and passion people put into their show singing songs that actually mean something and come from the heart and not about how many reviews or industry “experts” you have on your side creating the ‘buzz’.

Just a thought

Rich

Clockwork Radio

This is eye-opening. We are breaking loose in the Southwest scene and getting booked out of state. We will be there to show Austin a good time in 2009.

This guy is just another corporate rock mouth piece.
Who cares. Real bands play their shows and don’t give
two cents about what weirdo guys like this think.

Real independents rule! Do this , do that give me a break.

Rock n Roll never forgets…

have a nice day.

Tim Young.

Wow! Great to hear from an insider what the review process is like. Thanks Sonicbids for providing great info like this. I agree with Danie, it is hard to break into a new market. Haven’t explored much within SB but it would be great to have a networking vehicle for bands that play in the same geographic area. We’ll all succeed with inter-dependence!

Thanks to all! Thanks Brad of SXSW!

Hey Earl,

Thanks for the questions. SXSW does a great job offering not only US rock bands, but soloists, international acts (he did talk about this in there halfway through), and acts of many genres. As someone who attended two years ago, I got to see some very talented country, hip hop, experimental, and folk acts as well. They really do put an emphasis on variety.

If anyone else attended the event, maybe you could help describe the acts you saw as well?

Thanks,

Jenny

No band or musician will ever get a “BUZZ” going if they are never given the opportunity to play in front of a crowd.

Awesome! So many times you are left with questions about what do they look for or how does it work. This answered a ton of questions and then some! Thanks for the insight into the inner workings of SXSW…

James
Demise Of Hollywood

http://www.myspace.com/demiseofhollywood
http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.asp?epk_id=149825

Excellent. I represent a gifted singer/songwriter who has already bounced around the edges of the big time, but this event is prestigious enough to be well worth the effort to kick up the level of attention and interest.
Mysti Mayhem has already been submitted, and she is well qualified in terms of this discussion, but I did pick up a couple of useful tips. Thank you.

Being as I have applied and been rejected from this event so many times with so many bands over many years, yet I still come back for more. In running a small indi label as well as performing, I tell all my bands to apply for events like this just on the off chance they may actually get booked. It is worth the gamble to get some sort of exposure to the industry.

Seriously booking is about Networking and making connections, even if you don’t play the Festival on a showcase. BUT it is also about Talent and Experience and that also needs to be taken into consideration by the Bookers/Talent Selectors in events like SXSW.

In My Humble Opinion, most of the primary booking decisions seem to get made prior to the application process. The Larger Acts are selected and it is just how many Support Acts these Larger Acts can have per show that limits things. I have seen this with other major Festivals around the country. The amount of applications (and fees that they collect) are what pay for events like this. It is a Business, but It ialso seems kinda like a Pyramid Scheme of sorts too. I usually only apply for Events that don’t charge an Application Fee, BUT because SXSW’s exposure ratio to both Audiences and Industry folks is so high, anyone performing a showcase there has more of a chance at survival in this cut-throat business. So it is worth the gamble. I don’t expect to play the Festival, but I still will be in Austin TX playing someplace. I hope.

That is my 2¢. For whatever that is worth

Being as I have applied and been rejected from this event so many times with so many bands over many years, yet I still come back for more. In running a small indi label as well as performing, I tell all my bands to apply for events like this just on the off chance they may actually get booked. It is worth the gamble to get some sort of exposure to the industry.

Seriously booking is about Networking and making connections, even if you don’t play the Festival on a showcase. BUT it is also about Talent and Experience and that also needs to be taken into consideration by the Bookers/Talent Selectors in events like SXSW.

In My Humble Opinion, most of the primary booking decisions seem to get made prior to the application process. The Larger Acts are selected and it is just how many Support Acts these Larger Acts can have per show that limits things. I have seen this with other major Festivals around the country. The amount of applications (and fees that they collect) are what pay for events like this. It is a Business, but It ialso seems kinda like a Pyramid Scheme of sorts too. I usually only apply for Events that don’t charge an Application Fee, BUT because SXSW’s exposure ratio to both Audiences and Industry folks is so high, anyone performing a showcase there has more of a chance at survival in this cut-throat business. So it is worth the gamble. I don’t expect to play the Festival, but I still will be in Austin TX playing someplace. I hope.

That is my 2¢. For whatever that is worth

Being as I have applied and been rejected from this event so many times with so many bands over many years, yet I still come back for more. In running a small indi label as well as performing, I tell all my bands to apply for events like this just on the off chance they may actually get booked. It is worth the gamble to get some sort of exposure to the industry.

Seriously booking is about Networking and making connections, even if you don’t play the Festival on a showcase. BUT it is also about Talent and Experience and that also needs to be taken into consideration by the Bookers/Talent Selectors in events like SXSW.

In My Humble Opinion, most of the primary booking decisions seem to get made prior to the application process. The Larger Acts are selected and it is just how many Support Acts these Larger Acts can have per show that limits things. I have seen this with other major Festivals around the country. The amount of applications (and fees that they collect) are what pay for events like this. It is a Business, but It ialso seems kinda like a Pyramid Scheme of sorts too. I usually only apply for Events that don’t charge an Application Fee, BUT because SXSW’s exposure ratio to both Audiences and Industry folks is so high, anyone performing a showcase there has more of a chance at survival in this cut-throat business. So it is worth the gamble. I don’t expect to play the Festival, but I still will be in Austin TX playing someplace. I hope.

That is my 2¢. For whatever that is worth

THANKYOU SONICBIDS THIS INFO WAS VERY HELPFUL. IT LET’S US KNOW HOW PREPARED OUR EPK SHOULD BE.

Oh please …you industry people could care less how hard us musicians have to struggle! It’s all about how much money we can make for them…..notabout the struggling artist who can barley afford to feed themselves,while all the big biz are reaping our benefits living the high brow life feeding off of us!

Struggle? Why choose that? You’re probably doing something wrong if you continue to struggle and never evolve. Sonicbids is a great tool that, when used properly, can be very beneficial to musicians.

I was not talking about sonic bids.

Upon listening to jenny langer interview with Brad First, a SXSW promoter i’m prompt to make a comment.

The promoter according to what I heard is interested in how much public experience an artist have…i think there are two kinds of experience….a non puplic experience and a puplic experience.The non puplic experience artist are those who have been there done it, but their effort have not been made known to the public…for every opportunity there is a season…a time to be known publicly and a time not to be known publicly…it will be unfair to pre-judge a men ,or woman without giving them a chance to revale that part of themself that we hope to see, but have not seeing publicly.

I represent an independent record label in Hattiesburg, MS. We currently have 9 artists signed to our label and would like to submit our label into sxsw. What is the easiest way to submit the bands if they already have a sonicbids page? I read that I am suppose to submit them seperately and then send an email describing who we are submitting as a label. Are the bands suppose to submit themselves through sonicbids or is there a way for me to do that?
Thank you so much for your time!

On behalf of AKBELO Music, I would like to thank you for the helpful hints and advice. It was very informative. I am glad that I took the time to listen. This is the second time that we submitted Arminee’s epk to SXSW and we hope that her epk will be accepted this time. We believe that Arminee is ready and very excited to take part in this year’s festival. She has had more opportunities to perform in the past year and she has been working very hard in her music career. Although she has had a bad experience with her past manager who took her money and disappeared with her master copies of her new single “Party Girl”, Arminee has decided to put all that behind her and to start fresh again. She is presently working to re record Party
Girl all over again. This is a song that generates a huge exciting reaction from the crowd. We hope that you will give Arminee the opportunity to prove it at SXSW.
We are very excited to attend with her this year. Looking forward to getting Arminee’s submission accepted.
Thank you from
Melanie
Coordinator/Artist relations
AKBELO Music Group
http://www.armineemusic.com

Overman is submitted and is expecting a positive response.

SXSW here we come!

me and my arrow will be at sxsw!!

[...] For bands considering whether or not they’re ready for SXSW, or if it’s right for them, Sonicbids interviewed Brad First, Festival Coordinator for SXSW, about specifically where an artist’s career should be in order to be seriously considered to perform at SXSW, how much time is spent on every submission and what they look at in your EPK and more. Listen here. [...]

I have been performing professionally for the last 14 years, i have read all the comments left and have noticed that there have been alot of negative comments left. For me this festival is in another country and therefore not as appealing to me, purely because i have no desire to play in the states right now. And also i think Sonicbids is based in America more than australia as nearly all the emails i get are about american music industry. I dont think that soncibids or these festivals actually even check profiles or submissions its all about the $10 entry fee for them. I have been joined as a member for 6 months or more and i get upto 20 ph calls regarding my band a day and its definately not due to my sonicbids epk. If you think about all the bands out there who pay the entry fees to submit their profiles to festivals and times that by 10 you get alot of money. Its all about money and has absolutely nothing to do with musicians. In my opinion its a scamm. I submitted my profile for a world music competition here in my own city and paid the $10 entry FOR WHAT????, i was not even acknowledged, was not even given a reply to say that my submission was accepted and this is concerning due to the fact my world music band is doing 5-6 gigs a week and is very well known in my own city and country and is highly respected world wide… My advice to musicians upset with this service would be to stick to myspace and the networking you can do there is incredible. Think about it, if festivals are looking for people to perform dont you think they know how to find exactly what they want and know where to get it? like the guy said before : submissions are just an easy way of making a quick buck… Im not sure if they actually even check your submission. Good luck to you all. Im doing much better on my own by actually contacting the correct people in charge of festivals direct! Then atleast you know where you stand and are acknowledged and have a much better chance of success….. Caio.

we applied very early last year and didnt even get a reply!!
dont honestly believe we were even listened to!
with the amount of applications they get it is logistically impossible to give then all time..
its all about who you know with these things.
but just to be told ‘no thanks’ would have been nice..

Thank-you for this. I found it very informative. Best of luck to everyone… including myself.

Thank you for all your industry insight. I just wanted you to know about Aton and what we are doing. Thank you.

hmmm…yeah, except i don’t believe a word Brad First says. It’s all politics.
Have you seen the SXSW09 roster?

One band that stuck out to me was a local Austin group called “Babydick” yeah, you read that right. I was dying to hear their musical prowess & see the reaction of their thousands of adoring fans! So i clicked the link & it took me to their myspace page. Obviously, Babydick got it goin on, right?
Wrong.
a few hundred fans, one local gig coming up in a couple of weeks, a handful of cheeky comments from a few people & the sound of Junior High humor poorly executed in hopes to be some sort of Industrial/Metal hybrid. And some of the stupidest lyrics ever written.

Now I see why so many people (like me who bust my butt traveling thousands of miles to play shows, get the band name out there & sell merch) are rejected from Brad First’s criteria! They need slots open for the all important local Austin band Babydick!
The band that’s obviously on the selection committee since they have no Sonicbids account, which I thought was a prerequisite for being considered.

I’ve heard rumors that SXSW has been a joke for the past couple of years. Now I know it’s true.

FOUL!

babydick is a brand new band feat. Russ from Fuckemos

If they are on the selection committee that should tell you how they are good enough not to have gone through the formal steps to play SXSW!!! They had their ducks in a row!
They obviously were selectively selected!
And they are a NEW band.

Thanks Brad for the very insightful interview. Bands like Babydick (yes I checked out their Myspace as well) are the future of the creative music movement. Maybe “The results are in” just doesn’t get it…maybe he has no sense of humor. He’s probably a guitar player . Thes guys are clearly at the top of their game and poised to be signed at the festival this year…I’ll be sure to check them out at their Saturday Showcase at Headhunters SXSW. Music can be a fun thing ya know! BIG City Boys FTW!!

The rumors of the demise of Brad’s tastemaking superpowers are greatly exaggerated.

I’m delighted to hear my new (circa Nov’08) band Babydick had such a awthumly polarizing effect on minds both complex and simple. The fact it’s pissed a couple of people off? Well that gives all 5 Babydick’s stiffys. Suck on that mental image for awhile. It’s how you use it that counts.

we are interested in submitting music for this festival… we have longed to play , but never had the means.. please take a listen to our tunes and tell us how to go about submitting and booking shows during this event..

thank you

Robbie

Are you willing to pay for travel if selected?

yes, like the last query by Tovi Khali – what about travel expenses?

Thanks

Colleen
in Florida

SXSW sucks nobody really gets seen of heard it’s all about money, and big stars play sxsux and unknown bands have to compete agaist them it’s a waste of time.

For those who said it was just geared towards rock bands, you weren’t listening. For those who said it didn’t consider international acts, you weren’t listening. For those who feel it’s impossible to keep your site/profiles up-to-date, how bad do you want it? The unfortunate truth of this digital age is that you have to keep a continuous online presence . . . AND keep your fans coming back for more. I, too, work a full-time job, and another part-time job, AND perform at least one-four times a weekend. I still keep my website and main profiles up-to-date. Am I exhausted? You betchya! Is it worth it? You’d better believe it! It makes a difference. It let’s all those industry folks know I’m “all in” . . . regardless of the added time and effort. That’s what they want to see, like it or not. It’s just like going for a promotion in a “day job” . . . you may have to be willing to work overtime! This conference is one of the most talked about conferences in the country. Every conference/festival I’ve been to, many other performers had met other performers/industry reps at “South By”! I suggest you do a little research to learn more before you pass this conference off as some trivial, good-for-nothing, rip-off submission, or you’ll regret it.

Although I am performing regularly in my Northwest region, I am self promoting, working with some local bookings agents and have released CDs on my own label. What does an independent artist, such as myself need to present to you to seem apealing and a likely candidate to perform this year at SXSW.

[...] Audio interview with Brad First from SXSW’s selection committee giving advice to bands [...]