Another in the series great audio interviews with Sonicbids members. Learn what they do, how they use Sonicbids to get selected for great opportunities, and get their music out there.

Catherine Duc composes Ambient music with Celtic, World and Electronica influences. Classically trained but with electronica savvy, she readily bridges the ancient with the up-to-date on her new album, Visions and Dreams.“Fusing world music with electronica has become quite popular,” Duc said. “Often artists choose Middle Eastern or African themes. I was interested in the possibilities of mixing Celtic motifs with ambient, trance and electronica. Find out more about Catherine’s new album, her plan for success, her advice to musicians, and how she uses her Sonicbids membership in this interesting and informative audio chat, and also in the July issue of the Who’s Getting Gigs Newsletter, Australian Version.

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http://www.sonicbids.com/catherineduc

Another in the series great audio interviews with Sonicbids members. Learn what they do, how they use Sonicbids to get selected for great opportunities, and get their music out there.

Atari Blitzkrieg
Hailing from Virginia, Atari Blitzkrieg has been recording and producing since 1995 and released his first single in 2007. He has worked with major names in underground hip-hop, Rapper Pooh, Louis Logic, Vast Aire, LMNO, Roc C and Wildchild among others, rock and folk singers and indietronica bands. Find out more about what is happening for Atari and his music, his advice to musicians, and how he uses his Sonicbids membership in this interesting and informative audio chat, and also in the July issue of the Who’s Getting Gigs Newsletter, US Version.

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http://www.sonicbids.com/atariblitzkrieg

Seth Fein answers the tough questions about both of his businesses: Pygmalion Music Festival and The Nicodemus Agency…

Tell us about the Pygmalion Music Festival:

In 2005, after having started to book a few more bands on national tours, I decided to create Pygmalion Music Festival. The idea was simply to have a great boutique indie rock music festival that took the best of the national scene and the best of our local scene, and married them for one long weekend of great shows at a low price. It’s worked very well.

What details make Pygmalion special for you, for the bands and for the fans?

For me, it’s about being an asset to my community. Naturally, it feels good to help contribute to my annual earnings in a small way by presenting music anytime, but there is something a little more dynamic about the festival; it adds to the cultural makeup of the greater Champaign-Urbana community, and that is something that I am really proud of, being born and raised here. I love partnering with Krannert Center at the university here. Their facility is literally one of the finest in the world, and I am blown away by their support each year more and more.

I think the bands appreciate the low-key and relaxed nature about the festival. Everyone shares a green room. Everyone is encouraged to attend the other shows, and do because most every venue is within walking distance. (more…)

Check out the following interview with Leap Music. This will give some insight into how music placement companies function, and how best to approach them.

How Leap Music Works
Leap Music is brought on board by their clients (advertising agencies & brands) to help find music for their TV commercials. Leap Music uses Sonicbids to source the best unsigned music out there, which are then put forward for the client’s consideration. Leap does not make the final decision on what gets placed in the ad, but if the client chooses to go ahead and use your music Leap Music will let you know right away. Also important to note is that Leap Music’s client’s projects often have a short turn-around time. So submissions are open for a short period of time, Leap Music works quickly to review bands’ submissions, and will often notify bands of their status within days, if not hours.

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Stinkfest is a new event focusing solely on the children’s music and family entertainment market.  One of the founder, Tor Hyams took a minute to answer some of our questions.

Stinkfest is a new event.  Who are the people behind it and what is the goal of the event?

Tor Hyams (Founder, Kidzapalooza)
Bill Childs (Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child)
Stephanie Mayers (Kindie Rock PR)

This is our first year, but we do have some of the most influential industry folk attending and watching the showcase. We suspect we will have several success stories from our inaugural year.  Bill and Stephanie have done a smaller showcase event for the past couple of years, and significant bookings and media have resulted from both. The goal of this event is to further the business of the new family music genre by building community and networking. (more…)

The following is an interview with Mike Pinder (yes, THE Mike Pinder), founder of Songwars and founding member of the legendary band The Moody Blues (“Nights in White Satin”, “Tuesday Afternoon”).  Besides being the man that introduced The Beatles to the mellotron, Mike has started “Songwars”  to nurture emerging songwriters with the help of the pros. Songwars is a quarterly contest with annual and quarterly prizes worth over $50,000.

Having awarded prizes to the first set of winners, Mike talks about the contest, his experience reviewing and much more.

1.  Tell us about the contest.

SONGWARS was created to help songwriters refine their songwriting skills and to provide recognition for those artists that have written notable songs.

All of the SONGWARS team has a personal passion for music and the desire to see talented creative songwriters succeed and get recognized for their musically ability. It is a way for me to cultivate the art in tangible way. (more…)

Samantha Feld from Filter Magazine tells us about their “Discovering the Undiscovered” program, the submissions they receive and what bands are doing right and wrong when they submit.

In its seven-year history, FILTER has become the premiere music lifestyle publication covering on-the-verge bands and cutting edge musicians for the intelligent music lover. The bi-monthly magazine also features avant-grade authors, filmmakers and artists, and has established itself as the editorial voice for independent music enthusiasts

(more…)