We review a lot of bands via sonicbids and it always disappoints us when people don’t put forth the due diligence to improve their chances of being selected for either management, a licensing opportunity or being on a compilation.  Please do the following (ALWAYS):

1.  Music should be unique, relevant with most recent material posted and don’t forget the lyrics

2.  Put up your best video of your live performance or your creative videos but we prefer the former

3.   Demonstrate that you’ve been touring and really want this – touring is what helps bands grow and the live show is critical to ones success!!

4.   Image should represent a cohesive band unit – hire a stylist, a good photographer, etc.

5.  Bio’s should be full of quantifiable details – ie. # of cds or downloads sold, # of facebook fans, # of twitter followers, # of concerts performed, etc.  Nobody cares about how you met Billy at the gas station who introduced you to Bobs cousin from New York, etc.  Think about what the top performers today would have in their bio and strive for it; don’t cut yourself short!!

Until you’ve done any of this…I wouldn’ t waste your hard earned money on submitting to anyone, respectfully!!!

Out of Step Entertainment and BambooSK8 are pleased to announce their 2nd digital compilation: The Green Washed Ritual II.  It again merges major label acts, independent label acts, as well as regular folks who just want to put out great music including 1 chosen Sonicbids winner.  Last year, Avery Watts, who is represented by Papillon Entertainment was chosen among hundreds of artists for this slot.

Distribution will take place at the various events associated with the presenters across the country, but not limited to the X-games, Vans Warped Tour, Malouf Money cup, ASEC, Tampa AM, Action Sports Retail, as well as the many digital and viral efforts via the Internet.  To start, 25,000 collective series digital download cards will be given out with each skateboard sold by BambooSK8, up to 100,000.  This compilation was the first of its kind and reached millions of action sports and music fans.

A few of the bands included last year were: Medina Lake (Roadrunner), Ana Lovelis (DKE), Story of the Year (Epitaph), Arthur Autumn (Out of Step), Slightly Stoopid (Law) and It dies today (New World).  Check out http://www.bamboosk8.com/misc/music.php

Submissions are open to a variety of genres including: Rock, Alt. Rock, Acoustic Rock, Pop, Jazz, Blues, Folk, Alt. Country, Classical, World, Reggae, Metal, Rap and Hip Hop, etc.  Ultimately, we are looking for something incredibly creative and fresh sounding.

www.bamboosk8.com
BambooSK8 is revolutionizing the skateboard community offering 100% bamboo skateboards instead of the typical 7 layer maple decks that encourage deforestation.

Submit at www.sonicbids.com/greenwashedritual

Having been a fan of Air for many years, it is always a delight to see the French duo of Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin.  They came to the Los Angeles Disney Hall in support of their latest album, “Love 2″.  Nothing could top them playing the Disney Hall with its amazing acoustics traditionally reserved for symphony-based music.  Despite our seats being near the top, it provided a perfect view for the amazing visuals that accompanied the duo with drummer Joey Waronker.  These visuals often matched the frequency of key notes equating to the exact melodies so you had a perfect visual of the musical waves and the rhythm that matched it.  Other times the visuals circled in a tranquil yet elusive state conjuring up a range of emotions as if I were on pyschedelics.  Musically, their bass tones are amazing and played with such an amazing tasteful style in the vain of Paul McCartney meets Jason Falkner; ironicly the amazingly talented Falkner played bass for them a few years back.  Sonically, they are masters of melody and mood.  Opening act was AM who was pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdoPn8aTBhM - La Femme D’Argent

Check out air on youtube.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/airofficial?blend=1&ob=4

Read more:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/03/live-review-air-at-disney-hall.html

http://www.cherribombband.com/

Imagine 4 girls that range from 11-13 years old who can play their own instruments, write their own songs, record and produce their music, handle their own marketing direction and much more…  They are better than any cookie cutter project that Disney can assemble.

Every quarter we update our listing with Sonicbids.com, as this keeps the posting fresh and content relevant in terms of what we are looking for.  Towards that end, it’s ultimately finding that one or two bands or artists that we feel we would be best suited to represent.

When submitting to us or anyone for that matter, you should think first – why am I submitting to this company and what do I hope to achieve.  Next, am I prepared for the honest feedback that this company might not like my music.  Everyone has their own objectives and vice versa so one should never get mad at an honest review and I’m hear to tell you – you are going to always get a straight answer from us; critics too!  Assisting you in any way we can is also what we strive to achieve, even if we choose not to work with you.  Whether it is sending you to an attorney we know or an agent or someone who could license your music, we always try to assist or at a minimum recommend a direction we feel would help you further in your career.  Sometimes, it’s just helpless and we can’t do anything.  One should never get mad that they’ve invested $10-12 towards submitting through Sonicbids or any service that provides instant EPK’s.  You have to invest in your career just as you do in any business but putting your money in the right spot is often difficult, and we recognize that; even with limited funds that most bands or artists have.  The lesson is to trust no one at first and educate yourself as much as possible. 

When submitting to us through sonicbids (paid service), we break down a few key things on a scale of 1-10 including but not limited to vocal melody, vocal tone, music hooks, music tone, uniqueness, etc.  It’s our little score card to tell you what we specifically thought of your music.  You can do what you want with it but hopefully it provides you some insight and helps you along your music career.  For us, it’s the least we can do as some people simply never get a response when not accepted by other companies and we want to show you the respect that you deserve.  We know how hard it is to get out there and gain a fanbase while putting your sweat equity into it.  

Oh, and please make sure you have a video on your sonicbids profile and lyrics to the songs and don’t ramble on and on in your bio – stick to key performance indicators – ie. We have grown from 4,500 fans to 75,000 fans in 2 years while performing 150 shows per year, selling an average of $500 per night in merchandise.

Who is Jason Falkner you might ask?  Many will…

Jason is one of the most under-rated pop songwriters of our time who is not that well known; a mere cult following between LA and Japan.  He’s written solo records – playing every instrument, played bass with Air, guitar with Beck,  wrote songs for Brendan Benson,  wrote with Travis, played in Jellyfish, the Grays, etc.

I haven’t seen Jason in quite some time so it was nice to see his new band and songs…  his latest record won’t be out until a little bit later – although already released in Japan on Noise McCartney Records.  I have to say – this time around – I just wasn’t feeling the music… which often happens when a good singer/performer is at the mercy of a crappy PA system like was found at Spaceland.  Also, I think i’m tired of some of those same songs and format I hear every time…  relatively nothing new in terms of song-writing and I guess I just expect so much more out of Jason.  Nonetheless, the show was good and I always enjoy hearing Jason.

Jason – it’s been a while…if you are reading this… hit me up – let’s license some music and write some songs with some key artists I have!!

Check out jason as www.jasonfalkner.net

There have been massive changes on the A&R front over the last few months. Among the most notable changes were former RCA A&R Executive Matt Marshall and EMI Music Publishing Executive Ed Jefferson who both join Tom Whalley’s A&R team over at Warner Bros in Burbank. In New York, A&R Veteran Steve Ralbovsky has brought his Canvasback Music label to Atlantic from Sony. Georgina McAvenna joins Rob Stevenson’s team over at Virgin, while Julius Garcia joins Jove and Daniel Mitchell joins Bad Boy. Meanwhile, Ben Adelson exits Universal Republic. Across the pond in London, Columbia’s Nick Huggett joins Island while Philipe Ascoli and Zack Strubel both join Columbia’s A&R team. Former Sony International A&R Executive Ricardo Fernandez joins Geffen. Phil Christie exits Virgin, former Sony Urban A&R Veteran Kawn Prather joins Def Jam South in Atlanta. Also joining Def Jam South is DJ Khaled. In a massive reorganization, Bill Bennett is exiting Warner Bros. Nashville and is being replaced by John Esposito (WEA’s current Ex VP Distribution).

It Might Get Loud, a documentary that consists entirely of Jimmy Page, Jack White and The Edge swapping stories, expounding on their experiences and of course jamming with each other. The film, directed by An Inconvenient Truth helmer Davis Guggenheim, will satisfy casual fans as well as hardcore guitar afficianados.

For me personally, I absolutely loved this film as it shows you that behind-the-scenes feeling of what it was like for these guys to tap into their genius and play from their soul versus just another imitator of their influences.  The kid like smile on Jack White and the Edge’s face as Jimmy page played an old Led Zepplin riff is just touching in the most sincere way of gratitude and respect.  They even take turns playing each others songs – with the edge playing an E minor and then realizing – oops, that was a B minor I was suppose to be playing.  It just shows you how genuine he is, as well as going as far to mentioning each of the other members of the band; no ego whatsoever!  There is no doubt that it was the blues that started it all for these guys…  Son House, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie, etc.  The film was shot all over the world – Ireland, England, Seattle, LA, and Nashville.

Growing up in Michigan, we were very familiar with Jack White who played drums in a band called Goober and the peas, and then obviously Brendan Benson who Jack formed the Raconteurs with, although Brendan Benson is far more talented as a song writer in my opinion.  In fact, we once had drinks with all of them next to the Troubador about 4 years ago after Brendans show… Jack is incredibly tall and suspiciously nervous all the time – like who wants to steal my soul now? ahah!  I remember being in Europe in 2003 and everywhere I went – all i saw was the White Stripes being advertised.  It’s nice to see Jack just pick up any crappy guitar and put soul into it… and even cooler that he is from Michigan and kept it pretty real all these years.

My 2 cents,

Geoff Koboldt

To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to sit down with the Major Lable A&R executives, and with good reason – those guys are replaced every few months as the labels downsize!  On the contrary, this panel had some top guys ( Max Gousse-Sr. VP A&R Island/Def Jam, Raj Jadeja-Director A&R Atlantic, Jeff Blue-A&R Consultant/Producer Jive and Michael Howe-VP A&R Downtown Records) who have weathered the storm for many years, so I took the time to head down to the Musicians Institute and listen.  If I were to sum of up the experience, it’s that NOTHING HAS TRULY CHANGED WITH THE MAJOR LABELS.  It’s the same broken record…same broken business model…same everything but now with even less time to develop a band, less money to put into marketing, less people on the team to support you, etc.  There is no doubt that these guys jobs are tough but they work super hard 24/7 to find that next breaking band with very limited time and resources.  Yet, so many people would still rather take their chances on a major label than get creative and find a way to do it themselves.  It’s a catch-22 and I know it is a very tough situation; easier said than done for sure!  So I’m sure you all have many questions so I will do my best to answer some of the key questions:

1) What is the best way to reach the MAJOR label executives?

Major label executives are not out going to see bands period!  They literally only trust high profiled lawyers, producers, agents and other key folks in the industry; that’s the same business philosophy they have had for 50+ years and look at where they are at now!!  A friend recently told me – If i was a label – I would fire everyone of these A&R guys and hire me some 15-16 year old kids who are much more in tune with what’s popular!!  I’m not in their shoes to say anything, but i would imagine its a very tough job to be true to that artist while also making money for your company – ie. the label.

2)  How do I find these top lawyers, agents and other key people?

There are numerous sources out there including the A&R registry, pollstar online, etc.  Granted, these things cost money – but business is all about investing!  Here at Out of Step, we do our best to know who is on top of their game to best help you… but with technology ever-changing the music landscape, the opportunity is now for each and everyone of you to do your own thing!

3) What are major labels looking for these days?

They are looking for “believe-ability” – that you aren’t faking this and would die for this opportunity.  They are looking for hard working people.  Like most things in life, it’s those that work smarter and harder than the next guy; it’s not about talent necessarily.  They don’t care if you write your own songs – plenty of top songwriters will write your songs for you and top producers who will produce it.  Again, these top guys cost about $50-100,000 per song minimum.  So, the question that comes from these answers then is – how the hell do stay creative and not become a puppet?  Only you can answer that…  Labels are also doing some 360 deals these days, 1 song signings and making a lot of their money in the publishing.  Towards that end, it’s the publishing that seems to save a lot of bands.  Positive news is that bands seem to be getting a 2nd chance if the 1st record doesn’t flop…but the days of 3 or 4 or 5 tries is in the past.  SAD!

If submitting to Out of Step for management, it is likely, we will have to develop you to get you “right” for that one shot with the majors, if that’s the route you want to go.

thanks,
Geoff Koboldt

Photo with Raj from Atlantic Records