Sonicbids Launches Online Marketplace for Live-Music IndustryA New Face In the Multi-Billion Dollar Business of Buying and Selling
Musical Talent August 15, 2001
On April 21, the Boston-based company Sonicbids
opened their cyberspace doors for business, launching the website,
www.sonicbids.com, a new Internet-based marketing, information and
transaction platform for the $38 billion global live-music industry. The
site uses the ease and accessibility of the Internet to allow talent buyers,
agents and musicians to connect and transact business using custom marketing
and search tools and soon a 24/7 live-bidding system.
Musicians are able to create,
edit-at-will, and email professional electronic press kits (EPKs) choosing
from a menu of options such as text, photos, MP3 audio files, video, sample
set lists, and a calendar of performances. Talent buyers can search for
talent based on their needs and criteria such as genre, location, and
availability and can review music with one click. Currently, buyers can
email musicians or agents directly to bid on performance fees.
CEO and Founder of Sonicbids, Panos Panay says, "Our goal is to make our
electronic press kit interface the standard platform that musicians use for
marketing and promotion, and that talent buyers use to find and bid for live
music talent." Currently, less than 11% of the $14.2 billion spent yearly
booking live artists is from "big name" entertainment. Last year nearly
$12.7 billion dollars was spent on over 4 million relatively unknown artists
performing in clubs, lounges, colleges, weddings, corporate events,
festivals and casinos. "Both buyer and talent pools are extremely
fragmented and unfamiliar with each other," says Panay, "Sonicbids makes it
extremely easy, inexpensive and efficient for musicians and talent buyers to
connect and transact business with each other."
In the past twelve weeks, over 1,000 musical acts have registered from all
over North America, primarily through word of mouth. The base membership
fee for musicians is $49.95 per year, however, Sonicbids is currently
offering free membership for musicians who register before August 31. To
date, there are 70 active live talent buyers using the service to bid on
talent. Last month, Sonicbids announced a deal for a Sonicbids exclusive
artist showcase at the Nashville New Music Conference (2NMC), during the
period of October 11-14. Musicians can submit EPKs for consideration
directly from the website.
Sonicbids leadership has over 35 years collective business experience and
has aggregately been responsible for over $50 million in live music
bookings. Prior to founding Sonicbids, Panay was Vice President and
Director of the International Division at Ted Kurland Associates, a
prominent 25-year old talent agency representing such artists as Pat
Metheny, Chick Corea, Sonny Rollins and Isaac Hayes. Mr. Panay holds a BA
in Music Business/ Management from Berklee College of Music. Sonicbids COO
Emitt Tierce is a 20-year veteran of corporate operations management, having
served most recently as operations manager and director of the international
contracting division of Ted Kurland Associates. Sonicbids Chief Financial
Officer, Mitch Goldfeld is a former financial analyst for Wellington Mgmt.
and Goldman Sachs and holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University
of Pennsylvania.
Sonicbids plans to announce soon a host of strategic alliances and unveil
additional products and services such as a real-time bidding platform,
electronic contracting, fan-list management, tour marketing, tips on
promotion, information on artist ticket sales, venue descriptions and
Sonicbids online mailboxes for buyers.
For more information, visit their web site at www.sonicbids.com. |
