• You Are In Control, Closure. Great conclusion to the conference, with a number of fascinating speeches and roundtable discussions (another fresh concept, with good open debate among participants). I particularly enjoyed the speech from Gudjon Mar Gudjonsson from the Ministry of Ideas (how many times do you see an Einstein quote flashed on the screen at a music conference?), whose speech felt less about practical applications and more like a piece of music: meant to provoke, inspire, dream. I also gave a presentation about the emerging Artistic Middle Class with some examples of how this class of artists is rapidly reshaping the music industry landscape and forever changing way that music is discovered, consumed, and promoted.

• Reykjavik Member Dinner. Finished the the day with our now customary member dinner, hosted at a restaurant called Boston of all names, in downtown Reykjavik. We had a great group of 10 artists and managers from Iceland and Faeroe Islands and as usual, these dinners are great at helping me understand how we can improve Sonicbids – but also what we do well. Yes, each music scene is different, but the thing that always strikes me after meeting indie artists around the world is this: no matter the language, the country, the style of music, the government or politics, all artists share the same passion and the same need to find and connect with an audience – and technology is the great leveler.

• Reykjavik Music Scene. By the way, the music scene at Reykjavik is out of this world. To put it in perspective, the whole country of Island is less than half the size of Boston – but the quality of music, the venues, the sound of the capital city rivals or bests anything I’ve experienced in the States.

It’s a flat world indeed.

Panos

I love this city. Great music, nice people, awesome food, views to die for.

Last night we hosted our San Francisco member dinner at Mezes, which if you’re in the Bay Area, you should absolutely check out. I like hosting our member dinners at Greek restaurants for two reasons: I know what to order; I know that Greek food makes the conversations flow.

We had a great turnout, and as usual, I loved getting to know everyone and getting feedback. Nothing beats meeting people in person, getting sincere input, understanding local music scenes better and ultimately, realizing that no matter the city or country, music and Sonicbids is the common language.

Here’s some of the feedback that I got:

•    Rejections suck. I know that. I got some great ideas about ways that we can at least assist in easing the blow, especially when you pay your hard earned money;

•    Feedback rocks. Everyone at the dinner agreed that it’s important that bands get better feedback about how to improve, even when they are turned down. Perhaps easier tools for promoters can accomplish this;

•    More Stats. Again, everyone was in agreement that it would be good to know when you, as a Sonicbids member, ranks relatively to your peers in the community.

•    More Video. Artists have more than one video, especially now with YouTube. Give more video options and also make it bigger (full screen).

•    Make it Local. There’s a need for more local gigs and gig swapping.

•    Great stuff, I had no idea. I am continuously amazed at how little even power users know about features that we have on Sonicbids. This tells me that we are not doing a great job telling people how to get the most out of Sonicbids.

I like to be open about the feedback that I get from members because I want to get more of it. I also believe that by making it all public, I am walking the walk.

Thanks again to everyone that came: Ashley, Philip, Danny, both Melissas, Kate, Chris, Brent, David and Stacy. And thanks as well for your follow up emails and tweets.

Panos

I’m about a month late with this post but better late than never. It took me a while to get the photos developed. (That was a joke).

Really, MIDEM was great. It’s one of the most insane, exhausting, talk-til-you drop music business events but nothing beats MIDEM when it comes to the sheer amount of contacts and business you do while there. Attendance was probably 20% down (the economic downturn spares no one) but at least you knew the people who were there were damn serious about getting business done. No event has done more for expanding Sonicbids outside the U.S. as MIDEM has.

For the fifth year in a row we sponsored an emerging artist showcase called MIDEM Talent. The showcases (which featured 16 bands from all over the world) took place at a venue called Magic Mirrors which is absolutely breathtaking. It’s an old, wooden, portable venue (looks like a circus tent)  that back in the 1920’s traveling orchestras in Belgium would set up while traveling from village to village and people would dance to old jazz and gypsy music (think Django).

The stage is special source of pride for us as five or six years ago MIDEM did not have a showcase venue for emerging and indie bands — and little live music was performed. Today, thanks for our sponsorship and involvement, the Sonicbids MIDEM Talent stage is a MIDEM staple.

We also had our now customary member dinner in Cannes (of all places) and yes, the food in France is out of this world. Check out the photos above.

Panos

P.S. Check out my Obama inauguration photos (happened while we were in France) here.

If you want to know that Eurosonic’s like, here’s my quick and dirty:

250 awesome European bands playing in just about every nook and cranny imaginable. Picturesque Dutch town with cool Harry Potter-like buildings. Lots of tall good-looking people on bicycles, talking on mobile phones (cars not allowed). Smoke everywhere. Weird hot-dog vending machines in every street corner. Lousy Dutch weather. Music to die for, all through the night in jam-packed venues. Great beer.

There you have it. Maybe this is what SXSW felt 20 years ago (sans good looking people on bicycles maybe).

Really, I love this event. This my second time at Groningen and what I love about Eurosonic is the artistic integrity behind every music programming choice, and the fact that every festival producer that attends it commits to book at last one of the bands performing (and gets paid for it).

Like the last two years, this year we paid €500 – €1,000 towards the travel costs for 8 selected bands, and I managed to catch quite a few of them. (This is a program that we plan to develop a lot further in the coming months.)

Two of the bands actually (and coincidentally) got selected using Sonicbids at both Eurosonic and MIDEM  (Hjaltalin from Iceland; and The Ghost from Faroe Islands). It was great seeing both in two different venues, at two different countries, playing for two very different audiences.

We also hosted a low-key member dinner at Wagamama in Groningen, and I enjoyed chatting with both Daan from Tarball (a local Groningen band) and Axel from the awesomely named KAKKMADDAFAKKA from Norway who showcased the night before.

As always, being out there and getting feedback from everyone about the stuff that we recently launched (ratings, feedback) and things that we ought to be doing is refreshing. Beats sitting in an office any day.

I also moderated a lively panel with Mirko Whitfield from SXSW; Martin Elbourne from the Great Escape Festival and Glastonbury; Brian Hetherman from CMW; Roland Keimer from Pop Leipzig; and Robert Meijerink from Eurosonic. The topic was basically, what these festivals look for when they book bands, and what a band should do once they are accepted to take full advantage of their showcase at these events.

I’m actually thinking about making this a stable at most events that I moderate panels for as I think that the stuff these guys have to say is invaluable.

MIDEM update next.

Panos

P.S. If you want to read Jim’s recap on Eurosonic, check out our Sonicblog.

I am way late with this post. All I can say is this: if you have the chance to go to Seville, grab it and run to your nearest airport. It’s one of the most amazing places on earth and the architecture and cultural scene is stunning.

WOMEX is also hands down one of the best-run music conferences there are. I met more people there from the live music sector than just about any other event I’ve ever attended and it’s packed with a who’s who of festival programmers.

The organization is top notch and the showcases extremely well produced and promoted (33 Sonicbids artists got booked to perform). Don’t confuse WOMEX with being just another earthy, touchy-feely world music event. Real business takes place at the marketplace and the truth is that the event is as musically diverse as it gets.

I also had the chance to host and attend a member dinner in Seville and I was blown away but the musical diversity that we had at the table (we had members ranging from an Iranian DJ to an Andalusian Flamenco guitarist).

Hosting and attending member dinners in cities ranging from Seattle and Toronto to Berlin, London and Seville has been an amazing experience these past few months. I am continuously amazed at the commonality of challenges that any musician faces regardless of geography or genre and by how amazingly diverse our industry is – and I am always humbled by how many different people Sonicbids touches and helps.

We are getting ready to launch our brand new gig listings in early December, one of the first projects that is a direct outcome of all the feedback and input that I got at all these dinners. Stay tuned – you’ll love all the goodies that we have in store.

Panos

P.S. The most interesting comment I got from all the member dinners in Europe is that language (i.e. site translation) is the top issue. The main need is for more local gig listings. Let me know if you agree.

First, let me say that it snowed. Yes, it snowed in London in October (got the photos to prove it; see above). I guess I brought the Boston weather with me.

We hosted the Member Dinner at Halepi, which is by far one of the best Greek Restaurants I’ve been to outside of Greece and Cyprus. Excellent food, authentic, great people (from Cyprus of course) and apparently the usual hang of locals like Richard Branson. Highly recommend it if you’re around town.

This is the first member event we hosted in London and it was a good eye-opener for me when it comes to the local indie scene. It seems that just like New York, London is so vast that it’s easy to get lost as an artist (unlike, say, Manchester where there is much more of a true integrated independent scene). And, unlike CMJ in New York, London lacks one big, seminal showcase event that can act as a true anchor for the local bands.

I’m continuously amazed how similar artists’ lives and issues are around the world. I got some great input about Sonicbids from the six members that came, with, I think the most insightful one (shared by all in attendance) that Sonicbids needs to do a better job educating you as a member, where you are relative to the others in the community. Sort of a success map for how to best use the service. This is spot on as I realize that you can be doing really well but not really knowing what the next step ought to be.

Our member get-togethers have been great so far as they not only yielded good insights about the local scenes and Sonicbids but have also produced tangible results: The new Submission Tracker and the new Gig Listings that we are launching in the next few weeks are direct byproducts of input we got from these dinners.

As far as the rest of the conference, not sure to be honest. I like coming to these events as they give me the chance to get together with people that I know in a more casual setting, see some good music, have a new insight or two about the business, and of course get to know some new folks (I find that contrary to popular perception, people in the music business are generally nice people who share a positive passion).

I would rate Musexpo Europe’s ability to help you meet and hang out with folks top shelf; Sat does a great job with organization (only conference in the world where all your meals are covered); and the intimacy of the event is refereshing. But man, the panels are boring. There’s a lot of opportunity in our business but people (especially those who’ve been around for ever) like to talk about the problems. There’s a lot of excitement in what’s going on today in our business, but the old boy and girl network likes cynicism. I also find that too many panelsists just spoil the chance to have a meaningful dialogue.

Off to Seville next, but not before I catch the Arsenal vs. Spurs match later tonight and then some showcases. We beat West Ham 2-0 by the way on Sunday. (And can you believe that someone that I know randomly in the US, who had no idea I’m in London, saw me on TV at the game?)

Panos

Just back from Popkomm, and carrying a major let lag. I love the event and Berlin is perhaps my favorite city on the planet. Great art scene, friendly people, awesome music.

This year there were over 70 bands booked at the festival using Sonicbids. I found the overall music portion of Popkomm very well organized and (at least the showcases that I went to) very well attended. That’s half the battle when you do these showcases, making sure that people actually show up. The venues and sound were also top notch.

We also hosted our usual member dinner in Berlin and we had, I think, eight members including Astrid Swan and NazB who were showcasing at Popkomm later that week. I found the dinner fascinating because this was the first truly international member get-together we hosted: we had members from Israel, Ireland, Nigeria, Switzerland, Finland and of course Germany. Tess and Aliki from our team did a great job setting the dinner up.

What amazes me the most about these dinners is how similar the issues that musicians face are, regardless of the passport they carry. I think the main thing that stuck with me after the dinner is that a) we need to invest even more to get local gig listings for bands in Europe; and b) governments tend to be a lot more helpful in Europe in terms of funding bands to tour overseas, which presents all kinds of opportunities.

Other than that, I participated on a great panel about Radiohead’s “In Rainbows”. It was the first year anniversary of the release of the record, a major milestone for the music business. (“In Rainbows “ of course was the first album released by a major band to be offered for a pay-what-you-want fee).

Some cool stuff we talked about:

•    Even though fans could get the record free through the band’s website, illegal activity was just as intense. Why? Because consumers like to get music through their preferred channels.

•    Build a brand. Radiohead was able to leverage all the publicity they got from the (free) album release to sell out their tour, sell merchandise and of course up-sell fanatics their limited edition boxed set.

•    On the same brand theme, amazingly, because Radiohead is known as an “album” band, very few people downloaded individual tracks even though the option was there. Consumers went for the full album because the brand Radiohead calls for it to get the full experience.

I’ll talk more about the need to build your brand in a subsequent post.

Panos