While I was at Folk Alliance over the weekend, someone dropped a lollipop in my jacket pocket with the words “Standby Sucks” printed on it. (No I’m not making this up; and yes, I was sober).

I have no way of knowing for sure, but I suspect this may be a reference to the old “Standby” status that we had on Sonicbids for submissions that were not outright rejected by the promoter, but also not selected.

Regardless of the lollipop, the truth is the “Standby” status sucked. Promoters placed artist submissions in this cue and sometimes never, ever got back to them. They just went into this weird purgatory place and understandably people would get upset. (“I paid my money, this guy should at least have the courtesy of getting back to me.”)

This is why we got rid of this annoying message and why we totally changed the way that the Submission Tracker works:

•    There is no longer the option of “Standby” for promoters;

•    A promoter needs to notify an artist by a certain date of what happened to their submission with a clear yes/no. If not, the artist is entitled to a refund of their submission fee;

•    There is now a date stamp for when a submission was reviewed. If a submission was never reviewed, the submitting artist is entitled to a refund;

•    Based on member feedback, we launched a new feedback/ratings system where artists can talk about their experience with a promoter, including rating each promoter on their responsiveness;

We care. Chances are, if you think something sucks, we think so too. Tell us how we can improve it and help us make Sonicbids work better for everyone.

Panos

P.S. All the features listed above were a result of direct feedback and suggestions we got from members at dinners, conferences, and over email and calls. Keep ‘em coming.

Leave a Reply