October update
WELL HELLO THERE! LONG TIME NO HEAR FROM US EH?
Sorry for any lack of communication and updates from the site. Just started a new job which has been keeping me busy and to be quite honest, needed to take a little bit of a break to get my head correct.
So, onto some ideas and happenings with us as we hit the 4th Quarter! Can you believe we are coming into Spooky Season?
SOSS2 RECAP:
So, just wanted to thank all of the bands, WXAX and all of the people that attended our second showcase in August! Although there was some weather and yes, even attendance issues, seemed like all of the bands had great sets and a good time regardless!
SOSS2 was really the first time we did it more DIY as opposed to setting up something like we did at The Loft, which was a success honestly because of Vern and New Diamond Entertainment securing the venue and……putting a few bands on the bill that drew a lot of people.
That being said…..please understand that we are (kind of) learning as we go and we really want to make sure that the things that we want to implement runs better and more efficiently such as our merch booths, band payment/compensation, promotion and so on… Suggestions from you all are always welcome and appreciated!
OBSERVATIONS:
JohnAlex and I really want to grow SOSE so definitely by 2024 we are a quarterly showcase event that fans, bands and others WANT to be a part of so that ALL of us can benefit from the success.
BUT….as it says on our about us page we really need to be THE SUM OF MANY, NOT THE ONE
What does that mean? It means SOSE is a resource for both the talent and the Artist Service people so you as an artist DO NOT have to do it alone!
TALENT: If you tool around on our site, your band is listed on a talent roster of over 14 other bands. We do the showcases not only for the fun of it, we do them to help you network with each other, expose your fans to their fans and vice versa..
What I was seeing at both showcases which made me happy was ALL of the bands who played on these shows watched the other bands, supported them and were all interacting with each other on and off the stage which is what we want! This is NOT a competition like a Battle of The Bands (which personally, I hate) we are trying to make a community of artists in the area supporting each other.
Some things I would definitely like to see as well moving forward and keep this in mind:
LIKE/SHARE/FOLLOW: I see some of the artists like Outta My Head, Cardboard Dream House and WXAX doing a lot (which is great) is posting their events on the SOS Group often to let the people in there know about their upcoming shows, releases, etc. Our podcast “Hey Pal, What’s New?” we post weekly about the episodes dropping, chat about SOS talent on the show when they release new music and we make sure it’s cross posted on SOS.
What’s that saying “If you see something, say something”? The best way to help everyone grow is if you see a post in there…hit the like button! Share the posts on your own pages if you want or even just comment “hell yeah!”. It keeps the post in the algorithm and will be seen more.
It takes literally 2 seconds and think about it on your own posts, don’t you want to see people engaging? If something is posted in the group at the very least each artist/talent should like the post. Do the math, 14 artists, say 4 members in a band now you have 56 likes rather than 1 or 2. I do it and it takes zero time out of my day, it shows support, it shows the artist you are seeing it and it works.
USE US: The #1 reason and the idea for SOSE was to create a community of kick ass local bands, artists and creators to show their talents, but most importantly WORK TOGETHER and HELP EACH OTHER OUT in getting their art exposed to a wider audience.
I’m not going to lie, we have our own endeavors in here too like the podcast, The Critically Ashamed and what not that we want to benefit from this, but we want YOU TOO to benefit as well. Like the Like/Share/Follow above, there’s no reason why one artist has 7 listeners a month and the other has 5 gazillion.
I know I have not posted on here in a few months, but this is sent to all of the main contacts for each artist and artist resource we have listed on the site to let them know what’s going on. Therefore….
If you have a show coming up? Let us know! That also goes for a show where you might need say another artist to fill a slot or if there is an opportunity available. Reach out to the other artists to see if they can jump on!
Also, like I’ve said a few times on each artist page, we use Bandisintown to list the shows you have, so I suggest if you haven’t signed up yet. Please do, it’s free and posts on your page automatically. https://artists.bandsintown.com/
We also have a ton under the Artist Resources pages that have provided not only their services, but also special pricing for their services for being in the SOS Talent Pool. We are hoping to grow that even more in the next year. So take a look around in there!
Working on new music and need recording/mastering/mixing done? We have people!
Need original artwork for merch, album covers, etc? We have people!
You need professional band photo shots? We have people!
You want to press physical products such as CD’s, Vinyl, or even cassettes? We have people!
You need professional EPK’s, press, video production? We have people!
See what I am getting at here? There’s a reason you are listed here, if you had bad looking and sounding stuff, let’s be honest you wouldn’t be on this page, but let these people help you if you are looking…..
FUTURE ENDEAVORS: Now, with that out of the way, we are still hoping to squeeze in an SOSS3 this year, but I also know with the holidays coming up that might be tough. Honestly, once Winter hits I don’t know about you around this time I grow a beard, lock myself in the studio, write/record and wait it out until the thaw. Who wants to be lugging gear in 10 degrees and worrying about show cancellations due to snow?
So, moving forward we are looking into working more on growing the talent pool, add more resources and honestly, make this better so when the next showcase comes up? We are a force to be reckoned with!
That being said, during this time WE NEED YOUR HELP AND INPUT!
We have LOTS of ideas floating around about what we want to do and we would love to get feedback on some of these ideas and see what YOU want to get involved in. Some initial ideas we are thinking about are….
EXPANDING THE PODCAST NETWORK: Of course we have our podcast, but like the bands on the roster, we want to include other podcasts to be linked together like you see with others out there and create a network. Do you have an idea for a specialty pod or know someone who is doing one that is struggling? LET US KNOW!
EXPANDING MERCH STORE: I know most of you have your own stores, we have our own as well but we would like to include “special limited edition designs” on our page with the artists from the pool to go along with what we have up there already. Have a design you want to include? LET US KNOW! We are 100% transparent and each band will be receiving quarterly reports on sales and will be paid for any items sold in the SOSE store. Here’s what we use: https://www.bonfire.com/store/sack-of-sin-merch/
RELEASING PHYSICAL COMPS/MERCH: We would like to press CD compilations of the artists on SOS to hand out at your shows that has a song from each on there. Also looking at SOSE stickers, pins, whatever that you can either charge or just hand out for free to get the word out. Not just the showcases, but at your own individual shows as well. Have a song new or old that you want on there? LET US KNOW!
EXPANDING THE "A&R”: You have your boots on the ground just like us. You are playing shows with other bands I’m sure you dig and you are working with people that are helping you with these things like merch, shows and other band endeavors. If you know of other artists, companies, even just people who want to be involved, SEND THEM OUR WAY!
You being a part of SOSE we want at least one member of each band to be the “point of contact” or “band rep” that we can reach out to on a semi regular basis to see what you have going on. If we don’t hear about it, we can’t help you promote!
FUTURE SHOWCASE SHOWS: We also want to make it clear to everyone, we do all that we do here out of the goodness of our cold black hearts, BUT…at the same time we don’t want to be a nonprofit charity. We have expenses just like everyone else whether it’s marketing promotions, venue rental costs, server costs, website costs, blahblahblah
The last two SOSS shows all we asked is to bring people and have a great time! SOSE takes full responsibility of encurring these costs and let’s face it, nobody has been getting paid for these including ourselves
That being said…for future showcases or even just to be a part of SOS if things do NOT pick up as far as attendance, social media activity, promotions from artists, etc. for these we MIGHT have to go down the road of requiring advance tickets being sold to be on the showcases and secure your time slot.
Trust me, I know it sucks being an artist myself I HATE doing that, but…at the same time if we are going to keep this ship afloat, as much fun as we all had on SOSS2 and we appreciated all of the efforts of the bands, let’s be real. it was bands playing to other bands. We (meaning the podcast and The Critically Ashamed) didn’t bring a ton either, but we also TBH promoted weekly on the pod (and so did WXAX) spent money boosting the event and did as much as we could to bring people in but it wasn’t a lot from us either so no finger pointing.
That being said, I’m looking at a no minimum maybe for SOSS3. Meaning, you sell one ticket? You play first…you sell 50 tickets? Headliner baby! Makes sense having the band that brings the most play last to keep em around ;)
I know this one was a long one, but it’s been a long time since….PLEASE feel free to contact me via the messenger, or via email directly with any questions/feedback/etc. Let’s do this!
Much Love,
Gregry and JohnAlex
