SonicBids Press Kits
I really don’t like receiving press kits in the mail. I view the press kit as an expensive carrier for one thing: the band’s web address. In our connected, electronic world the heavy folder / glossy b&w photo / shrink-wrapped CD package seems like a complete waste of everyone’s resources. So, in theory, I’m excited about these SonicBids Electronic Press Kits (EPK).
SonicBids is trying hard to make these the new standard for independent artists to seek gigs and enter band/songwriting contests. So I jumped at the chance to put together a simple EPK for my singer-songwriter life. The process was easy and relatively efficient and the results somewhat satisfying. But as a performer I have to say: I don’t get it.
In a day when you can host a full-featured website for under $10 a month, what’s the benefit in paying additional money every month for a lame 4-page site. There’s no new technology, no information; just one more thing to keep updated. The best I can figure is that the fine folks at SonicBids have some strong business contacts and they’re trying to simultaneously create and monopolize a niche, that takes advantage of struggling independent musicians.
After looking through a bunch of EPK’s that were emailed to me by other artists, it did, however, point to something fundamental. The common look and organization of all EPKs provides quick access to the basic information. Obviously, there’s nothing keeping a band from doing this with their own website. But they usually don’t (nor do most paper press kits, for that matter). Too often there’s a pointless opening page, hard-to-find bio info, and a general lack of basic content. It’s just too bad artists have to pay $5 a month to be reminded of how important it is to make this basic information readily available.