Tag: "Marketplace News"

The advances in OurStage Events just keep rolling in! A few weeks ago we told you how to search for events in your area. Now, you can listen to music from OurStage artists right from their event! Just click on the “play” button next to the artist’s names to launch an OurStage playlist of their music. When you click “Hot Shows Near Me” in your favorite channel, you can preview music from OurStage artists that catch your interest right from your search results!

Click the play button and start streaming!

The ability to play music from events is just one more great way to discover new music through OurStage. Subscribe to the OurStage Newsletter and read the OurStage Magazine to stay up-to-date on all of the latest developments.

Have you used OurStage search lately? If you have, you probably noticed that events now come up in search results! This means that you can search for your favorite OurStage artist and—in addition to seeing their profile, songs and videos—you will be able to find their upcoming shows! Search your city, state or a local venue to locate events that are happening near you. Find an event you like?  Click the RSVP button and it will automatically be added to your OurStage profile calendar so you won’t forget. You can also click on the “Hot Shows Near Me” link in your favorite genre channel to find shows in your area.

Search to find events in your area!

This new feature is just the most recent step in making events a larger part of the OurStage experience. Subscribe to the OurStage Newsletter and read the OurStage Magazine to stay up-to-date on all of the latest OurStage developments.

It’s been a busy summer here at OurStage. Since the beginning of May, we’ve launched three new features: Classifieds, Events and a revamped Artist EPK. For those of you who are new to OurStage, we wanted to recap the details of these features and how you can use them to enhance your OurStage experience.

OurStage’s music-centric Classifieds offers a vast array of categories and sub-categories to help artists, fans and industry professionals connect with each other to fulfill their music-related needs. OurStage members can post listings in six main categories: Musicians Wanted, Artist Opportunities, Services, Events, Connect and Personals. Posting will be free for a limited time, so get posting! For more info on Classifieds, check out the Classifieds FAQ.

Events is OurStage’s next step in helping fans discover their new favorite artists, and artists and industry pros help spread the word about their shows. Artists and industry pros add events to their OurStage calenders, either by hand or by enabling OurStage syncing, which are then displayed throughout the site on the artist’s profile (calendar tab and overview tab) and media item pages. Fans can also click on the “Hot Shows Near Me” link on any genre channel page to generate a list of shows in their area featuring hot artists in that channel. RSVP-ing to OurStage events adds them to the Calendar on your OurStage profile, which you can sync to your Google calendar to keep track of all of your upcoming events in one place! For more info on Events, check out the Events FAQs.

OurStage’s Artist EPK has always been a great tool for artists to present themselves to industry professionals, but now that we’ve talked to industry pros about their wants and needs, we’ve used this info to make our EPKs even better. The “Artist Info” tab is now easier to read and contains new fields so that artists can easily enter the info that industry pros need to know. Artists can write a 50-word mini bio for the new “Artist Preview” section on the EPK “Overview” tab, which also includes the ability to select a primary and secondary genre. EPK bios have a limit of 150 words to encourage artists to focus on their achievements and to keep industry professionals from being overwhelmed. This latest version of the EPK is more streamlined—allowing industry pros, who are looking to help artists take their next career step, to easily find the information that they need. Artists: Make sure you’ve filled out all of the new info fields and that your EPK is up to date. For more info about Artist EPKs, check out the FAQs.

Keep up with OurStage Magazine for the latest updates on new OurStage features for artists, fans and industry pros! If you have any questions about these new features, please email us at marketplace@ourstage.com.

For the last several months, OurStage has been interviewing talent buyers and other industry professionals to learn more about their needs. As a result of these interviews, OurStage has modified our EPKs. Our hope is that these changes will make the EPK a more effective tool for both artists and industry professionals. This latest version of the EPK is more streamlined—allowing industry pros, who are looking to help artists take their next career step, easily find the information that they need.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the “Artist Info” tab has a new look. Instead of the old “question and answer” format, the “Artist Info” tab is now a series of fields for artists to fill in with information about their draw, discography, who they’ve opened for and more. This change makes the “Artist Info” tab easier for industry professionals to read. OurStage will transfer as much info as we can from your old “Artist Info” tabs to your new one. You should visit your “Artist Info” tab to make sure that the transferred data is current, and to fill out the new fields.

The new look of the "Artist Info" tab

The EPK bio format is also new. The bio in the “Overview” tab of the EPK will now have a limit of 150 words. This is to encourage artists to focus on their achievements and to keep industry professionals from being overwhelmed. If your EPK bio is currently over 150 words, it will stay at it’s current length for 90 days to allow you time to write a new, shorter bio. For tips on what a great EPK bio should include, click here! After 90 days, all EPK bios will be shortened to 150 words.

The last change is the addition of a new “Artist Preview” section to the EPK “Overview” tab. The “Artist Preview” section will include a field for a 50-word mini bio, the primary & secondary genres of your music, and your hometown. You will be able to write and edit your mini-bio by clicking the “Edit” button on the “Overview” tab of your EPK. The ability to select your primary & secondary genres from your EPK will be available in the next few days.

We understand that, while change is good, it can also be difficult. Please email us at marketplace@ourstage.com with any questions or concerns you may have about the new and improved EPK features, and be sure to check out the revised EPK FAQs.

OurStage’s new Events feature is the next step in helping fans discover their new favorite artists, and allowing artists and industry pros help spread the word about their shows. We’ve received some questions from the community regarding Events, so we’ve decided to use this column to help answer them. This week, we’re tackling How to sync your OurStage calendar with your Google calendar.

You’ve RSVP’d to a bunch of cool events on OurStage — now what? Why not sync your OurStage calendar to your Google calendar? With your OurStage events visible as their own calendar within your Google calendar, you’ll be sure not to miss any of the fun!

Step 1: Log into your OurStage account and click on your “Calendar” tab. Click on the “Sync to Google Calendar” button in the top right corner of the “Calendar” tab.

Add cool events, then click the 'Sync To Google Calendar' button

Presto! Your OurStage calendar events will now appear in their own calendar, named “OurStage,” in your Google calendar! You can set reminders for and add details to your OurStage events just like you can for any other Google calendar event — you can even make your OurStage Google calendar public and share it with your friends!

Never miss an event - Sync your OurStage calendar with your Google calendar!

Tune in next week for more info for fans and artists on how to use Events!

After lots of hard work, OurStage Classifieds is now live! Our Classifieds are made up of music-centric categories so that artists, fans and industry professionals can connect with one another to fulfill all of their music-related needs. Read on for all the details about Classifieds!

What’s great about Classifieds is that we’re letting everybody in on the action. Artists, fans and music industry pros will all find a lot to do in Classifieds. The main categories — Artist Opportunities, Events, Services, For Sale, Connect, Musicians Wanted and Personals — and their many subcategories allow for connection, promotion, collaboration, job hunting and more!

Here’s what’s in it for you:

Artists – Connect with other artists: Find a drummer, MC or start your own band! Locate other artists to share gigs and rehearsal space.

Connect with industry professionals and fans: Promote concerts, tours and new releases, and recruit fans to join your street team! Browse live performance, collaboration and promotional opportunities. Find tour managers, roadies and places to stay during your next tour or look for engineers, manufacturers and graphic designers for your next album.

Fans – Connect with other fans that share your interests: Find a new concert buddy, get new music recommendations, start a fan club, locate upcoming concerts and festivals in your area and more. Check out CD releases, listening parties and tour news from your favorite artists. Buy and sell concert tickets, instruments and memorabilia, find a new guitar teacher even join a street team! The possibilities are endless.

Industry – Connect with artists, fans and other industry professionals:  Find talent for upcoming shows, promote events and new releases to fans, recruit new members for your street team, fill staff positions, connect with photographers, engineers, merchandisers and more!

Why should you post your music-related listings in Classifieds? Unlike the audience of other classified sites, the OurStage community — the audience for our Classifieds — lives and breathes music. Whether you’re looking for a guitar or a guitarist, odds are that someone in the OurStage community has what you’re looking for. Also, Classifieds makes validation easier. All Classifieds users must have an OurStage profile, so there are no anonymous listings. View a user’s profile and decide whether or not you want to enter into a transaction with them all without leaving OurStage.

The OurStage team is really excited about the Classifieds launch and we hope you share our enthusiasm. For a limited time, posting in Classifieds will be free, so click on “Marketplace” in the main navigation bar, select “Classifieds” and start posting!

If you have any questions about Classifieds, please feel free to contact marketplace@ourstage.com.

The OurStage Marketplace is temporarily closed for a site overhaul. Marketplace will re-open when the new version is ready in early 2010. Watch this space for the latest news concerning the re-opening of the OurStage Marketplace. In the meantime, Marketplace News will be offering artists advice on how to use the tools available on OurStage to secure opportunities and grow their fanbase.

It’s a great feeling for an artist when someone tells them that they like their music. It’s an even better feeling when someone tells the world that they like that artist’s music in a magazine, Web site, blog or other form of media. Continue Reading Marketplace News: Marketplace Tips – Press Pass

The OurStage Marketplace is temporarily closed for a site overhaul. Marketplace will re-open when the new version is ready in early 2010. Watch this space for the latest news concerning the re-opening of the OurStage Marketplace.

This week in Marketplace News, we have a Marketplace success story. Continue Reading Marketplace News: New England Americana Festival Followup

The OurStage Marketplace is temporarily closed for a site overhaul. Marketplace will re-open when the new version is ready in early 2010. Watch this space for the latest news concerning the re-opening of the OurStage Marketplace. In the meantime, Marketplace News will be offering artists advice on how to use the tools available on OurStage to secure opportunities and grow their fanbase.

An artist is booked to perform at a local venue. On the night of the gig, they show up on time, bring in some fans, play a great set and go home. But they’re not done yet. Savvy artists know the value of a followup email. After playing at a venue or working with a producer, photographer or any other industry professional, the artist should send an email indicating their gratitude for the opportunity, enjoyment of the experience and desire to work together again. This may seem like an insignificant detail, but an artist who is polite and easy to work with is much more likely to be asked back for a repeat performance than an artist with big talent and even bigger attitude. Remember, courtesy counts.

Be sure to tune in next week for more advice on how to get the most out of your OurStage experience.

The OurStage Marketplace is temporarily closed for a site overhaul. Marketplace will re-open when the new version is ready in early 2010. Watch this space for the latest news concerning the re-opening of the OurStage Marketplace. In the meantime, Marketplace News will be offering artists advice on how to use the tools available on OurStage to secure opportunities and grow their fanbase.

The focus of this week’s Marketplace Tips is how bands represent themselves through the pictures they use on their profiles and EPKs. Continue Reading Marketplace News: Marketplace Tips – Picture Perfect