Indie Band Survival Guide Blog

You’ve spent countless hours writing and recording your new album, so now it’s time to throw a CD release party. Learn how to put on a CD release show here.

House concerts provide an intimate and fun setting for a show and can supplement a tour in between shows at larger venues. Learn how to get booked at house concerts here.

If you are looking to get booked for gigs check out PartyBand.US.

This site lets you create a profile of your information that festivals, venues, and individuals looking for live music will be able to search. Click the Performer Signup tab at the top to begin creating your profile. You will be able to list important things like gigging radius, genres, and range of fees. This service is totally free and people interested in your music will be able to contact you directly.

If you give PartyBand.US a try, we want to know if you booked any gigs through the site. Leave a comment and a site rating here.

You know all those music thoughts that pop into your head during the day but you have nowhere to put them?

Thounds gives all of your music ideas an organized home and lets other users add to your clips. Record directly on your computer or iPhone (they have an app!) and publish your tracks. Other users from around the world can add their own tracks to yours for some collaboration. Best of all, since they are saved online you can access your sounds from any computer. You can also publish your songs on your social networking profiles for everyone to hear.

If you check out Thounds, we want to know if you had fun posting ideas and collaborating with others. Leave a comment or a site rating here.

Check out some links that have been added recently to the Indie Guide:

The Banded: create a profile and stream your music

PartyBand.US: a site for artists, bands, and DJs to register to get booked for gigs

Thounds: a network where you share your music ideas

Swift.fm: music search engine that finds music through Twitter

Tonestac: site that offers radio and marketing services for indies

Click here to see 9 new coupons that we just found.

Don’t forget to bookmark and visit Check Here First if you are going to buy any music gear. We update this page regularly with all the coupons and deals that we find to save you money when you buy gear.

Effective web presences look great and lead viewers to your website and music. Learn how to brand your online profiles here!

There’s a new interview with Randy and Jason at The GiGHiVE.

This interview has very interesting questions such as:

• Should the process of becoming a successful band be all about getting the attention of a label, or are we at a point where thriving indies should be saying no to label attention?
• We talk a lot about building an ‘alternative industry’ to that of the major label-dominated corporate dinosaur. What would you want that alternative industry to look like?
• On indieguide.com, you talk a lot about alternative revenue streams that the average indie band can pursue. Are the days of earning a living off selling CDs and mp3s over?

Click here to check it out and see Jason and Randy’s answers.

This weekend only there’s an especially good deal at Guitar Center that we wanted to share on here and Check Here First.

Click here to get %15 off any single item $299 or more using the coupon WEEKEND15. This expires 1/31 so act now.

Check Here First is a feature of IndieGuide.com that collects all of the music coupons that we run across as we do our research. Bookmark Check Here First and visit before you make any gear purchases, because we might have the right coupon for what you’re about to buy.

Playing entertaining live shows is a fast way to form a strong connection with your fans.  But, in order to play live you need to know how to book gigs. Click here to learn how!