Sonicbids Sold To Guggenheim’s Backstage
(UPDATED) Sonicbids, one of the first major players in the d.i.y. music space, has been sold to Backstage in a deal backed by Guggenheim Partners. Backstage, which specializes in casting, auditions and entertainment industry
opportunities, will now add Sonicbids' electronic marketing tools and performance opportunities for musicians.
No details of the sale were announced, but it is estimated at $15 million. Guggenheim Partners is also the owner of Dick Clark
Productions and Prometheus Global Media, the company behind trade
publications like Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter.
Combined, Backstage and Sonicbids claim 600,000 registered users and
60,000 paying subscribers.
According to a study by RAND, it is estimated that there are 7 million
performing artists in the U.S. and approximately 100 million worldwide.
The combined entities will include 70+ employees with offices in
New York City, Boston and LA. Backstage is a portfolio company of Guggenheim
Partners, and the combined company will be headed by Chairman and CEO John
Amato, with Panos Panay maintaining his role as leader of Sonicbids.
“Sonicbids and Backstage share the same mission of opening
doors for the creative community,” said Panay, who founded Sonicbids in 2001 and serves as its CEO.
“Joining forces creates amazing synergies and brings the worlds of music, film
and social marketing even closer together.”
That’s crazy! Does this mean Backstage is going to make Sonicbids more legitimate? I’ve used the service many times to very little success and every musician I’ve met says the same. I’ve also used Backstage and found it lacking greatly when compared to other casting sites. It will be interesting to see where it goes.
Free album download at http://www.facebook.com/chancius
This is great news! Backstage doesnt charge actors per submission its all unlimited. Hope they make the process the same for music artists through sonicbids! They are so about to kick castingnetwork and actorsa cess’ asses
Hmmmm, never had any success with Sonicbids, I do much better on my own. Will they continue their “pay to play” philosophy?
Bruce, would you be able to point me to the RAND study you quote from? I’d be very interested in understanding their assessment of the number of performing artists in the US and Worldwide.
Thanks very much!
Derek B.
Hey Chancius, we agree with you. That’s why we created Muzeek (https://muzeek.com)
Would love for you to check us out.
Danny
Neither did we, that’s why we started Muzeek (https://muzeek.com). We think we’re 10x better. Would love for you to check us out!
Hey Bruce,
I think you’ll really like our platform Muzeek (https://muzeek.com)
We started it 2 months ago specifically because of the convoluted process that all of these platforms seem to only make worse for artists/venues.
No pay-to-play. We like to think of ourselves as “The Bandcamp of Booking.”
Would love for you to check us out.
Danny Fiorentini
Three years ago when I signed up with Sonicbids I was impressed. The workers TRIED to help you, regardless. The people were NICE. Today the company keeps withdrawing money from my credit card. Can’t get a straight answer from anyone. To top it off I have not been able to sign in in months. Headache, after headache after lie after lie……..