Bandize » Fun

Introducing: Bandize SXSW Concierge

Andy — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:49:51 +0000

Like the above banner says, we are all from Austin originally. We thought it’d be cool to offer up our collective experience in an effort to make your trip to SXSW that much more enjoyable.

We’d like to limit these questions to non-official SXSW queries. We can’t help you get into parties or let you know who’s performing where. We can, however, answer more general Austin-related questions!

Examples of appropriate questions:

Q: “What does ‘y’all’ mean?”
A: It means you’re speaking with a real Texan.

Q: “Is Lone Star beer good?”
A: Yes. Also, probably best not to ask a bartender that.

Q: “Who is this scantily clad gentlemen walking around 6th Street?”
A: Leslie Cochran

There are three ways to take advantage of the Bandize SXSW Concierge service:

Fill out our awesome web/iPhone-friendly form at http://bandize.com/sxsw

Simply send us an email

Send us an @reply from your Twitter account (@bandize)

(You can also see what the Bandize team is up to by following our personal Twitter’s if you’d like: Andy, Beamer, Ajit)

Bandize at SXSW!

Andy — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:11:27 +0000

We have a lot going on at this year’s SXSW, so here’s a rundown!

Saturday 13th – Monday 15th
Interactive/Film trade show: Come say hello to us at our booth! Badges only

Wednesday 17th – Monday 19th
Music trade show: Come say hello to us again! Badges only

Wednesday 17th from 5:30pm – 7:30pm
The Official Bandize Party! Free food, drinks, and music! RSVP Open to the public!

Thursday 18th from 12pm – 6:30pm
The Musebox, Pirate! Promotion & Bandize Present: SXSW Daytime Shows RSVP Open to the public!

Come see us speak at Pyramind Studios in SF!

Andy — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:08:20 +0000

Wednesday, February 24th @ 6:30pm
832 Folsom St., SF, CA
FREE and open to the public!

We (Andy and Ajit) will be discussing Bandize and going over some of the features and strategies that have helped artists at all levels experience a type of success through organization they didn’t think possible.

>> Learn more about the event and Pyramind Studios here <<

15 Gift Ideas for Musicians

Andy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:14:13 +0000

Don’t worry, we’re not going to list out cool stuff you can get with a Guitar Center gift certificate. We put a little more thought into compiling our list, so hopefully we can at least spark some creative gift ideas for the musician in the family, or for yourself! Hey, you deserve it.

(Click on the product’s title for more information!)

Bliptronic 5000 LED Synthesizer

$49.99
A great way to pass the time between shows in the van.

AlcoHAWK Slim Breathalyzer

$44.99
I know that none of our readers here drink to excess (HA!), but just incase you find yourself throwing back a few too many glasses of grandma’s famous egg nog this holiday season, we felt it appropriate to add this breathalyzer to the list. This thing fits nicely in the van glove compartment. It’s also a great way to prove that someone else should take over your driving duty!

Eclipse Curtains (block 99% of light!)

Price varies.
For those mornings when you just don’t want it to be morning. If you’ve paid your “sleeping in the van” dues and now stay in hotels on the road, why not have the same experience at home?

Slayer Mug

$5.00
Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like a Slayer mug.

In Your Face iPhone Holder

$29.95
Watching movies and what not on the iPhone is fun, but not if you have to hold it for 2 1/2 hours. Clip this thing somewhere and your hands become free to move about the (van’s) cabin.

On stage at Woodstock poster

$49.99-$129.99
It’s as if you were there! Hang this up in the practice room for inspiration.

Busy Beaver Buttons gift certificate

Price varies.
Busy Beaver has been making buttons since 1995! I’ve personally used them several times for my bands and have always been impressed with their prices, quality, and speed of delivery. Buy that special band member a gift certificate this holiday season and receive an additional 10% more buttons for free! Actually, place any order and mention Bandize in the comments section and you’ll get 10% more buttons too!

“Anvil: The Story of Anvil” DVD

$20.99
A truly inspirational story. These guys kept the dream alive because their dream was/is to play music. It’s honestly a must-see for any aspiring (or industry jaded) musician.

The Audioengine 5

$349.00
Premium desktop speakers that will make your new demo sound a-mah-zing.

SXSW Music Conference Badge

$675.00
The music conference. Send yourself on a whirlwind tour of the new music industry. Sit in on panels, talk to people, walk around the trade-show, etc. Also, since myself and the entire Bandize crew used to live in Austin for several years, we’re offering tours of Austin’s musical underbelly for the cost of one case of Lone Star. What a deal! Get in touch if interested.

Maglite Mini LED Flashlight w/ Holster

$18.97
Step into the future. All of your music sits in an iPod and not on a shelf. Your van runs on vegetable oil (hey, maybe one day). You organize your own band business through Bandize. So why the hell wouldn’t you have an LED flashlight? You need to find that American Apparel size small for the good looking fan immediately and the non-light at the merch table ain’t helping!

Any shirt from “Shirts for a Cure”

$12.00
“The Syrentha J. Savio Endowment (SSE) was established by punk-rock photographer Mark Beemer in 2002. SSE provides financial assistance to underprivileged women who cannot afford expensive breast cancer medicine and therapy. The Shirts For A Cure Project (SFAC) was launched by SSE to give voice to the social concerns of punk bands and their many fans as well as to raise awareness about breast cancer prevention. When a band donates a shirt design to SFAC, the design becomes exclusive to SSE. We sell the shirt and use the proceeds to help women fighting breast cancer.”

One-year subscription to Music Connection

$35.00
This isn’t Spin or Alternative Press. This is a magazine for music professionals that want to know what’s going on in their industry and not just what color Vans the singer of that one band is wearing now.

Apple Garageband (iLife)

$79.00
A great application to lay down some demos in the back of the van. Used by musicians at all levels.

eMusic Gift Certificate

$29.99-$119.99
The more their catalog grows, the more a subscription becomes a necessity. No, they don’t pay artists the highest royalties, but their pricing model does encourage people to buy music instead of download it for free.

Make your next release green-friendly and get 100 CDs free!

Andy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:35:26 +0000

We’ve partnered with our friends over at Built by Icon to bring you a fantastically green offer! For all new Built by Icon customers that purchase one of their green packages, you will receive an additional 100 discs totally free!

All you have to do to take advantage of this offer is simply mention Bandize when you place your order.

Incase you’re unfamiliar with Built by Icon, they have pressed CDs for companies such as Equal Vision Records, Robotic Empire Records, and Relapse Records to name a few.

Take a look at their green deals here!

Growing mustaches to fight cancer!

Andy — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:43:45 +0000

As some of you may already know, November has been commandeered by a group of unruly, yet highly organized, bunch of hooligans! The month of November as you know it will never be the same. It’s not even called November anymore!

Mustache + November = Movember

In an effort to make cancer feel foolish we will be growing mustaches through the entire month of Movember!

How can you help? That’s easy! Pick a Bandize team member below and make a donation. Whichever team member you pick will get credit for the donation (and bragging rights around the office since that means you like him more than the others, which is totally understandable).

Click on a picture to donate! Choose wisely.

To learn more about Movember please watch the video below and read about how your donation will be used.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation will use the money raised by Movember to fund research to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation will use the money raised by Movember to fund:

The LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance program which has the goal of improving survival rates and quality of life for young adults with cancer between the ages of 15 and 40.

Long lost Bandize educational film found!

Andy — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:04:23 +0000

Shaq made Twitter what it is today.

Andy — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:18:42 +0000

I remember a time when Twitter was just another fun, web-based communication tool. My follower list consisted of my then girlfriend, my best friend, his girlfriend, and a few other random people. This was the 2007’s though, a time when Myspace was king and Facebook was still reserved for frat houses.

After watching Twitter grow into the hottest, most talked about, social-networky, web-based, communicational tool in the known universe I got to thinking… Shaq is responsible for this!

Shaq posted his first tweet on November 18, 2008. This was way back when celebrities simply did not have Twitter accounts. I remember searching Google for celebrity Twitter accounts just to see if any of them had caught on. The few listings I found were on random, non-Twitter-related blogs and listed about 20 celebrity accounts (most of which were fake).

There is also the infamous story about how Shaq called one of his early skeptics on the phone to prove that it was really him tweeting.

This was before @oprah tweeted or even @IAMDIDDY!!!!!!! (Get it? He likes exclamation points.) Also, you may be surprised the learn that even Ashton Kutcher didn’t post his first tweet until January 16, 2009.

Of course, I also have a graph to back this up.

Shaq paved the way for tweeting celebrities. He didn’t put it in front of millions of people like Oprah, but he stuck with it and gave his fans a way to connect with him in a unique, instantaneous way. Nowadays, Shaq has over 2,000,000 followers and Twitter is enjoying a level of success they may have never dreamed of.

You too can follow Shaq’s lead by providing your fans an unobtrusive way to keep up with your band’s activities. There is real value in your fans receiving your updates right next to the updates of their best friends and/or family. Stop promoting to other bands on Myspace and start establishing a relationship with the people you care most about.

Band Metrics expands their beta!

Andy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:29:04 +0000

UPDATE: We have given out all 10 invites! Thank you for your interest!

~~We’ve got 10 invites to give away for Band Metrics! First 10 people to Tweet Hey @bandize, I want a @bandmetrics invite! will get one!~~

Incase you’re unfamiliar with Band Metrics (shame on you), their service will help you “understand your fans, gauge the popularity of your music and manage your band’s digital identity.”

Band Metrics is a fantastic service that will provide invaluable information to artists at absolutely all levels. We’re proud to call them our friends and should have some awesome, exciting news to share with you regarding that relationship very soon!

We definitely suggest following them on Twitter and subscribing to their blog Indie Music Tech!