Indie Bible’s Ultimate Indie Bundle
Many artists swear by the Indie Bible … in a good way.
For more than 14 years, it’s been the go-to site for independent artists and songwriters of all genres to help get their music reviewed, songs played and music distributed.
Founder David Wimble, a musician himself, saw a need for resources to help him get his own music noticed. Eventually, he turned his research into the ultimate guide for others like him.
Now he’s providing all his services in one package: the Ultimate Indie Bundle … it includes the Indie Bible and its online version and the Indie Venue Bible.
Now, an audience with Wimble …
Pause & Play: First off, tell us about “The Ultimate Indie Bundle.” What does it encompass?
Wimble: The Ultimate Indie Bundle was a Groupon-type promotion we created for a promotion with CD Baby earlier this year. We took all three of our directories (The Indie Bible, The Indie Venue Bible and the Indie Bible ONLINE) and bundled them into one resource. To sweeten the pot, we even added in next year’s edition of the Indie Bible. It featured $320 worth of resources for only $59.95. The promotion did so well that we decided to make it permanent.
There’s so much information, that many people get overwhelmed. There are 32,000 venues, festivals and booking agents in the U.S. and Canada as well as 8,200 resources covering every possible area of music promotion. Radio, press, labels etc.
The main contents of the Bundle are:
1,000 Publications that will REVIEW your music.
2,500 Radio stations that will PLAY your songs.
1,200 Record Labels that are ACCEPTING DEMOS.
140 CD Distributors.
180 Digital Music Distributors.
500 Digital Websites where you can UPLOAD your music.
350 Music Blogs that will feature your music.
32,000 Music Venues, Festivals, Colleges and Booking Agents.
Plus 190 cutting edge ARTICLES that will help bring your career to a whole new level.
Pause & Play: For a new band, what’s the most beneficial aspect of the bundle?
Wimble: Bands benefit largely because the Indie Bible was originally created by a musician (me) to promote my own CD. I had no intention of creating a music directory. So all the listings you’ll find in the directory have all been filtered through a musician’s mind. For every listing, I have gone through the same series of questions. Is this useful for an independent artist? If so, how? Does this company seem legit?
We don’t just add in cool looking resources. It has to have a true benefit to the average artist – something that can help them gain exposure for their band or their music.
Pause & Play: I’m sure you hear a lot from artists. What are their biggest complaints about the business and trying to get noticed?
Wimble: I think artists are mostly intimidated by the numbers and are just basically scared. There are hundreds of thousands of artists and bands worldwide, competing for a finite amount of attention and sales. Currently in North America and Europe, we are somewhere in the cycle of an economic downswing. This just adds to the pressure. In most households there are higher priorities than buying new music when it comes to spending ones’ hard earned cash. Food, shelter, clothing and so on. The recession is also forcing many live venus to close, or, in some cases, they are switching from live bands to karaoke in order to stay afloat. So there are more bands, but less places to play.
The biggest complaint out of all of this, as it has been for years and years, is that there are many “sharks” out there that know artists are in a vulnerable position, and tell them what they want to hear. They play on these fears and make promises they know that they probably can’t keep (and in some instances promises that they had no intention of keeping).
Pause & Play: And have you heard back from artists who have used your materials? Any success stories you can share?
Wimble: I don’t have a lot of details of how our directories have helped people. The testimonials we receive (and we receive a lot of them) are usually quite generic, like “Thanks for this amazing resource!” or like the one we have posted on our website “Thanks for saving me about 4000 hours!”
Pause & Play: Ultimately, what’s your manifesto for “The Indie Bible,” a goal you want to achieve?
Wimble: The Indie Bible is a living entity. And it has to grow and change if it is to survive. In order to remain relevant, it must continue to present the most cutting edge resource for artists. Our job, as it has been for the last 14 years, is to make sure that we relay the newest ways for artists to gain exposure for their music.
Where it’s all going, who knows? I can’t even imagine at this point. But I can assure you that we’re going to be there, at every turn.
About the Author
Gerry Galipault Gerry Galipault debuted Pause & Play online in October 1997. Since then, it has become the definitive place for CD-release dates — with a worldwide audience.
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