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May 19, 2010

BandCentral – Manage Your Band

Your band has got talent, it’s got drive, and maybe even a couple catchy tunes—now all you need is someone to manage your career. Enter BandCentral, the online management tool that makes it easy for bands to become their own publicists, marketers, bookers, and social media pros. From posting upcoming performance dates to selling merchandise and gaining an online fan base, BandCentral gives bands a way to promote themselves, stay organized on the road, and take control of their burgeoning careers.

Rock bands and the managers who help run them can get started using BandCentral after signing up for an account. Each band member gets his or her own login, and members can send messages to each other from within the system. The site has hundreds of features to make it easier to keep your band organized, from group calendars to set list creators and even merchandise management tools. If you’re interested in increasing your following online, BandCentral makes it easy to communicate with fans through MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook, as well as send email newsletters to your website subscribers and upload news songs that can be downloaded by your fans online.

For bands whose main concern is internal organization, BandCentral offers all the tools that a real-life manager could provide. The application lets bands keep track of their expenses to see how much money is coming in and going out, organizes guest lists and contracts to be distributed to promoters, and even features scheduling software that helps find the best times for band rehearsals and recording sessions. Paying for BandCentral each month is a lot cheaper than hiring a full-time manager or publicist, which is why it is a tool that could help any band look more professional when dealing with potential concert bookers and record industry execs.

Practical Uses:

  • Post new songs online for your fans to download
  • Create a set list for an upcoming gig
  • Keep track of rehearsals and recording sessions with a group calendar
  • Track expenses to see how much money is coming in from ticket sales

Insider Tips:

  • Sync status updates with your Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace accounts
  • Set selective access controls for certain band members
  • Band calendars can be exported to iCal, gCal, or Outlook
  • Save master song files from within the secure cloud-based system

What we liked:

  • BandCentral really does seem to offer all the features a new band could need
  • Email newsletters and alerts help amateur bands appear more professional
  • Bands that sell merchandise can track how much they have left in stock
  • Internal message board system makes communication clear between band mates

What we didn’t like:

  • The free plan offers very limited features

Alternatives:

Company Info:

Costs:

  • All accounts come with 30-day free trial
  • Free plan with limited tools
  • Pro monthly plan is £5.99/month
  • Pro Annual plan is £59.99/year

Comments

  1. I believe Twitter is the best social network music artists can get promotion. Many well-known celebrities/performers these days began through Twitter. Just like Marie Digby and Arnel Pineda, the new singers of the actual band Journey. Several of them are using a power tool like Tweet Attack to achieve the real fans in a “dirty way”.

  2. I’ve been using Bandcentral for a year and like the product, but there isn’t any action going on behind the scenes. My support requests have never been responded to and there hasn’t been any development or new features during the 12 months. The first contact I have had lately was an email asking for more money (for renewal) but I’m reluctant to renew unless the bandcentral team start getting onboard with supporting their users.

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