Of the many places to find a band to join, Craig’s List is seemingly one of the most popular. While placing an ad is easy and many
bands look for new members by scouring Craig’s List we all know its archaic, disorganized and time consuming and there are still several challenges that make finding a band member difficult. If you have tried for weeks, months, or longer to locate a band member or band that you can join on Craig’s List without success, there are probably some good reasons why you are failing.
First off, Craigs list is still living in the dark ages of technology with only a couple filtering abilities, searching for musicians and searching in a particular city. But what if you want only Bass players in Kansas who are female and are mid level? Or what if you want to join a band that only plays rock gigs for pay?
Sorry but you’re just going to have to spend a few hours, days if not weeks doing the filtering on your own. Or… you can go to www.MusicLaunchPad.com and use the worlds most powerful search engine for the music world and spend about 60 seconds to determine if the person you’re looking for is available (more on that in a minute). If you do want to go the Craigs List route here are some tips on finding a band mate or getting into a band.
Conflicting Message
If your ad or your response contains conflicting or confusing information, the band is likely to pass on your talents. In addition, if you work most evenings, that is going to eliminate you from many bands. So, be consistent with your message and available when needed.
Fail to Answer Questions
You send off a reply, they respond with a few questions and you don’t answer. It happens to everyone from time to time, but if you are constantly failing to reply to questions, then you are not going to be hired for the band. So, check your messages frequently and respond accordingly.
Failing to Read the Entire Ad
Be sure to read the entire ad first before sending off your reply. You may find that the person they are looking for is skilled in other areas of music compared to your own. So, if you are a rock drummer, joining a band that plays jazz only is not going to be for you.
No Samples
Why would any band hire you if there are no samples of your talent available? You’ll see that most ads require a link to an audio or video track that shows off your talents. No band is going to hire you otherwise, so you might as well make a demo track.
Placing a Bad Ad
If you have placed an ad about your services being available, you want it to be accurate and friendly. Putting something in like only being interested in a “working band” isn’t going to spark responses since a band that is working does not need you. So, just place a simple, honest ad when trying to find a band.
Too Restrictive
Look over your ad to see if what you have stated might keep you out of playing with bands where you are a good fit. For example, if your ad states that you only want to play for a western swing band that specializes in Bob Wills songs only, that is going to eliminate you from consideration of many different bands. You should state instead that you can play a specific genre, but have experience in certain areas.
Unintelligible Message
If you reply with a message that has misspelled words or worse, tries to be cool, you are probably out of luck. Remember, they don’t know who you are, so giving a coherent reply with correctly-spelled words is a must.
You Play Guitar
Most bands are looking for bass players and drummers, not guitarists. So, that may be why you are failing to find a band.
Again if Craigs List ain’t cutting the mustard, you may want to double your chances of finding the right band or band member by getting a free account at Music Lauch Pad and using its “Smart Search.”