Exclusive Interview: Sonicbid’s Panos Panay

Our 4QFor (Four Questions For) series continues with Panos Panay, the founder and CEO of Sonicbids.  Sonicbids’ core product is is an electronic press kit, but is repositioning itself as a matchmaking website for bands and people who book or license music. Its membership includes 130,000 bands and 10,000 music promoters and licensors from 100 different countries. In the past year, Sonicbids helped facilitate over 60,000 deals among its members.

Q1: What major changes in the music industry do you foresee over the next year?
I foresee an even more rapid migration from the old music business ecosystem. There will be more Radiohead and Madonna-like breakaways from the old established guard; and the "niche" will play an even more prominent role in 2008.

Q2: How are you and your company preparing to benefit from these changes?
PANOS: I think that we are right smack in the middle of it with our business model, though we are evolving too. You will see Sonicbids go beyond just helping bands book gigs – you will see us helping them develop an audience.

Q3: What excites you?
Wow, everything. This is the best time to be in the music business. I am excited about what I call the rise of the "middle class" artists. For the first time since the beginning of the music business…

…the word is no longer interchangeable with "record business". We are
seeing a much more open and free market. This is good for everyone: the
artist; the consumer; the smart entrepreneur.

Q4. What’s next?
For Sonicbids, its both expansion and evolution. We plan to
invest heavily in our product this year to make it a lot smarter and
even more user friendly. Sonicbids is great right now about helping you
go from point A to B. This year, we want to help you be able to connect
the dots: go from A to B to C and beyond.

Read more 4QFor interviews with the heads of imeem, We7 ReverbNation, New Music Strategies, Nimbit amd KnowTheMusicBiz here.