Announcing Flashband Backstage

Today, we announced two big changes to the way Flashband does business: a new, annual subscription for Flashband Backstage Membership, and the introduction of charging for participation in our Flashband Showcases. This is obviously a big change, and it's not one we make lightly, so I wanted to take this chance to explain a bit about the thought process, and our plans for what we'll do with these changes.

First off - charging for Showcases. As anyone who's played in a band knows, it's pretty hard to make a living off live shows. Maybe I should have thought of that when I tried turning Flashband into a business - why didn't any of you remind me? Although with good turnouts we can get a decent amount of money from cover charges at events, between hiring photographer and sound guys and getting squeezed by venues, its hard to make enough to cover the 30-40 hours it takes to administer each event, much less pay for things like printing and server fees.

When you play in a Flashband show, you get a show where you don't need to worry about booking or logistics, you get to meet and collaborate with lots of other cool musicians through the meet-and-greet jam, and you just focus on the music for a fun show in front of 250-350 people. A little bit of money from the participants makes it easier for us to run because we get more committed musicians, and brings in enough extra that we can cover our costs.

That said, Flashband is really about musician community, and an annual membership emphasizes this distinction. For now, with a Backstage Membership you get to play free in Flashband showcases and get reduced price tickets for other things we charge for (like classes and social events), as well as some cool perks like a Flashband T-shirt and deals and credit at partner businesses (the Chuck Levins store credit is almost half the membership cost back in your pocket).

This membership also gives us a vehicle to add useful new ways to build on the website. Stepping back to look at the big, grand vision for Flashband, I want it to become the starting point for musicians to meet and work with other musicians, both through a broad variety of local events (in all cities) but also through an awesome website with useful ways to find other musicians in your area. Like all those other freemium web startups out there, we'll have some features available at no cost and some only for paid members - establishing paid membership now gives us a place to put all those features as we build them.

Whoever said building a startup was easy? Thanks to all the musicians that have made Flashband a great experience so far. Thanks especially to my co-founders, Caleb and Amanda, who were up till 3am this morning getting everything in line for this launch. As always I'm building this for you guys so if you have thoughts/ideas/criticisms/suggestions I'm just an email away.

Neal