Bobby Yang

movement for the wooden violin

A 21st Century American Violinist. Classically-trained and influenced by rock, Bobby produces legendary dance parties, tributes classic rock, and performs his all-original symphonic songs on the violin surrounded by instrumentalists who share his madness for good music played with deftness. And, he refuses to play an electric.

We're through, Sonicbids!

August 31, 2014  /  Bobby Yang

Until recently, I'd been a customer/user of Sonicbids for over 10 years. They jumped the shark, and now their users are PO'd. Their November 2013 attempt to restyle and rework their electronic press kit interface to loosely resemble Apple iOS7 turned out disastrously. Now their website is bug-laden, confusing, and even though my account was pre-paid through June 2014, I was unable to sign into my account.

Sonicbids customer service has been largely non-responsive since December. (They even removed their phone number from their customer service page.) It all feels like a fly-by-night, boiler room escape job. To add insult to injury, their recent redesign inadvertently deleted me from my own band roster (!) and I wasn't able to add myself back as a band member of my own namesake band.

As a side note, I've always objected to Sonicbids' frequent use of the word "gig" throughout their promotions - I prefer to call musical engagements "shows". Something about the word "gig" doesn't sit right with me. I hear people use the word "gig" and I cringe. I imagine someone chewing gum in a cheap-looking outfit on stage, performing with no passion and with just enough energy to get by and get paid - with no curiosity, no drive, and always ogling the ladies when they should be focusing on the show. This is the same kind of musician who loves to ask, "So, how'd you get that gig?" Gag. Go away. We don't want to be associated with you.

Back to the matter: I filed a dispute with my credit card company to get some of my Sonicbids fees back, and Visa has since credited my account for a prorated 7 months of undelivered Sonicbids services. So, if you use Sonicbids and want to jump ship, I recommend you do the same. The Sonicbids Twitter feed is littered with unsatisfied and seemingly frustrated users who are experiencing the similar issues. Sonicbids is offering free service renewals to some twitter complainers, as I imagine they are doing this to try to avoid an onslaught of chargebacks which could possibly bury them. Like the abysmally low percentage of people who actually send in mail-in rebate forms (<15%?), I bet that Sonicbids is hoping that fewer than most won't bother disputing their annual membership fee. Don't let them get away with it. Show them you know what's fair.

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