Getting started with The Unsigned Guide
START SEARCHING THE DIRECTORY -
To start browsing The Unsigned Guide directory, simply select an area of the music business from the ‘I’m Looking For…’ dropdown list and then click the yellow Search button. If you wish to refine your results further at the outset, you can also select a UK region or city/town from the relevant dropdown list.
If you’re a looking for a specific company name then click on ‘Find A Company’ and you can type this in.
Alternatively, you can also choose from one of colourful tabs in the menu bar across the top of the page, denoting the main categories of the music industry; Artist Managers, Creative & Branding, Finance, Law & Music Business, Live, Media, Music Publishing, Music Training & Careers, Record Labels & Directories, Recording & Production, Selling & Distributing Your Music. By clicking on each of these tabs, you will be taken to a hub page where you can search for directory listings or read news articles, blog posts or industry advice relating to these specific areas.
SEARCHING FOR MUSIC GENRES -
There are several sections of The Unsigned Guide directory which can be filtered by genre. We have 185 music genres to choose from so you should have no problem finding contacts suitable for your style of music. Artist Managers, Record Labels, Music Publishing, Distributors and Producers can be filtered by genre. Once you have started searching one of these sections, you will see further search options on the left hand side of the page which will allow you to refine your results by genre.
Alternatively, you can type a genre into our ‘Find A Company’ field as this will also bring up any listing across the whole directory which has this word mentioned.
You can also combine typing in a genre with choosing a section from our dropdown list to show listings within a certain section of the directory featuring a specific word, for example to find a Promoter who puts on Folk gigs, make sure Promoters is selected from the dropdown list, type the word ‘Folk’ into the ‘Find A Company’ field, and click the yellow Search button to bring up these results.
REFINING YOUR SEARCH EVEN FURTHER -
It’s possible to filter searches even further across certain areas of our directory to help you get more precise results. For instance, our Venues section can be searched by capacity, our Equipment Hire section can be filtered by the types of equipment you’re looking for, our Rehearsal Rooms section can be narrowed down so you can find studios that have secure storage facilities, or sort by what equipment they have provided in the rooms.
We have lots of sections in the directory that can be filtered further in this way to make your life easier; just look out for additional search options that will show on the left hand side of the page once you’ve started browsing a particular section.
You can also refer to our Help pages for each individual section of The Unsigned Guide, from Artist Managers through to Record Shops, for further information about how to browse these listings for the best results and what you can expect to find in the listings.
SAVING FAVOURITE CONTACTS & ADVICE TO REFER TO LATER -
When viewing directory listings or news, blog and advice articles, you will spot a yellow star in the top right hand corner. Simply click on this to add it to your Favourites. You can then refer back to your Favourites at any time by clicking the option on the top menu bar.
You can also organise your Favourite items into Projects. If you are planning a release, organising a tour or putting together a promotional campaign, you can create a Project with any title you like, then group together useful contacts or articles by dropping them into the relevant Project folder.
DEALS & DISCOUNTS -
We like to make it easy for our members to find out about companies listed in The Unsigned Guide who are running promotional deals or who offer discounts to unsigned artists.
Just click on Deal & Discounts on the Home page (below the search dropdown lists) to bring up a list of all businesses who currently have a deal or discount available to musicians. You can also filter this search further by picking a specific section, such as Merchandise, to then find all merch companies that offer money saving deals or discounts.
SPOTLIGHT -
Spotlight is our monthly blog highlighting the best music from our talented members. Click on Spotlight to read all about how the blog can help promote your music to the wider music industry and how you can submit a track for potential inclusion. You can also read previous Spotlight blogs and listen to our playlists from past months.
NEWS, BLOGS & ADVICE -
On our Home page you will find a selection of the latest news items and blog posts covering all areas of the music business. You can also find further reading in the form of Advice items which can range from industry documents & reports to help broaden your knowledge of the industry as a whole, to insider tips from music professionals covering specific areas of their expertise and written specifically for Unsigned Guide members.
YOUR ACCOUNT -
Here you can check your personal account details, see what type of subscription you have, change your password or find details of how to cancel your Unsigned Guide membership.
CONTACT US -
If you have further questions or require guidance in getting the most out of The Unsigned Guide, please get in touch with us through this forum or via our website here: http://members.theunsignedguide.com/contactus