What does being a member of Texas Independent Musicians do for me or my band?

    Being a member of Texas Independent Musicians gets you the ability to participate in the organization's shows, showcases, seminars, educational events and the like. It also includes you either generally or specifically in any organizational advertizing or promotion, and gives you the ability to use the organization's logo on your marketing and promotional materials. Member bands may be provided with low- or no-cost materials produced by the organization. Members will from time to time be emailed special offers and other information on special events, sponsorship opportunites and the like. Membership also includes the abilty to be on musical compliations and other such items as will be produced from time to time. You also may as a member take advantage of a review of your web keywords and Meta Tags in conjunction with search engine and other web promotional assistance at no cost, upon request. You get from it what you put into it.

    Nothing. At the current time, there are no dues nor any immediate plans to charge dues. Various features and functions of things that Texas Independent Musicians does will require fees, which will be the same or lower than those usually charged for such things, or will be charged at cost or market value. Other aspects will cost nothing. All fees will be reasonable, and will only be used to run and promote T.I.M. In general, any payment during shows will be used to offset costs of running them, and to fund various fixed costs for the organization. We do not take any percentages of tips, merchandise sales or the like, these are the sole property of the bands themselves. Of course, donations of time, materials or money are always welcome. In the future, various fundraising events may be held for the organization on a volunteer basis.

    Our focus is on helping bands, not on making money. We charge fees only on a pay as-you-go basis.

   Not in general. At times we will book shows or showcases, and send out general or specific invitations to such, but at this time we generally expect bands will perform their own booking. Member bands can request assistance with such matters.

    Sure, if you want to use the logo or name in your shows, that's fine. We only ask that if you do, let us know so we can assist or promote you if we can. If not, that's fine too.

   No. T.I.M. does not suggest, control, censor or concern itself with when, where, how or why members promote any show they're booking or playing in, regardless if they have booked it, T.I.M. has booked it, or they are not playing with T.I.M. at all. There is no limit to promoting that the band itself is associated with T.I.M. We encourage all members of T.I.M. to promote their band to the best of their ability at all times, and we will assist them with that whenever possible.

Do I have to join MySpace? I have a website already.

    No, you don't have to join anything. If you want to communicate via MySpace that's fine. If you want to email us directly, or call us on the phone, that's fine too. MySpace, like anything else, is a tool for accessability and promotion.

   No. These functions are the responsibilty of the bands to do on their own sites as they see fit, and one of the reasons for utilizing MySpace. Those that wish to do such functions with others in or out of the organization should do so on their own accounts in MySpace or their own band site.
The only purpose for the T.I.M. group on MySpace is to make announcements and do business functions; personal correspondence must be made between individuals on their own. There are not any plans to ever make T.I.M. a platform for anything other than a business focused organization, not a social club or anything similar. In general, posts by bands or organizations will not be censored on MySpace, this is at the discretion of the leadership of T.I.M.

   You haven't been invited to it, you haven't accepted the invitation, or you don't have a MySpace account. Only those who express a desire to be on there will be asked, and it is not anywhere near a primary concern of the organization.

   We have many years of experience in business functions, leadership, management, sales, financing, technology, Internet, legal and tax documentation, work-place experience, customer service, business ownership, marketing and advertizing. There are no practicing musicians involved with the running of the organization. We are only focused on the general aspects common to any business. From time to time, professional experts in various fields will be hired, or volunteers will be sought, to perform specific tasks related to managing the organization.

    Specific music industry experience is provided by our advisors, which is composed of nothing but practicing musicians. Texas Independent Musicians utilizes the talents and experience of its members for the good of all involved. Any matters related to the technical or business aspects of the music industry are taken under advisement from information provided by the members of the bands and related discussions.

    The leadership is involved to various degrees with various member bands, from very casual relationships, to active friendships, to promoting or manging various aspects of the bands themselves, as is appropriate to the situation. In no case do the member bands have an actual active role in the business decisions of the leadership nor is the reverse true with musicial issues. This does not mean that advice or suggestions are not sought in both directions, rather that decisions are reached according to a thoughtful process considering any appropriate factors of the situation.

    No, not at all. We are based in Texas, but the location of members is not important. The name more means that we are in Texas, and we support Independent Musicians. We have members based all over the U.S. and have contacts overseas also. Many of our members live all over the U.S. and they often tour out of the states they're based in.

    Originally, the specific goals of T.I.M. were not clearly defined, an expected and intended consequence of being involved in a business involving entertainment, in a dynamic and fluid creative environment. Aside from the shows arranged and managed by T.I.M. that became more and more draining with time and focus, the management of the organization and the member bands have numerous other issues unrelated to entertainment. Those involved with T.I.M. are professional and dedicated, but being Independent means this is usually not a primary occupation, and everyone is involved to a different degree with fluctuating amounts of time to dedicate to anything. Likewise, the utility of the MySpace group has not been as useful as hoped, and plans to develop a replacement system have currently been shelved due to this fact that it seems to be more time than it is worth to deal with such matters. However, we have begun work on our next compilation album, and are currently more focused on supporting participants than with activly promoting or implementing specific events on our own.

    Send email to anyone on our Contact page.