Frequently Asked Questions

Here are brief explanations for some of the most common questions about the Music Mates system. If your question is not answered here, then feel free to contact us by completing the form at the bottom of this page.


Account Questions


New Posting Questions

Audio/Video/Picture Questions

Changing Existing Posting Questions

Deleting an Existing Posting Questions

Showcase Posting Questions

Searching and Contact Questions

General Music Mates Company Questions

Advertising Questions

How do I add a new account for myself?

Add a new account by clicking on the link under the Login button that says "Sign Up now for a free account." You will be asked a few questions such as your email address and name and then hit the submit button.


I've submitted an account but now what?

Check your email as you will have been sent a confirmation notice that prompts you to click a link to confirm your request to join the Music Mates system.


What should I do if I have not received an email confirmation?

If you have not received an email confirmation, check your spam filters first. If you do not see a Music Mates message there, then look into your email system and "white list" Manager@MusicMates.com so that any and all email coming from MusicMates.com will make it to your inbox.


I have already added an account but my Username and Password is not working

There are three reasons why participants' usernames and passwords do not work. Suprising to us even, not once has it ever been a problem with the Music Mates system. Here are the three things to check for if your username and password is not working:

1) Did you use upper or lower-case letters? Make sure you type in your username and password just like you typed it in when you created it. If you can't remember, try using all small letters with no capitals. That usually works.

2) Did you use spaces between words? A password such as "guitarman" is different than "guitar-man", guitar_man or "guitar man". You can't be "close" with usernames and passwords. You must be exact.

3) Are your "cookies" disabled? It's cookies that allow our username and passwords to work so you must have cookies enabled to get into the system. To activate cookies in Internet Explorer, select Tools > Internet Options > Privacy > and use the slider to change your settings to Medium > click "Apply."

If you are still not able to get in, complete our contact form at the bottom of this page.


I've lost my username or password, now what?


If you ever forget your username or password, just click on the "Forgot Your Password" link under the Member Login section. You will be asked to enter what you do remember, either your username or e-mail address. Then, your password will be e-mailed to you instantly.

I've added a new account but the screen looks the same

Yeah, we know. We need to do some programming to perfect our login screen. After you create an account, there's only one thing that changes on the screen once your account is accepted. It is top right corner of the page, a box titled "member login." If you see something like "Hello Youname" near that heading, you're in. Then, just click on "Manage My Postings" to start working on adding one.


Are the usernames case-sensitive?

Yes. Therefore, if you use the username "Joe", you must be sure to type in "Joe" when logging on in the future, as "joe" would not work.


Do I have to use my real name when adding a posting to the Music Mates system?

No. Even if you use your real name when you register for an account (and we encourage that), you will be asked what name you want to display in your postings when you get to that point. If you wanted, you could have a different stage name for each posting within your same account.


Is this really free?

Yes! And, it's been that way since 1995. You may add postings and search postings for free as often as you need to. If you would like higher placement on search results and the ability to feature more detail about what type of situation you're looking for, consider a 60-day or 12-month Showcase Posting Membership.


Why does Music Mates insist on keeping my email on file?

Well, we're not going to spam you with Viagra ads, that's for sure! We wouldn't be in business very long if we did that! There are three reasons why we need a functional email address on file for all of our participants:

1. To keep our listings current and clean - Too many other referral systems and bulletin boards have postings dated more than a year ago and the person is unreachable. When we send any email to you, we're also cleaning the Music Mates database at the same time.

2. To help you find what you're looking for - Every once in a while we will send an email to you that will remind you to update your posting or give a few tips on how to get more responses from our system. We've been helping musicians connect with each other for 12 years and we've learned a thing or two about it.

3. To keep you informed - Whenever we launch a new feature or expect downtime we will send a notification email to you.

And, of course, we have never sold our contact list to anyone...period.


How do I add a FREE posting?

Before adding a posting, you must sign-up for an account. This account information is only for use by Music Mates staff and is not seen by people viewing your referral profiles. We require your address, e-mail address and phone number if you want to add free postings the Music Mates system.

You will also be asked to choose a username and password. Make sure that you make a note of your username and password, because you will need to know them if you ever want to modify or delete your ad in the future.

After you've added an account, you will see the words "Welcome (your name)" under Posting Maintenance section on the top right column of the page. That's how you'll know your account has been accepted. Then, click on "Manage My Postings."

On the page that follows, you'll see 4 links; one for each musician referral category. Simply click on the link of your choice and complete and submit the form.

If your sign-up attempt does not work, you should see a page explaining why your registration wasn't successful. Normally, this would occur either when someone else is already using the username that you chose, if you forgot to fill in one of the fields, or if your password in the 2 password fields didn't match.


Do I need to create a new account every time I want to add a posting?

No. This system has been designed for your convenience. You need only add an account for yourself once. Once successful, anytime that you want to add, modify, or delete postings, you can go straight to the login screen and enter your username and password.


How long will my postings be visible?

If you add a free posting, you will receive an email from Music Mates 25 or so days later notifying you that you need to renew your posting. You will need to visit the Music Mates web site, login to your account, go to "Manage My Postings" and click on "renew my posting" if you wish to continue your free posting for another 30 days. There's no limit to how many times you can renew your posting but you must take it upon yourself to do so.

Yeah, we make you work a little bit. But, again, that's how we keep the database so clean. You're only going to go through the trouble of going back into your account and renewing if you're really serious about your situation. We weed out a lot of fakes this way.

Another way to renew your posting is to just make a small change to your posting every couple of weeks. Whenever you make a change to your posting, the 30-day clock is reset automatically.

If you do not renew your free posting within 5 days of being notified, your posting will expire. But, hey, no big deal. Your "account" will still be active so you can always go in to your account and add your free posting when you need to.

To keep your postings in the system for a longer period of time, simply upgrade to either a 60-day or 12-month Showcase Posting.


How can I add a picture, audio file or video to my posting?

The ability to add a link to your web site is a free feature in the Music Mates posting areas. Most people with web sites would just upload their picture, sound file and video to a page on their web site and then add the url address to their free posting.

If you do not have a web site, either a 60-day Showcase Posting or a 12-Month Showcase Membership is required for you to be able to add these utilities to your listing. The reason you have to pay something to have these featured is because if you don't have a web site, we will host these items for you for the duration of your posting. Whenever you put something on someone else's web server, expect to pay for it.

Having a picture is extremely powerful in generating calls because the contact sees that you are a real person.

Providing a sound file is a great way to pre-audition and show people you can play what you say you can

Adding a video shows that you are serious about performing and have the experience to prove it.

So, once you have a Showcase posting or membership, you will see some new fields on each posting form where paths can be added to feature your picture, sound or video. Pictures must be in .GIF or .JPG format.


Why am I limited to adding only 100 characters of custom text in my free posting?

This is the amount of characters that fits under the listings on the search summary page.


Why does my custom text NOT show up on my detail page?

Custom text for free postings only shows up on the "Search Summary" page. This custom text is what gets people to click on your detail page link to get your contact information and learn more "detail" about you.

When you upgrade to a Showcase Posting or Membership, you can add as much custom text as you would like to your detail page. That's just something extra that we reserve for the Showcase postings.


I've added a posting but don't see it on the search results

It's possible that there are so many results based on your search criteria that the most recently added postings will not appear. Currently, the Music Mates system will only list 20 pages of results on the summary page. Try narrowing your search and run it again.


How do I add a picture, or video to my posting?

The easiest and cheapest way is if you have your own web site. Then, you can just add a link to your web site and people can go there to see additional information about you...including your picture, any sound files you have, and video.

If you do not have a web site, we will be happy to store your picture, a sound file, and a video when you upgrade to a 60-day Showcase Posting or 12-Month Showcase Membership. Then, when we receive your files, we'll just add the links to your posting for you.


How big can my picture be and what format is required?

If we will be hosting your picture (after you've purchased a 60-Day Showcase Posting or 12-Month Showcase Membership), you will need to supply us with a .jpg image by email at manager@musicmates.com. Whatever size you send to us, we'll cut it down to a 2.5" wide picture. So, if you want your picture to have a certain look, you might want to take it down to 2.5" wide before sending it to us.


How long can my sound file be and what format is required?

If we will be hosting your sound file (after you've purchased a 60-Day Showcase Posting or 12-Month Showcase Membership), you will need to supply us with a 3-minute or less version in MP3 format that is less than 2Mb in size. Any larger than that and most people will not download it anyway. Send your file after you've upgraded your posting by e-mail to manager@musicmates.com.


How large a file can my video be?

If we will be hosting your sound file (after you've purchased a 60-Day Showcase Posting or 12-Month Showcase Membership), you will need to supply us with a 3-minute or less version in Media Player format that is less than 3Mb in size. Any larger than that and most people will not download it anyway to watch it. Send your file after you've upgraded your posting by e-mail to manager@musicmates.com.


How do I remove my account?

For now, if you want to have your entire account removed including all of your contact information and any postings or postings history, please use the contact form at the bottom of this page to request removal and include your username and email address. We set it up this way to prevent people from mistakenly deleting their entire account and to protect you from someone maliciously trying to delete your postings without your approval.


What is a Showcase Posting or Membership?

Their are two ways to Showcase your postings. The first is a what we call a 12-Month Showcase Membership for just $85 where you will receive top of the list (or near top) for ANY posting you add to the Musicians Seeking Bands, Bands Seeking Musicians, Music Instructors for Hire, Band or Solo Performer for Hire sections whenever you need them throughout the year. Additional information can be posted when you have a Showcase Membership such as more custom text, photo, sound files and video.

The second is a 60-Day Showcase Posting for just one of your ads for just $19.95, which gives you all the features of the annual membership but for just one posting.

After your order is accepted, additional information fields will appear on each of the posting questionnaires, including a text box where you can customize your posting. Other features include the ability to add a picture, Web site address, sound file or video!

Participants with Showcase Postings are always contacted first because they are believed to be more serious about their musical intentions.


How do I upgrade to a Showcase Posting?

When you logon to add or edit a posting, you will be given the option at that time to upgrade and your order will be processed online immediately.

Simply click on the link provided and follow the instructions to provide on-line payment using Visa or MasterCard through our secured server.  Checks and money orders are also welcome.


What should I put in the large text box in the bottom of each form?

This field only becomes visible when you upgrade to Showcase Posting status.

The narrative field allows you to customize your posting by adding additional information that has not been already provided by the questionnaire.

Musicians will typically add text to further describe what type of situation they're looking for. Ideas include musical influences, things people have commented about your playing style or ability, preferences as to type of band or performer.


How do I navigate the search results page?

Once a search is complete, it will display summary results on the page where you will see a one-lined listing for each participant that meets your search criteria.

If you'd like to view more detail about a participant, click on "Details" and an entire page devoted to that participant will be displayed for you. Feel free to print the information for your records.

If while on the summary or details page, you decide that you'd like to search again, either click on your "Back" button on your browser or click one of the Location links at the top left of the page to jump to the appropriate place on the site.


I ran a search but came up with no results

Your search criteria may have been too narrow. Go back to the search form for that category and leave more of the defaults options set to All when running your search and leave the City field blank.


Why do I see only 15 results on the Summary page?

We limit this number for both speed and visibility reasons, but there are probably more postings that meet your criteria. Look toward the bottom of the summary page. If there are more results to your search, you'll see a 1, 2, Next. These are clickable links to additional summary pages.



How do I contact someone who has made a posting?

When someone makes a posting in our system, they are given the option of including their phone number, "arranging" contact by e-mail, or both.

We say "arranging" contact by e-mail because we've hidden their e-mail addresses from general viewing. People appreciate keeping their e-mail address private unless they determine that your situation is a potential fit for them and wards-off spammers.

When you want to send an e-mail to a participant, click on the e-mail icon in the detail page of their posting. A form will pop-up for you to add your return e-mail address and your message.


Can I get paid for referring musicians, bands and instructors to Music Mates?

Absolutely! And, we can't wait to write a check out to you for doing so! We could advertise until we're blue in the face but this system has always grown by personal referral. We've always believed that some illustrious person could make a good living by contacting every music instructor or band for hire he could find getting them signed-up with Music Mates. For more details, visit our "Get Paid" page.


How many participants are in the Music Mates system?

Combining our off-line and on-line databases, we have about 20,000 registered participants. Of course, only several hundred of those have active postings at any given time.


How much traffic does the Music Mates site get?

Depends on the time of the year and for what category. Our two peak visitation seasons overall are in the fall and mid-winter where the site gets 10,000 to 20,000 visits a month. Even though we have postings in just about every state, we still get 70% of our visitation and participation from our home state of Colorado.


When will Music Mates expand its presence in MY state?

That's more up to you than it is to us. Tell everyone you know about Music Mates. If you know of a specific club hot-spot for bands and musicians, give us a name to call and a phone number. We'll see if they're willing to hang one of our banners.  

If you know of a popular "local rag" where musicians and bands have lots of classified ads, let us know the name of it and a number to call. Maybe we'll buy some advertising.

Print out a flyer and hang it in a music store next time you go to one or include a mention of Music Mates in your email newsletter or on your web site.

This system has always expanded by word-of-mouth and there are all sorts of ways that you can easily help to build the awareness of the Music Mates site.


Can I buy the Music Mates email list?

Nope. But, if you have an announcement you'd like us to include in our next distribution, we'll consider adding it.



Does Music Mates accept banner ads or sponsorships?

Sure. Simply use the contact form to request rates.






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