Last year Madison participated in BandSwap, a project designed to enrich and publicize eight cities' music scenes. This year it will take part again, on a larger scale, with five bands representing the local music community. Musicians can nominate themselves on Broadjam.com through June 8. After that, the Madison Arts Commission will select the 2014 participants.
BandSwap 2013 culminated with concerts in Madison and Fort Collins, Colorado, where the initiative's founder, SpokesBUZZ, is headquartered. Madison rock band Sexy Ester got to perform in Fort Collins, and Colorado act Common Anomaly took the stage in Madison. New perks for 2014 participants include a CD-release party, a music video created by Madison Media Institute and a one-year premium subscription to Broadjam, a set of licensing and promotion tools for independent musicians. BandSwap acts from Madison and beyond will perform at the Frequency on Sept. 20.
One lucky band receives a stipend to visit Fort Collins Oct. 1-5, plus an invitation to play the 2015 Madison Area Music Awards next summer. This act also gets to place an album in the Yahara Music Library, an online collection of local music Madison Public Library launched in May.
