For aspiring musicians, finding a good band can be challenging. Without a strong network, you might have a hard time finding musicians near you who share your interests and style.
Thankfully, there are several sites where you can find local musicians who might be interested in collaborating with you. Here, we list the eight best websites to find band members and bands in your locality.
1. Join-A-Band.com
Join-A-Band.com is a website where musicians from across the globe can find bands or band members. Whether you need a singer, guitarist, or drummer, you can find plenty of people here.
Join-A-Band.com categorizes the request by instruments and genre, making it simple to search. You can also find and filter the musicians by country, state, and city.
The musician profile contains a bio and links to their social accounts. There’s an option to add audio and video too, which can help you gauge the skills of the person. You can contact people either through direct message or their social accounts.
The website already has hundreds of ads and musician profiles, so chances are you can find a good match. If not, it’s free to create a profile and post an ad.
Since Join-A-Band.com has ads and profiles from around the world, it’s a good option for both US and non-US residents.
2. Hendrix
Hendrix is a US-based website for connecting talented musicians with bands that needs them. To find a band member, you can post an ad or browse through the profiles.
Hendrix has a large directory of musicians with filters that makes searching simpler. It lets you filter by profile, instrument, genre, and location. To weed out spam or non-serious people, you can filter out profiles without images or audio.
The musicians who are willing to collaborate can mark themselves as available, so you won’t waste time reaching out to people who're not interested. It works similar to a social network, as you can follow people and bands and chat with them.
Similarly, you can browse the classifieds and posts to find a suitable musician match. Signing up and posting a classified is completely free. When you create a profile, it appears in the directory, increasing your chances of finding a band.
3. BandFinder
As the name implies, BandFinder helps musicians and singers find bands. It features musicians from all the US states, along with the UK, Canada, and Sweden.
Other than helping you find a band to join, BandFinder can connect you with a music teacher or another musician who might collaborate with you. The categorization by location and instrument makes the search easy.
Each profile contains information like availability, music style, influences, equipment, and attitude. This helps you decide if the person is a good match. You can also enable MusicMatch to get notifications when new musicians (who match your profile) join the network.
BandFinder has around 15,000 members and gets a decent number of monthly visits. So, the odds are that it can help you find your next band. Unlike other sites here, BandFinder isn't free and costs around $10 per year.
4. Reddit
Reddit is always a good place to find people with shared interests. Among the thousands of Subreddits, several are dedicated to musicians and music. So searching for your next band there can be a good idea.
To get you started, here are a few Subreddits where you can find musicians and bands.
Other than music-related Subreddits, you can explore local Subreddits and try posting there as well. However, be careful with the rules, as not all Subreddits (even the ones related to music) don’t allow such requests or self-promotion.
5. Craigslist
When you’re looking for musicians in your locality, it’s worth searching through Craigslist. Since Craigslist has sites for hundreds of cities, chances are you can find someone regardless of your location.
To find a band member, visit the Musicians section. As Craigslist isn’t a dedicated musician match site, you’ll obviously find many unrelated posts.
Skim through them to see if someone needs a band member. Alternatively, try searching phrases like "want a", "looking to join", "need someone", and so on.
No luck? Create a post yourself and wait for someone to contact you. Posting for a band or musician won’t cost you anything.
6. Open Mic Listings Sites
If you’re looking to join a band, performing at an open mic can open a host of new opportunities for you. You can find talented musicians and bands with whom you can collaborate.
To find open mics happening near you, there are several events listing sites to explore. Some of these include Eventbrite, openmikes.org, and EventGuide. Alternatively, you can search for "open mics near me" to get more results.
7. Local Directories
There are various local directories where businesses list themselves. Several bands list themselves on these directories, so you can find the ones near you and contact them to see if they are willing to add a member.
Some of these directories, like Hudson Valley Music, are music-focused—so chances of finding bands are higher. Other sites like MyArea Network sites lists businesses of all kinds. But as the listings are categorized, you can find music ads.
So try searching through the popular local directories, and you might find your next band.
8. Google Maps
Finding bands to join on Google Maps is certainly a good idea, even if it is not the most obvious way.
To find bands on Google Maps, try searching bands playing near me, open mics happening near me, bands near me, music venues near me, etc. Once you find a handful of bands/places/venues, reach out to them or visit in person to ask for collaborations.
Since Google Maps covers nearly every country, you can find local bands, regardless of your city.
It’s Time to Jam With Your Band
Finding a suitable band can be challenging, especially for aspiring musicians who don’t have a large network or fan following. But thanks to these websites, you will be able to find the perfect musicians for your band.
While searching through sites, directories, and forums will still take some time, you're quite likely to find band members. Once your band is ready, don't forget to jam before you go on the stage.