HELLO MUSIC FRIENDS!

NOW BOOKING FOR LOST 'N SOUND 2025

TWO EVENTS FOR 2025!

Lost 'N Sound is returning for a two-event 2025 season on Saturday, March 8 and Saturday, November 15.
Music will be booked from noon to midnight on each event date by participating venues.

South Main Village businesses are now booking music!

TO EDIT AN EXISTING A MUSIC PROFILE:

Last year, we launched a new tool for bands/musicians to submit a music profile that publishes in a directory. All of our participating Lost ’N Sound venues use this database to book music for Lost ’N Sound events…but we also learned that they use it for booking music for basically any event. Great news, it’s a helpful tool. Last year, musicians had to contact Megan to request updates to their profile. This year, we have made it possible for all musicians to update their profiles as needed. And, to be considered for 2025 booking, we need you to go log into your account and update your 2025 booking availability.

Please update your music profile with your availability for March 8 and November 15.
Also make sure that your photos, music links, contact info and pricing is all still accurate.
Your music profile now lives behind the Near Southside user portal. This means you can make updates to your profile anytime!
TO UPDATE YOUR MUSIC PROFILE:

Start at https://portal.nearsouthsidefw.org/

Your username will be the email address that you first created your profile with. If you don't remember it, contact megan@nearsouthsidefw.org for help.

After putting in your username….click ‘Forgot Password’ (You didn’t really forget your password, you’re just creating one for the first time)

Then, watch your email for instructions on how to set your password. Once you have reset your password, you can log in.

Log in at https://portal.nearsouthsidefw.org/

Click on the YELLOW EDIT EXISTING LNS Musician Profile button. Do not click “Start New” unless you want to submit a brand new listing for a band that you have not already submitted for.

This should take you to an area where you can access your profile that is currently published. You may have more than one profile (if you are in more than one band, or have submitted more than once). If you have more than one existing profile (say one profile as a solo artist and one profile for your band) then update them both. Please make sure to update your availability using the question that asks if you are available to play on March 8 and on November 15. Feel free to update your music links, your photos, your fee, booking contact info and anything needed. Then, submit your profile to publish again.

EXIT AND EXISTING MUSIC PROFILE

TO CREATE A NEW MUSIC PROFILE:

Start at https://portal.nearsouthsidefw.org/

Using the pink area of that page, create a new username and password.

Watch for a confirmation link to be sent to your email address.

Activate your account and then sign in at https://portal.nearsouthsidefw.org/

Select the yellow "START NEW - LNS MUSICIAN PROFILE" button. Fill out the form and submit.

Then, make sure to go check out how your music profile looks at https://lostnsound.org/musicia...

START A NEW MUSIC PROFILE

VIEW YOUR PUBLISHED PROFILE FOR ACCURACY

Once you have submitted your profile, go see how it looks in the published Lost ’N Sound music directory at https://lostnsound.org/musician-directory What you see here is EXACTLY what the venues will also see when they are searching for musicians to book. Please make sure it all looks great. If not, return back to your profile and make edits until all links works correctly, all photos are oriented the correct way, and all information is accurate.

VIEW YOUR PROFILE IN THE DIRECTORY

DID YOU GET A GIG? GREAT!

NOW RETURN TO YOUR PROFILE TO SHOW YOURSELF AS BOOKED!

This year we are asking all musicians to return to their profile and mark themselves as booked when you receive an offer to play Lost ’N Sound. There is a question in your music profile that lets you note if you have been booked for each of the dates. It is important that you do this because Lost ’N Sound is trying hard to spread the opportunity to play to as many musicians as possible. Last year, we had some musicians playing three or four gigs per event - which was cool for them but did not provide enough opportunity for other musicians. We are also asking for your honesty in sharing that you have already been booked if a venue reaches out to you after you have already accepted another gig on Lost ’N Sound day. They might still choose to book you for a second set….but we ask that you please notify them that you are already booked so we can give gigs to as many musicians as possible…and the festival lineup is as diverse as possible. PLEASE KEEP YOUR PROFILE AND YOUR BOOKING STATUS UP TO DATE.

You can return to https://portal.nearsouthsidefw.org/ log in and update your profile once you’ve been booked for a Lost N Sound gig.

VENUES BOOK MUSIC DIRECTLY

VENUES BOOK MUSIC.
LOST N SOUND MANAGEMENT DOES NOT.

Venues are South Main Village businesses or properties hosting music.

Venues book music for Lost 'N Sound. Venues communicate directly with musicians about booking opportunities. Participating Lost 'N Sound Venues are responsible for their own music booking and they will use the information you have provided in this form for their consideration when booking music. Lost 'N Sound management does not book music directly at this time.

By filling out this free booking application, your details will be published in a "MUSIC DIRECTORY" that all venues can browse through to identify musicians they are interested in booking. If a venue can extend a booking offer to you, they will contact you to discuss a specific set time and payment details.

Lost 'N Sound strives to host a diverse lineup of regional artists across genres. In that effort, we are working to curate entertainment that reaches a broad audience while providing opportunities to showcase regionally acclaimed artists as well as lesser-known artists.

You only need to apply ONCE for the entire season. This rolling database will be used for music booking for the entire Lost 'N Sound season, so venues can see your application for all four events. For booking consideration, please submit the following application for Lost 'N Sound.

If you are a music booking agent, looking to book an entire showcase, please make sure to fill out the Lost 'N Sound SPONSOR/PARTNER INQUIRY FORM. This application is specific to individual musicians hoping to play Lost 'N Sound. Music agents are welcomed to fill out the application on behalf of musicians that they represent.

TYPES OF VENUES:

Lost 'N Sound is interested in bringing music to expected AND unexpected spaces.
As such, we have created two different types of venues that will book music for Lost 'N Sound day.

MAIN STAGE VENUE Locations that are open to the public on a daily basis for retail purposes such as restaurants, bars, live music venues, bakeries, and other retail storefronts.

BACK STAGE VENUE Locations that are typically not open daily to the public for walk-up retail traffic. These locations include recording studios, film studios, office spaces, churches, salons/spas that require appointment, residences, apartment community clubhouses, or public spaces that aren’t commonly activated. These are the special spaces that the public does not expect to see live music except for Lost ‘N Sound event day.

WHY WE LAUNCHED THIS NEW EVENT

Music is in the DNA of the Near Southside.

The Near Southside has long been home to some of Fort Worth's greatest music assets - from bygone venues like Madhatters, Axis, M.A.S.S. and Shipping & Receiving to today's celebrated listening rooms like Tulip's FTW and The Cicada. Far beyond the formal music clubs, you can hear Fort Worth's local musicians across the district at our record stores, restaurants, bars, breweries, coffee shops, recording studios, galleries, and in the soundtracks of films made in the district. In fact, Fairmount porches have been known to serve as music venues as frequently as our Near Southside festival stages have. Celebrated artists like Leon Bridges, T Bone Burnett and Ornette Coleman all have Fort Worth roots, among so many others.

Music is in the DNA of the Near Southside.

In 2024, Fort Worth's music community was faced with a difficult reality. You've likely heard about the shuttering of several of the Fort Worth's great music rooms - Twilite Lounge, Lola's, The Isis, and The Post at River East. While many of these venues weren't located in the Near Southside, they were still important to the music community and economy that calls the district home. As each closing announcement rolled out, our team became increasingly compelled to lean in to supporting our remaining venues and the many musicians who call Fort Worth home. Live local music needed something in the win column and we were eager to help.

Enter our very first season of LOST 'N SOUND, founded in 2024 as 4-event music series hosted in South Main Village. The idea behind Lost 'N Sound was a simple one - transform businesses throughout the village into one-day music venues hosting established and emerging local musicians across genres. Community members were invited to enjoy the performances while exploring both traditional music venues and unexpected spaces like architecture offices, art galleries, retailers, recording studios, and film studios hosting stages. All performances were free to enjoy, and all musicians were paid by the venues for their set. The free Lost 'N Sound shuttle allowed patrons to hop on-and-off at dozens of participating South Main Village venues with markets, food, music and more on each event day.

So free music and free transportation? How does it work, you ask? Well, the answer is fairly simple. Sponsors helped to underwrite the costs of event materials, promotion, the shuttle and the development of online event tools to organize the festival. Special thanks are due to Trinity Metro, Nicole Dawson State Farm, and Valliance Bank for their early support. Additionally, more than two dozen Near Southside businesses committed to hiring local musicians at their own expense. These venues were either hopeful that increased event-day sales would off-set the cost of music booking or they were making a philanthropic investment in supporting Fort Worth's music economy and culture. For most venues, it was a combination of both motivations. Many venues were also formed creative partnerships to secure sponsors or financial contributors to help underwrite the costs of music booking and production.

With partnership, our inaugural Lost 'N Sound season produced than 200 performances for over 100 participating musicians. We expanded our community's music repertoire across genres, supported emerging talent, and introduced new stages in unexpected venues. The first four Lost 'N Sound events helped to bolster Fort Worth's music scene during a vulnerable time. Thousands attended the events to explore new music and businesses, creating patronage and investment for Fort Worth's musicians and small businesses.

With eyes on 2025, we're planning for two big events for the second season of Lost 'N Sound. South Main Village businesses are asked to begin making plans for Saturday, March 8 and Saturday, November 15. Musicians, please stay tuned for an opportunity to either update your existing musician profile or create a new one for the season ahead. Sponsors, we're excited to talk with you about opportunities to support the 2025 season of Lost 'N Sound. From season-long presenting sponsors to stage sponsors, we're eager to talk to you about partnership. Contact megan@nearsouthsidefw.org to discuss.

2025 LOST N SOUND EVENT DATES

SATURDAY, March 8 from noon to midnight

SATURDAY, November 15 from noon to midnight

LNS MANAGEMENT

Lost ‘N Sound is a community partnership in South Main Village, organized by Near Southside, Inc. and Near Southside Arts - your non-profit organizations supporting the revitalization of Fort Worth's Near Southside district. The Near Southside team has a long history of producing community events such as ArtsGoggle, Friday on the Green, Open Streets, PARK(ing) Day, and various other community festivals and celebrations over the organization’s three decades. The Near Southside staff - Megan, Natalie, Woody, Mike, Austin and Becky - are grateful for your partnership in making this event, and all other Near Southside community events, possible.

REAL TALK

The event season is now underway.

Being realistic, we want to be clear that Lost 'N Sound is an emerging event with big dreams for the future. We are just at the very beginning of what Lost ‘N Sound will eventually become. We are strong believers that starting small, practical, and creative is the best approach. We don’t have to blow the doors off a music venue to make a difference in building Fort Worth's music scene, but instead just need to get momentum heading in the right direction – plant a seed so to speak.

As a reminder, all of our now-popular Near Southside community events (ArtsGoggle, Open Streets, Friday on the Green) first began as small grassroots efforts lead by the investments of local business owners with Near Southside coordinating marketing. The very first ArtsGoggle featured just a dozen spaces that each hosted a single artist. Both the property owners and the artists had to act in faith that over time ArtsGoggle could and would grow to become a big moment for the Near Southside. Over the years the event has grown, changed, expanded, and invited in thousands of and come the celebrated and beloved festivals that they are today. A small coalition of business owners and partners working towards a common goal can produce big results over time.

We feel confident that Lost ‘N Sound is a good idea and our inaugural season was a great success. The event has “good bones” and can quickly grow to become well-known city-wide event that is a big win for South Main Village and a big win for the music community. However, all new events are wise to start small, learning from the mistakes and identifying opportunities as they grow. All partners are being asked to contribute in some way, and we appreciate your consideration of getting involved.

Lost ‘N Sound is asking South Main Village businesses to partner with the event as official venues. Venues are asked to book and pay for their music and production (stage and sound) for this first season. There is no requirement for venues to build a formal stage or to go overboard of big production like lights, stage banners, etc. Smaller, lighter, cheaper fun is the big goal for this first season. We want as many musicians as possible to have an opportunity to play at Lost ‘N Sound. We’re asking that all participating venues offer free admission to the public on Lost ‘N Sound day. Yes, this makes it hard to recoup their investment in hiring bands, on this one specific day. For some, such as bars and restaurants, it is possible to recoup some of the money via increased sales and we know that means there is pressure on LNS management to turn out crowds to support all participating venues and musicians on event day. For others, Lost ‘N Sound is more likely their gift to the community or a marketing effort for their business, sort of like they are hosting an open house or client party. Either way, it is important to note that musicians MUST provide free admission to the public during Lost 'N Sound hours so they are unlikely to make a lot of money off the music they are booking.

MUSICIANS and music industry professionals, we are asking for your investment in this new event.

Lost ‘N Sound is an effort to rebuild Fort Worth’s music patronage, connecting new fans to your music in an easy, approachable, community-centered event that puts you front and center. As you can see above, we’re asking venues to go out of their way to host music, pay for music, promote music. We’re hoping that Lost ‘N Sound will expand the reach of traditional venues and also raise the awareness of music’s value for non-traditional spaces where live music is rarely seen. We also feel confident that by inviting all business owners in South Main Village to book music, experiment across genres, and take risks on booking a less-familiar artist we can broaden the music ecosystem and provide more opportunity for all of Fort Worth’s talented music professionals.

So what are we asking for specifically? Be generous when and where you can – remember, these venues are all offering free admission to see your performance so the old model of cover fees will not be their way to recoup expenses at Lost ‘N Sound. Please be considerate of this when pricing your performance. Encourage other musicians to apply and participate – we hope that the music community will see this event as their own, one where businesses are rolling out the red carpet to host music for the benefit of the musician and Fort Worth’s music scene at-large. Your partnership is appreciated to help get this new local music showcase started. Please contribute however you can.

MUSIC PARTNER EXPECTATIONS:

Any musician playing original music, defined as music composed by the performer, is welcomed to apply for booking consideration. Musicians of all genres are welcomed to submit booking requests.

Musicians are requested to play only original music written by the performer to avoid conflict with licensing and ASCAP regulations.

Musicians are expected to be on time for their performance, arriving with sufficient time for load-in and sound check prior to their set time.

Musicians are expected to perform for the full duration of the agreed upon set time.

Musicians are expected to maintain professional decorum on event day, as you are a partner and representative of Lost ‘N Sound.

Musicians will be booked directly by participating venues and are expected to discuss all performance needs, including production, with the venue prior to event date. Not all venues will provide production support, so musicians should negotiate their needs directly with the venue and be prepared to provide their own equipment as needed to supplement what the venue is able to provide.

Musicians are expected to self-promote to supplement the Lost ‘N Sound event advertising. Lost ‘N Sound management will provide musicians with professional marketing resources to promote their performance and venue.

Musicians should discuss the opportunity to sell merch before, during, or immediately after their performance with their venue. Lost ‘N Sound encourages all venues

Act in good faith and fulfill all terms of partnership. If any musician is proven to - fail to uphold your obligation to the venue and have not clearly communicated with the venue in a professional manner regarding this failure, be responsible for property damage, or treat other musicians, venue staff, guests, sponsors, or Lost ‘N Sound management in a disrespectful manner - the musician or group will be not be allowed to participate in future events until deemed appropriate by Lost ‘N Sound management.

ABOUT THE MUSICIAN DIRECTORY

Once you submit an application, your information will be turned into a profile. Your profile is published in our Lost 'N Sound (now used for ArtsGoggle booking too) MUSICIAN DIRECTORY. After you have submitted, it's good practice to go browse this music directory to ensure that your details have published as you wish. Please make sure to return from time to time and keep your information up-to-date, adding new music, photos, and booking details as needed. Remember, if you need to update your musician profile, the instructions are above on this page.

BROWSE THE MUSICIAN DIRECTORY

More than anything we want to thank you for your interest in playing Lost 'N Sound.

Musicians are the purpose of Lost 'N Sound, we're eager to be great partners to you.

Above are all the nitty gritty details. If we didn't answer your question reach out. We're eager to help.