Vocana and Sonicbids have announced a new live music collaboration aimed squarely at supporting independent artists and the venues that help sustain them. Titled Pay the Artists: A Vocana Live Series, the initiative will bring a run of six concerts to five independent New York City venues beginning in January.
The series kicks off on January 21 at Arlene’s Grocery, with additional shows planned through April 2026 at SugarMouse, SourMouse, Drom, and Berlin. Each event will feature lineups curated by Sonicbids, drawing from its long-running artist discovery platform and reflecting the shared indie-first values of both companies.
Beyond showcasing emerging talent, the program is structured to directly benefit artists financially. Performers will receive a $200 guaranteed bonus, plus 100% of the ticket revenue, with any discounted ticket pricing subsidized by Vocana. Fans who download Vocana will gain access to those discounted tickets, positioning the series as both a discovery engine and a fan engagement tool.
Sonicbids has spent decades connecting independent musicians with live performance opportunities, while Vocana — currently in public beta — aims to rethink streaming economics through human curation, deeper artist data, direct fan connections, and a payout model designed to better serve independent creators.
Why We Support This
The goal of a gig series like “Pay the Artists” should be pretty clear in the name. It supports each company in this partnership’s mission to secure opportunities that are also tied to guaranteed pay, full remuneration for the labor of live performance work, and to bring iconic independent venues in a live music city like New York into the spotlight.
If this model succeeds, there’s no reason why a funded series like this wouldn’t be possible wherever live music is part of the cultural nightlife.
The series also reflects a broader shift away from purely algorithmic discovery and toward intentional curation and community-based exposure. By connecting live shows with a streaming platform focused on fairness and direct fan relationships, the initiative suggests a more integrated path forward—one where live music, streaming, and artist income reinforce each other instead of competing for attention.
Kickoff Event Info
Pay the Artists: A Vocana Live Series: The Blend #4
Shannon Summers / Tiger Would / Lady Lychee
Arlene’s Grocery (95 Stanton, NYC)
January 21, 2026; doors at 6:30, show at 7:30
Tickets: Get discounted tickets here.
Ages: 21+
Sonicbids pioneered online music representation and became the industry’s leading marketplace connecting artists with promoters, venues, and career-defining opportunities worldwide. With more than 500,000 artists on the platform, Sonicbids remains the go-to destination for musicians and talent seekers looking to book, discover, and collaborate.
Founded by music lovers and indie-music veterans, Vocana is an indie-only streaming platform designed to strengthen the relationship between artists and fans. Built around user-centric payments, direct artist-fan connection, human-led discovery, and transparent, actionable artist-level data, Vocana enables fans to directly support the artists they listen to and enables artists to truly understand their audience. Vocana is currently in public beta.