Interesting. My perspective is pretty skewed as a semi-pro musician and someone who is mostly a recording artist and not a live band/jam guy. I think there are a lot of people who CAN do it all but might be open to collabs with the right person(s). You are correct that the pro market is vanishingly small but if OP thinks they’re making any money off of bassists who could just post on Craigslist I think they’re in for a surprise.
I've used sites that are trying something similar to find bands in the past. So I think I'm pretty close to the target market (or have been in my past). I don't want to post bass-player-looking-for-band on Craigslist or such -- did it once, and you get swamped by shitty bands who mostly still don't send any audio.
As a bass player, I want to hear if the singer can sing, and if the sketches of songs are good.
I can also play all of the standard band instruments at varying levels of competence, but I'm not much of a songwriter. What people expect from bass players and drummers is that they are good at catching things quickly and writing interesting parts.
For sure. When I’ve played bass in bands or filled up a stage for a live show, that skill is indispensable. And I don’t mean to downplay the importance of gigging or band-formation for this kind of thing: OP should cater to as many people as possible. I was originally just saying that I understand the desire to outsource content hosting to avoid the long fingers of the majors or user-generated content controversies.
