Thanks to the Internet, it’s easier than ever to discover new bands and artists and sell your music directly to fans. How do you start and what is the best way to promote your band? Here are some tips:
One of the first places you’ll want to visit is MySpace. By now, everyone has heard of it and millions and millions of people have their own accounts. But I bet you didn’t know that MySpace offers a special type of account just to promote a band or an artist. It’s called MySpace Music and it’s completely free to sign up. With this account type, you can add up to 4 full songs to your account for people to listen to while reading your MySpace page. This alone makes it worth creating a MySpace Music page, as getting people to listen to and discover your music is the main goal of most new artists. Include a link to purchase your CD from your own website, iTunes, or another music store, and you’ve got a great way to increase sales.
If someone likes the music on your profile, they can add your band as a friend, which means they can get email notices when you add a blog or send a newsletter. Blogging on MySpace is one of the best ways to communicate with your audience (friends), when your band has an upcoming tour, an appearance, is working on new music, or has news of any kind, you’ll want to post it. to your blog and keep your fans updated. The more you communicate with fans, the more they will feel part of your community.
Additionally, you can take advantage of a multitude of other options, including listing your influencers, adding an image gallery, adding full videos, adding banners, and many other options.
Just be sure to log in often to approve new friends and communicate with other members. There are also many MySpace groups you can join where a message board is set up for members to communicate. Joining an emerging artist type group would help you network with other new artists and even promote each other, discuss new ways to get new fans, find someone to tour with or even collaborate with.
Another essential step in promoting your music online is to have your own website. While MySpace is great, it’s best to have as many avenues of promotion as possible. It can be simple, with just a little bit about your band and links to buy your album, or it can be a big presence loaded with content. The more content you add and the more often you update your website and MySpace profile, the better, as people will keep coming back to see your new content and news. Some items to consider adding to your band website include member bios, band history, news section, tour dates and performance schedule, photos, music videos, sample songs for download, wallpaper , icons, ringtones, links to buy your album. or merchandise, discography, and anything else you want people to know about. You’ll also want to link your website to your MySpace and vice versa.