As the administrator of a new social network for music makers, I’ve watched a lot of independent artists follow the same path: they create their music/art, build a fan base, generate a MySpace page and market themselves exclusively from MySpace.
And that’s it. They put all their proverbial eggs in this one basket. Which is fine, unless you’re really serious about reaching a wider audience.
Don’t get me wrong, Myspace is one of the best places to start the process of getting your music out there. It’s easy and free. But considering the sheer abundance of other technologies available, independent artists who don’t branch out beyond MySpace are missing out on huge opportunities to reach new fans, network, grow and sell their music.
The good news is that the Internet has leveled the playing field for so many of us — almost to the point where we can bypass the big record companies altogether — but only if we take advantage of our online opportunities.
Need some more convincing? Here are five good reasons to develop your presence beyond MySpace:
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Your so-called official Myspace page doesn’t belong to you. It’s owned by a company named News Corp. And if News Corp. decided tomorrow it didn’t want your presence on Myspace, your profile and music would be deleted —along with all the work you put into it.
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Have you heard the news? News Corp just partnered with three of the leading major record companies. Which artists do you think MySpace is catering to now? Is it the little indie artist?
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If you want music listeners to respond to you, you have to make it easy for them. Having your own web site is the best way to make that happen. I find so many music sites require that you sign up and create a profile, just to send an email or comment to a member artist. Those obstacles make it much harder for fans to connect with you (and buy from you).
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Having your own web page also allows you to use search engine optimization (SEO, for short) techniques that help people find you. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to be visible. SEO gives you that visibility — and drives people to your site. You can read up on SEO online, or hire someone to help you get started. It’s one of the best web investments you can make.
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Another added benefit is monetization. You can take advantage of the traffic you generate from your fans with ads. There are many ad services such as google and adbrite that make the process easy for novice webmasters.
The bottom line is: if you’re serious about your music, it’s time to get yourself plugged into all the other independent sites, forums, blogs and, most important of all, your own web site. My hat’s off to those indepenent artists who are prepared to go for it all…
