I think by now all of us know the impact that online communities like MySpace and Facebook have had in helping Artists and songwriters get exposure that we otherwise would not have had. There are even a few cases where Artists have found songs on these community sites in which they’ve liked enough to have them cut on their albums, however these collaborations have been with independent Artists and I haven’t heard of any major Artists finding songs for their albums through any community websites.
But the question that I keep seeing popping up is “how much of an advantage is there having your profile on community sites when there are millions of other Artists (including major Artists) combating to get better online exposure”? Some Artists don’t see why they should bother maintaining these sites with regular blogs and commenting with other friends etc. Some even feel that it’s a waste of time to go out of the network of their local friends and fans.
Well for starters we need to stop looking at online promotion on these sites as a competition with other Artists for more views or downloads. One of the cool things that the internet has done is to give us an almost endless amount of access points to the things that interest us. So unlike the days before the web, we don’t settle for just one place to get our entertainment.
Although major companies will have you believe that their sites are the only place you need to go to get your content of choice, the fact is most folks will go to various different websites to look for the same thing. Let say for example you’re into rock and heavy metal music. If you’re in one of the many community sites, you’ll first browse around the genres you like most Rock, and Metal. But after a while you may very likely listen to something from a jazz Artists simply because a friend of yours on the network has such an Artist on their page.
The internet is a huge open market. We as Artists and songwriter should take advantage of all its benefits. Artists who have been most successful online have been the ones who don’t settle for 1 or 2 sites. They dive in deep into all sorts of other possible avenues to get their music heard. It does take time and a commitment to follow up, but getting your profile up on several online communities could be very helpful. You may find 10 new fans on one site, and only 1 on another, but every new fan is a treasure, and every new fan is a possible entranceway to more fans.
Will you make big bucks on these sites? Most likely not, but many indie Artists use sites like MySpace as an addition to their own sites to sell a few extra CD’s and announce upcoming shows. And of course let’s not forget merchandising exposure. I know of a couple of bands who have sold merchandise on some of these sites to people who are not even fans, but bought the t-shirts ‘cause they thought they looked good.
If you decide to use community websites to promote your music, take the time at least once a week to login to them and participate with your friends and fans. Remember they’re taking the time to visit your page to see what’s new instead of spending those few minutes looking for something else.
