MySpace Marketing
Marketing a band can be tricky, especially if you don’t have musical talent. Every band hopes to gain popularity, and the easiest platform for this is MySpace. This blog post will give tips on how bands can use their MySpace to gain audiences and how bands can use their Facebook to put them in contact with venues.
Before you even begin to market your band on MySpace, you must understand that this isn’t like Facebook – where everyone is your friend. With Facebook, no one can be a stranger to you. On MySpace, however, bands should establish a “fan base” with whom they have no shared contact information. This will make free music downloads on the band page look more realistic to the casual user.
Once the fan base is established, bands should then begin using their Facebook as means of advertising their MySpace. If your band already has a Facebook, you can use its user profile to build up the MySpace fanbase. There are two ways bands can advertise themselves on their Facebook:
The first way is to post on your own Facebook page (which will link to your MySpace page). To do this, bands should explain their band and why people should follow them on MySpace. This should be done in a creative manner – it’s best if bands use music videos or photos from the past with short bios and links to their MySpace pages. The second way is simply by posting on your friends’ walls. To do this, bands should write a message about their band and then invite them to “promote” the link to your MySpace. The advantage of this method is that it will draw fans from any site you have an account on – not only Facebook.
Bands should get friends to help promote their MySpace page. If people like the band, they should invite friends and acquaintances to promote more. This goes for any site you have an account on – not only Facebook – so fans can spread the word on forums, news groups, MySpace pages…anywhere where fans may be found.
Facebook has helped me gain visibility in my area that I never had before. If you page takes off, Facebook alerts you when someone mentions the band, liking the band, or posting on their wall. It also allows you to comment and reply like on any other social media site.
MySpace is a different animal. The best way to promote your MySpace is to get people to join your fan list (similar to a Facebook fan page). This will allow fans of your band access to your music without an account. To get more fans, bands should create contests where they give away tickets or meet and greet passes with an album purchase at the local cd store or something similar. It’s important that there be an incentive for users of MySpace so they feel free music downloads are worth it for them.
When it comes to promoting your band on MySpace, bands should use the name of the song or album first and the MySpace URL last. This way, people searching for the band will find you first on MySpace. If people are familiar with this website, they may be interested in your music regardless of whether or not there is a link to your official MySpace page.
Using a video for publicity on MySpace is a must. Anytime I have put up a music video from my fan list in my bio, Facebook has alerted me of new comments and likes that I have received. Videos do wonders for getting exposure and increase discoverability.
When dealing with the marketing process, MySpace will not only tell you that a fan has viewed your band’s MySpace page based on statistics, but it will also alert you if they have liked or commented.
Websites such as Spotify and Rdio allow bands to offer their music for free downloads. The trick here is to make sure you aren’t leaving any money on the table. For example, I recently purchased a web hosting package because there was free web space – I used that to set up my own site for my band. I have also purchased a domain name for myself and put up a website with pictures of the band which links to my Facebook, MySpace, Twitter…the entire gamut.
When I had CDs made, I also purchased extra copies to sell at shows. When people listen to these songs on Spotify or YouTube, they will see an image of me holding my CD in the picture – they may think to look me up on Amazon.com or iTunes and purchase my music that way.
Because MySpace is the number one place bands find fans in this current day and age, it is essential that you make the most of your page and cover all bases when it comes to marketing. In addition, bands should try to get as many friends to join their “fan list” via Facebook as possible so they are able to reach out and let fans know when they’re playing a show or announcing an album release.
So those are some tips on how musicians (including myself) use MySpace and Facebook for marketing, how the sites can help you gain popularity, and how you can use them for your advantage. Feel free to ask me any questions about using these sites – I’ll be happy to answer them!
Good luck with all your endeavors!
Katherine Hennessy
Owner/Author of Pop Culture Affidavit Blogspot: http://popcultureaffidavit.
Conclusion
There you have it! As a musician, using social media effectively is really important. I always see musicians clutching their personal Facebook page, Twitter and MySpace accounts, afraid to share them with the World. It’s a personal choice but I highly recommend that you do share your information with people.
“Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are how people communicate these days…and there are billions of people to communicate with! So if you don’t have one or more of these accounts now, get one right away! Otherwise, you will lose out on all the opportunities that will be presented to you in the future.”
- Nick Kukla / SpokenloudMusic.
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MySpace Marketing