MySpace - still necessary for bands?

[Russtopher]

I was talking with the guys in my "new" band (I say "new" because it's the same group of guys I played with from ages 16-30, after a 4 year break we're giving it another shot with a new name, new music, etc.) about what we need to do to start thinking about promoting the band online. I'll be the one setting up the sites, running the accounts, etc. so over the course of the discussion I brought up the various social media and band-related sites that I'd sign up for/put music online.

When MySpace came up, the guys' reaction was "meh, it's dead, why bother". In my eyes, yeah odds are the only adds we'd get would be from other bands looking to promote *themselves* vs. the music fans we'd be looking to reach, but IMO there's still no good way to get a quick site up that prominently features music right up front. This would be an easy way to direct people to hear our songs, get a good idea of what we sound like, etc. but in today's Facebook/Twitter world, is MySpace still the necessity for new bands that it used to be? Or are you guys (and bands you're familiar with) just going the Facebook/YouTube/Twitter/dot.com CMS site way?

 

[updog]

I think Myspace is still better than a domain of your own - free, less maintenance, and somehow I always find most bands' own websites pretty dead. Smaller-scale bands don't often seem to feel like updating them at all.

Even if people don't really use myspace, they've used to visit myspace sites, listen to crappy-quality myspace music, view images of bands, see when they're playing gigs and where, and so on...

 

[MetalJonesy]

agree with the viewing images of bands, usually you get some cool pics up there of studio stuff etc which you dont really see on their proper web page

 

[Force666]

Myspace is free, so why not? Nothing to lose either way. I still "like" it, hope it comes back. It's better than facebook. If they upped the music quality, and re-streamlined the site it I would be happy.

 

[006]

Yeah, it's not like it costs you money, just make it anyway it won't hurt your band or anything.

 

[Star Ark]

There is also Reverbnation which I just signed up for last week. Dont bother with Reverbnation, I'm not sure if there is even one single music listener still active on there, but there are a crap load of bands. And my band has gone up about 300 places in the reverbnation charts and I have 7 fans, all bands, not one of which actually even played one of my songs when visiting my page, so it seems 20 plays through facebook myband app over half a week is enough to make you jump 300 places in the charts.

At least myspace has a name everybody knows, and I do sometimes use myspace if a band I really like has just released a new album. But once I've read any blogs tour info I go to youtube because the whole album is already up and the myspace player makes music sound terrible.

My thoughts are to make youtube clips. The most underwhelming music gets millions of plays on youtube sometimes

 

[updog]

My thoughts are to make youtube clips. The most underwhelming music gets millions of plays on youtube sometimes

I second this, a great way to gain listeners.

 

[Russtopher]

I'm all for having a MySpace, for many of the reasons above. I think their point, and I kind of agree with it, was whether or not we should still consider it a major online presence or not. It seems like it's still a great networking tool for bands and shows, it's just that the music fan traffic isn't there like it used to be. So while people might head there to listen to shittily compressed music, they're not going to add the band, read bulletins, subscribe to the blog, etc.

re: YouTube - I'm DEFINITELY all for putting music up there. I was recently at a short seminar about online branding (I work in IT and web marketing) and they mentioned that YT is now the second largest site used for web searches, behind Google. Not having an online presence there, even if you're not vlogging, putting up studio updates, etc. is just silly. Just live vids or music put to photos is worth the time to help promote yourself.

 

[Star Ark]

I just started working on a last fm page yesterday. Put about 10 hours into it, it's bloody confusing with all the scrobbling, but I've already had two downloads of my music from one last fm 'friend' who found my bandcamp link of the last fm page.

I had no idea what last fm was but a lot of people are using it (it's online radio if you're as clueless as I was). Some local Aussie bands that play shows to 10 people have last fm sites that perpetually have people from all over the world streaming their music. If your intention is just to have you music heard you may want to look at last fm. I can already tell it will suck thousands of hours from my life if I want to pursue it seriously, but with enough effort and a great product I think you could make this one work (until it goes to shit like myspace did)

 

[Star Ark]

When I said I had 2 downloads I meant the listener downloaded them for free, I don't mean 2 sales. Still that is all I want at the moment, a way to get people from all over the world listening to my music.

I thinking about doing some sort of sticky about online music marketing, the last week I've spent at least 5 hours a day researching on my holidays, I go back to work on Monday and I want to have my plan and all my websites set up by that time. But if nobody is interested in a sticky I can't be bothered writing one up, I am supposed to be on holidays. Fuck music drains you more than anything