photo by Jan Tik
It’s clear that the web is at the center of today’s music industry. Buying and selling music, watching concert videos, catching up on the latest music news, following the tour dates of your favorite artists, and most of all sharing music and the all important “word of mouth” — it all happens online.
Songwriters and bands embrace social networking sites to promote their music and gigs, reach out to fans, and create their web presence. For musicians, Myspace has long been the go-to resource, but the massive popularity of Facebook certainly makes it a community not to be ignored.
Each site has it’s advantages and disadvantages. I’ll break them down here based on the needs of songwriters and bands:
Promoting Songs
Myspace is still the easiest way to get your songs online and available for public streaming. They also just recently added some nice tools for selling music right on your page.
Facebook has music streaming capabilities however they require you to provide valid ID and wait for manual approval by Facebook admins. In addition, all Facebook pages are only viewable by logged in members, which leaves out many who haven’t signed up for Facebook.
Gig and Tour Promotion
Promoting events on Facebook is much more interactive than on Myspace. Friends can respond with comments and RSVP on the dedicated page for each event (gig). Since Facebook users tend to be obsessive about checking in and chatting it up, this can be a great way to create online buzz about an upcoming gig.
For larger tours, Myspace may be better suited here. Myspace friend lists tend to be much larger than those on Facebook. This is due Facebook’s structure as a network for your real world friends whereas Myspace is geared more towards meeting people and befriending strangers, which results in a lot of spam. Still, Myspace tends to have wider reach for keeping fans outside of your hometown informed.
Web Presence
On the one hand, Myspace pages are very customizable and finding a skilled designer who specializes in Myspace web design can do a lot for your online image.
On the other hand, Facebook lends itself well to constant interaction, making it a great way to reach out to your fans on a more personal level. Artists both small and large benefit from an intimate fan-artist relationship, resulting in a more dedicated and loyal fan base.
Bottom Line
My recommendation is to invest time in both Myspace and Facebook for your music networking and promotion. Each have very different communities so it pays off to find ways to get both into the mix when it comes to advancing music and growing your network of fans.
I’d love to hear your feedback about which of these sites works best for you, and hear about struggles and successes in the online space.
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02/11/2009
9:44 pm
David O.
I think youtube with an effective email/text campaign is a much better promotion tool then both. Myspace and Facebook is better when it comes to maintaining a interactive fan base.
02/11/2009
9:58 pm
Brian Casel
YouTube has become a very key ingredient in creating your online presence.
A good idea is to post youtube vids within your facebook page, your website, your blog. Make everything intertwine!
03/26/2009
8:16 pm
Jackie Henrion
I absolutely could not get into MySpace. It might have something to do with my age group which has not yet acquired the ADHD gene to handle the blinking ads. But when I tried to get an extremely simple skin for my site that would not make my friends succumb to epileptic seizures, I had no luck. Somewhat later I tried Facebook - Now this has proven an extremely useful tool in befriending strangers of substance directly related to my market niche, geography and philosophy. From my perspective Facebook rules. But here’s one thing - I have my website on my facebook page, but have chosen not to add my facebook link to my web. Again here simpler is better for my market.