There's more to MySpace music promotion then creating a MySpace music page and letting the friend requests roll in. Find out how to use MySpace for music to your advantage and get on the path to a being one of those MySpace success stories.
Here's How:
Set Up Your MySpace Page:
Ok, ok, there might be more to Myspace music promotion than just setting up a page - but the first step IS getting your page up. First and foremost, make sure you choose a MySpace MUSIC page and not a standard profile. A music page allows you to upload a selection of your own songs and it will be listed on genre pages for fans searching for new music. Not sure what to include? This article will help:
Get Social:
The point of MySpace is to connect with people, and in your case, the point is to connect with your fans (and your fans-to-be). Send out friend requests to your friends, musicians and labels you like, and anyone involved in your music career (journalists you know like your band, your label if you have one, and so on). Having a presence on the page of musicians with a similar sound or labels that have artists like you can help you tap into a new fanbase.
Actually, managing your "friends" is crucial to using MySpace for music promotion successfully - see more info below.
Update, Update, Update (and Update More):
There are millions of people on MySpace, so people have plenty of other pages to check out if you don't update yours very often. You don't want to lose them, so, make a point of updating your MySpace page often. Change out the songs in the player, blog about new projects you're working on, add photos - anything you can do to add something new to your page, even if you just end up blogging about your day to day life, will help keep people coming back. This kind of thing will also help your fans feel closer to what you're doing, which is the beauty of MySpace.
Use the Bulletin Board:
While updates will bring some people back to your page time and again, you also need to speak up every now and then and remind your friends that you're out there. That is where the bulletin board comes in. The bulletin board lets you make an announcement that is sent out to all of your friends at once. This is the place to announce shows, new releases or other big news you have. You can also use the bulletin board to bring people to your page by announcing when you have added something new that might be of interest.
Join MySpace Groups:
MySpace groups are a way to reach like minded people who are not among your friends. There are groups for various genres of music as well as several music business centered groups. When you join a group (which you can do by logging on to your page, choosing "groups" from the drop-down menu and clicking "join" when you see a group you like), you will be able to post updates on the group message board. Post your own news and join in the conversation - groups can be a great way to uncover new fans.
Comments:
Leaving a comment on a friend's page is also a good way to promote something. You can post info about shows and new releases, or you can simply leave a friendly message - other people looking at that person's page might see your name or icon, get curious, and check out your page. However, you will want to use this sparingly for best effect - see more below
More About MySpace and Online Social Networking Music Promo:
Learn more about MySpace and other online promotion opportunities:
Tips:
Remember: GIVE and Take:
If you spend a lot of time on MySpace, you'll notice that a lot of musicians make the mistake of leaving huge, obtrusive promotional comments on their friends' pages that are completely impersonal. This is not a good way to build upon the promotional opportunities available on MySpace - what you're really doing on MySpace is networking, and that means you have to use a personal touch. Respond when someone comments on your page, listen to their music, give some feedback, and leave personal comments on friends' pages - a few personal comments make the mass promotional commenting easier to take.
What About Your Friends?:
When you join MySpace, it's easy to fall into the "friend collection" trap. While there's not really anything horrible in trying to bump your friend number up through the ceiling, it's not really a good use of your time. When you have thousands of friends, if 20 of then are paying attention to your page on a regular basis, you'd be lucky. Don't divert time and resources from things like practicing, writing and other types of music promo to gather up MySpace friends. Sure, people have become successful "on MySpace", but all of these people were active in building their fanbase offline, too.
Be Professional:
You have a little bit of leeway here if you're a musicians promoting music on MySpace rather than a music related business doing promotion, but do keep in the back of your mind that this page is ultimately for your career. If you're a music related business, skip the weird writing (yOu kNoW wHaT i mEaN?) and avoid over use of slang and bad language. It seriously undermines your credibility. Keep this mind when it comes to your picture as well. Consider having a personal page separate from the one you use for promotion if you find this too restrictive.
