Five Reasons Why Your Band Should Not Rely On Myspace

Myspace is broken
Think about it, in order to customize the look and feel of a Myspace page, you have to break the CSS. What you have are millions of Myspace pages with horrible backgrounds and floating text that is difficult to read, filled with comments from fake friends. In order for Myspace to continue to improve they would have to break a high majority of Myspace pages (that ironically have broken Myspace code). While they might change the back-end of Myspace and try to imitate Twitter and Facebook features, the front-end of Myspace cannot grow with the web.

Your audience has moved on
Statistically speaking, the Myspace crowd is drifting to other social networking sites (see chart). If the crowd you’re looking to attract no longer uses Myspace then relying completely on one website could be a mistake. The best thing you can do is pay attention to the trending networking sites and create a page. Most of them allow you to import from an RSS feed, so if you have a blog you’ll be able to update all of your sites from your blog. It might require copy/pasting info several times, but it’s worth it if more people are reached.

I can’t find your email address
As I’m researching a band, I may want to contact you. But since Myspace doesn’t ask for it, a lot of bands neglect to post their email address. Maybe it’s fear of spam, I’m not sure, but one of the first things you want people to find (besides your music) is a way to get in touch. If someone in the music industry wanted to get ahold of you, they would have to open a Myspace account just to say hello.

Yourband.com [usually] looks more professional
Talk to your closest geek friend and ask them to set up a simple site for your band. You’ll need to buy a domain name and rent server space, but it’s worth it. Since the website is your tool to communicate with your listeners, you can set up a Wordpress blog, pick out a free theme, and add your touch. At the very least, you can point people to various places on the internet where they can find you, but make sure you offer an email address!

The perception of Myspace is very poor
An important part of developing a fan-base is branding. When you solely rely on Myspace, you have instantly branded yourself with the perceptions that people have of Myspace… which are dirty old men posing as young girls. Ask people on the street what they think of Myspace and you’re bound to hear people respond with, “Myspace is gross.” Unless you want to brand your band as being “dirty” and “gross,” then using Myspace as your sole website is a bad idea.

Conclusion?
I’m not suggesting that you should delete your Myspace page. But please, think of it as one of many supplements to your main website. It’s one of many ways to connect with fans, but it shouldn’t be your only avenue.

Related Posts:

• February 10, 2010 -- Implications of Google Buzz
• May 29, 2009 -- Google Wave: how will it affect music?
• May 26, 2009 -- Ten weapons of a Modern Fanboy
• November 15, 2009 -- For the love of Twitter
• September 28, 2009 -- A trip down thesixtyone
• November 9, 2008 -- Facebook Blog Networks adds Friends feature
• September 2, 2008 -- Eight Ways To Improve Your Band Website

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