With the rise of sites like Myspace.com, SectionZ.com, and http://www.DFJams.com, musicians have never had it better on the internet. These sites give you the ability to do things that once would have cost you tons of money. As a musician, how do online communities benefit me? 1. Hosting music MP3s and music videos When you sign up for one of these site, most of them give you the ability to post your free mp3 downloads, and music videos on their free web hosting plans. You get a website address where you can post a bio, some band photos, show dates, and mp3s/videos. This allows you to distribute your bands music for free! All you need to do is create business cards or stickers with your bands website URL on it, pass them out, and there you go. You can also use message board forums to promote your bands website, which will get your music MP3s and music videos to even more people. 2. Gaining experience from others You may not know a lot about music promotion or the whole industry based around it. But there are tons of people out there that do, and a lot of those people are active in online musician communities. Take time and sign up for one of these communities, become active in the discussions held on their message boards. You stand to gain a lot of experience and knowledge by joining and participating in these communities. 3. Networking/Promotion In addition to being places where you can store / distribute MP3s / download free music, and learn from other people. Musician communities are great places to network and promote your band. Need to find a band to open at your next show? These websites often list their bands by region, making it easy for you to get familiar with local bands. Also, many music industry people hang out looking for the next big band to sign. Yours could be next! These 3 examples do not fully cover all the different reasons for participating in these musicians communities, but should give you a little bit more insight on how they can benefit your band. From free MP3 music downloads, music video downloads, message board conversations and free web hosting, theres a lot that online musician communities can do to help you out. |
