Bobbyisms: Your band really needs a website, and here's why
I write about random things a lot.
I write a lot about random things.
The term ‘Web 2.0’ is one that
doesn’t surface much in the music
industry, but the new social web
that took the world by storm in 2004
to 2005 arguably played the largest
role in taking power away from major
music labels and putting it in the
hands of DIY indie artists. With a
growing world of music bloggers
and the launch of YouTube, exciting
new platforms became available
from which to share music.
It goes without saying that artists today have an advantage over past generations thanks to the Internet, but it came at a cost. These days an artist is expected to develop their sound and their audience on their own. Many of the same social tools that gave artists an edge over their contemporaries have become a sort of obstacle course that they need to navigate in order to prove themselves, and that has led some artists to over–inflate the platforms’ worth.
By 2005, Myspace had been empowering bands worldwide to get online for a few years. Even established artists were routing their domain traffic to the social site, and to take advantage of the popularity of the platform, many employed designers to create custom branded page designs. Fast forward 10 years and bands still employ this tactic, directing traffic to their Bandcamp page or SoundCloud profile, but in relying on these sites to represent their music, they could be hurting their career more than helping it.
A proper website is a valuable tool that shouldn’t be neglected in favour of social media platforms. In addition to offering ways to sell music and concert tickets, it’s an opportunity to take the lead on your image and branding.
There are a lot of outside social channels that will require attention and content, but they aren’t intended to replace a website, and the time you save by not building one is a glaring corner cut on your professional approach.
Think of your website as your representation, a business card just waiting to be pulled out in a conversation with everything you need to know, right when you need to know it.
Because of this, it is important to know your audience. When it comes to people searching for you online and ultimately finding your website, you have two types of visitors: fans and media. To be most effective, your site needs to accommodate both.
Fans want music and media, but they also want to find you on their favourite platform. It’s a given these days that artists generate social content to stay relevant that fans expect you to be on the same channels as they are, and your website doesn’t simply provide links to your profiles, it also verifies them as belonging to you.
Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery, however it can be frustrating to sift through copycat pages on Facebook when you’re trying to find your favourite artist’s new music video.
On the other hand, you could be getting visitors to your site from media outlets, humble music writers or bloggers. Often overlooked, this is one audience that will help to spread your message, and a few additions to your website will go a long way toward helping them do so.
With that in mind, here are two important things that most artists could stand to add or change about their website to give the media everywhere a leg up in promoting your music:
Your band/artist bio
The importance of a concise, clear biography cannot be stressed enough. While there are a lot of ways to write a bio, on your site you should keep it short and ditch the mystery. Make sure that all band members’ names are spelled correctly in full, and update it as often as necessary. Keep the biographies down to a couple of paragraphs on your site and offer a longer version for download.
Your band/promo photo
This one seems obvious, but comes up more often than you might expect. Make sure you have your band photo or promotional artist image available for download in high and low resolutions, and that the name of the photographer is included. In a pinch, it might even spell the difference between whether you’re included on an event poster or featured in the news.
Are you doing everything you could be to promote your music through your website? Treat it like the cornerstone of your online presence, a one–stop shop for your career that all other sites and platforms should build off of and the visitors will always keep coming.
For more of the latest music news, album streams and gigs coming to London, add @fsu_bobbyisms to your timeline. Until next week, see you online. I’m out of words.
It goes without saying that artists today have an advantage over past generations thanks to the Internet, but it came at a cost. These days an artist is expected to develop their sound and their audience on their own. Many of the same social tools that gave artists an edge over their contemporaries have become a sort of obstacle course that they need to navigate in order to prove themselves, and that has led some artists to over–inflate the platforms’ worth.
By 2005, Myspace had been empowering bands worldwide to get online for a few years. Even established artists were routing their domain traffic to the social site, and to take advantage of the popularity of the platform, many employed designers to create custom branded page designs. Fast forward 10 years and bands still employ this tactic, directing traffic to their Bandcamp page or SoundCloud profile, but in relying on these sites to represent their music, they could be hurting their career more than helping it.
A proper website is a valuable tool that shouldn’t be neglected in favour of social media platforms. In addition to offering ways to sell music and concert tickets, it’s an opportunity to take the lead on your image and branding.
There are a lot of outside social channels that will require attention and content, but they aren’t intended to replace a website, and the time you save by not building one is a glaring corner cut on your professional approach.
Think of your website as your representation, a business card just waiting to be pulled out in a conversation with everything you need to know, right when you need to know it.
Because of this, it is important to know your audience. When it comes to people searching for you online and ultimately finding your website, you have two types of visitors: fans and media. To be most effective, your site needs to accommodate both.
Fans want music and media, but they also want to find you on their favourite platform. It’s a given these days that artists generate social content to stay relevant that fans expect you to be on the same channels as they are, and your website doesn’t simply provide links to your profiles, it also verifies them as belonging to you.
Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery, however it can be frustrating to sift through copycat pages on Facebook when you’re trying to find your favourite artist’s new music video.
On the other hand, you could be getting visitors to your site from media outlets, humble music writers or bloggers. Often overlooked, this is one audience that will help to spread your message, and a few additions to your website will go a long way toward helping them do so.
With that in mind, here are two important things that most artists could stand to add or change about their website to give the media everywhere a leg up in promoting your music:
Your band/artist bio
The importance of a concise, clear biography cannot be stressed enough. While there are a lot of ways to write a bio, on your site you should keep it short and ditch the mystery. Make sure that all band members’ names are spelled correctly in full, and update it as often as necessary. Keep the biographies down to a couple of paragraphs on your site and offer a longer version for download.
Your band/promo photo
This one seems obvious, but comes up more often than you might expect. Make sure you have your band photo or promotional artist image available for download in high and low resolutions, and that the name of the photographer is included. In a pinch, it might even spell the difference between whether you’re included on an event poster or featured in the news.
Are you doing everything you could be to promote your music through your website? Treat it like the cornerstone of your online presence, a one–stop shop for your career that all other sites and platforms should build off of and the visitors will always keep coming.
For more of the latest music news, album streams and gigs coming to London, add @fsu_bobbyisms to your timeline. Until next week, see you online. I’m out of words.
