October 24th, 2011 
admin 
This is a problem I see with many young bands. They believe that with the wide world of social media available for free that they don’t need a dedicated website for their band. I cannot stress how wrong that thought is. Not only that, but it can and will have a negative effect on your band if you don’t take control of your brand on the internet. Branding is usually discussed when talking about corporations such as Coca-Cola or Apple, but your band has a brand as well, and you need to protect and promote it. Here are our top 5 reasons your band needs a website.
Online Press Kit
Having an online press kit is a must these days. Many artists simply tell prospective booking agents, venue hosts and managers to check out their profile on a site like Reverb Nation. Now, we’re fans of Reverb Nation around here, but it doesn’t do the job that a custom built press kit on your own site can.
Your press kit should include hi-res photos (taken by a professional photographer), high quality music files, a well-written bio, video of your band performing and any press clippings or reviews that you have gathered.
Instant Gratification for Fans
Your fans want to be able to look at pictures, watch videos and listen to your music any time they want. Of course most social networks (including Facebook and Google+) allow the sharing of various media, but none of them have the ability to be customized like your personal website.
If you want to take fan interaction to a new level, you can include a Fan Only section for members to chat about you, share stories and meet other fans. This may be a forum or social network built directly into your site.
No Limits Like Social Media Sites
I touched on it about, but sites like Facebook limit your ability to do exactly what you want. You do have the ability to sell music on Facebook and can create custom landing pages, but this should not be considered the top of your branding strategy, it should be included in a strategy that starts with your website and expands to sites like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Reverb Nation and others.
Build an Email List
Many young bands I meet don’t have a mailing list and will tell you they don’t have an interest in maintaining one, but I’ll let you in on a secret… You need a mailing list. There are no excuses for not creating and keeping up with a mailing list. You can post your upcoming gigs and upcoming merch on Facebook but there is no guarantee that it won’t be lost in the shuffle of someone who has 600+ friends fighting for space on their news feed.
By creating a mailing list you can make sure that your fans get the information from a single source where 50 other bands they love aren’t trying to get in on the action. Create a landing page on your site and give fans an incentive to signing up, like giving a free download of a Fan Club only single or live videos that you send via email.
Resource: MailChimp is the easiest and fastest way we’ve found to build your email list!
Online Store
You need an online store. It’s the place where your band can sell CDs, clothes, stickers, buttons and other personalized items directly to your fans without giving a cut to someone else.
You can’t expect your band to be successful without taking advantage of every sales avenue available to you!
Here are some of our favorite band websites for a little inspiration.
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