Website Vs. MySpace - What's Right For Your Image?

I know a lot of artists and producers who have struggled with their brand image, professionalism, and how they are portraying themselves online. The era of Myspace has helped many people get their names out in front of those interested, but what messages are MySpace users sending out about themselves? The music industry is full of phonies who will be here today and be gone tomorrow. How do you keep yourself from appearing to be one of these fly-by-night acts? Read on to find out.

The MySpace social networking site started out in 2004 and currently has over 106 million existing profiles. That's over 105,999,999 potential networking possibilities (I subtracted your profile because I know you're on MySpace too)!!! With this enormous gathering of people in one place, it's hard not to have a MySpace account, so I certainly don't blame you for that. MySpace is free too, so it's great if your budget is limited. Your MySpace account is probably the single most important step you can make to getting recognized in the music industry. Not to mention, it's one of the first places that pop into people's minds when they think "new artist". A Myspace profile can be set up in a matter of minutes and you can be leveraging the networking capabilities almost instantaneously. What's not to love about that??

Well, while MySpace is free, easy to setup, and highly accessible, it's not always the best choice to use when promoting yourself... depending on what you're trying to accomplish for yourself. When you have a lot to say about yourself, your music, and your direction, you need full control over they way all of this information is presented. With your own web page or website, you have this control. You can add a page that lets viewers learn about the person behind the music. You can have a page dedicated to your music or video clips. You have full control over how your logo and graphics are displayed. In addition, you can choose to sell products and music right from your site to put cash in your pocket immediately. Usually, you can buy a domain name for less than $5 per year, which will give you "www.yourname.com" and your website can be a free blog hosted by your favorite platform such as Blogger and Wordpress. After that, all you have to do is get it designed and keep it up to date with news about yourself and your music. It's a little more work involved, but your fans rely on that experience to get hooked on your presence.

So, to recap, Myspace is cool when you're starting out and I recommend that everyone start there. The more qualified people you can get your name in front of, the better your chances of getting noticed. Once you've been on MySpace for a while and you've started to notice a large appeal for you and your music, it's probably time for you to add a website. Find yourself a designer you trust and get a domain name. It will definitely help you seem like you're in it for the long haul and if done right, it will give your fans an experience that keeps them coming back for more.