How To Promote Your Band On Myspace

Step 1: Set up profile

To begin with, watch videojug's 'How to set up a band profile on myspace' to get you started.

Step 2: Customize your profile

Like any HTML webpage, your myspace band profile is customizable - meaning you can change colours, fonts, and layouts to make it personalised. This may sound confusing, but luckily there are numerous websites that help you customize your profile.

Here are a few sites that are free and easy to use:
www.profilejuice.com
www.myspacehun.com
www.strikefile.com/myspace
www.mywackospace.com
www.myspace-editors.com

These instructions refer to the website Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4 on www.strikefile.com/myspace. This website allows you to choose what preferences you like and then gives you an HTML code at the end, which you then cut and paste into your 'band bio' section to give you the design you requested.

In the website, there are a selection of tabs entitled 'background', 'text', 'tables', 'scrollbars', and 'code'. You can click on these and change any options you want. Make sure you pick colours and styles that reflect the image of your band and the type of music you play

Your code will appear in the "code" tab.

You can preview the code by hitting "preview this code" in the "code" tab.

When you're satisfied, you can apply the layout to your profile by copying the code from the "code" tab, and pasting it into your "band bio " section on your myspace band profile.

When you view your profile, your customized changes will be in place.

Step 3: Photos

You may have already uploaded some photos of your band for other users to see, but you can also upload as many as four CD cover images or other photos to accompany your songs in the music player. Go to 'edit profile', and 'manage songs' in the tabs bar. On the right hand side you will see the songs you currently have uploaded onto your profile. There is a photo option. Once you click on it, you can browse your hardrive for a photo, then click upload.

Myspace allows you to upload 16 photos onto your profile pics, but you can use free hosting services such as imageshack.com and photobucket.com to embed more photos into your profile page. Once you sign up with a photo hosting service, you can upload your photos with ease. The hosting site will then give you HTML tags which you can then cut and paste into you profile in the same way you did with Thomas' Myspace Editor.

Step 4: Videos

Showcasing videos of your band is another way to promote yourself on myspace. It could be a music video you've had made, or simply footage from a live performance. It doesn't matter, it simply gives fans another reason to hang around on your page.

You can either upload videos to myspace directly from your hardrive or embed them from another video hosting site - such as Youtube, into the HTML on your profile.

To upload, simply go to 'add/change videos' in your profile homepage and go to 'Upload'. Myspace will ask you to give a description of the video, a title, a category, and whether or not you want the video to be public or private - you'll most likely want it to be public to get maximum exposure across the web. Agree to the terms and conditions and click continue. Now browse your hardrive, and click upload. As it's a movie file, it may take a while to upload, so be patient.

To embed a video from another website first of all go to the video on its original site. Most Web 2.0 sites such as Videojug and Youtube have an embed code which you can copy and paste into your profile. This embeds the video player on your profile. So copy the code, open your 'edit profile' section, and paste the embed code in the 'band bio' section. Then click 'save all changes' and click 'view my profile' to see the film on your profile.

Step 5: Friends

Making friends is the most important thing you can do on myspace to promote your band. Once you have made friends with someone, you can send them news 'bulletins' - or leave comments on their page to let them know when your next gig is, to show them your new video, or just to say hello.

As you trawl through myspace, you'll be able to click on other people's friends to view their profiles. If you see someone you like, or that you think would like your music - click 'add to friends' and confirm you would like to add them. They will then receive an email and a message in their profile telling them that you have sent a friend request. It's then up to them to accept or deny your request.

Navigating myspace and adding as many people as possible is time consuming, but it will inevitably increase the reach of your music and spread the name of your band. To find people you think might like your music, try going to the 'music' tab in the myspace navigation bar, then search for a band with a similar sound to yours. Then spend some time sending friend requests to people on that band's profile. You could send them a message or an email, politely suggesting that they might like your music. The chances are a good few of them will become your friends. Promoting a band on myspace requires a persistent and concerted effort to add friends to your profile. You can add other bands as well. They are highly likely to say yes to any friend request. Both established and upcoming bands use myspace, so you never know who you might end up making contact with.

Step 6: Comments

Leaving comments on peoples' profiles is a great way to spread news and keep in direct contact with a friend. Once someone has joined your friends list, leave a comment on their page to thank them. This is a good opportunity to properly introduce yourself , and leave a flyer or photo on their page. To do this, go to their page, scroll down until you see their comments list, then click 'add comment'. To insert a picture or graphic - you'll need to use a photo hosting service such as photobucket.com to store your image, and then cut and paste the HTML code from there onto the comment text box before you post it.

Once you are somebody's friend, you can go back to their profile whenever you like to leave details of gigs, radio airplay, and new releases to keep them up to date.

Step 7: Bulletins

You can let everyone know about gigs etc by releasing a bulletin. This will be seen on everybody's homepage when they log in, so it's a quick and easy way of sending out information to a lot of people at once.

Simply go to 'post bulletin' on your homepage, add a subject heading, and put in whatever words and images you like, and click 'post' to send it out into the myspace ether. Once again you can embed video or an image from an image hosting website by copying and pasting HTML code as before.

Step 8: Blogs

The blog feature on myspace does not have to be used as a diary of your innermost secrets. If you're in a band, use it to write more detailed news and updates, tell funny rock and roll anecdotes, or write a mission statement. Give them lively titles to encourage people to subscribe to your blog. Once friends subscribe, they'll receive a message everytime you post a new blog.

To post a blog, click 'manage blog' on your profile homepage, then select 'post new blog'. Add a subject title, date, and time. You can specify things like 'your current mood' and assign privacy settings if you like. You can also use the blog feature as an announcement board.

Myspace is an invaluable marketing tool for promoting your band. Building a fan-base requires hard work and daily effort. However if you do it right, you can create a buzz around the world, attracting fans you never thought you'd have access to before.