Musicians: An Official Website vs. Reverbnation, Soundcloud, Soundclick, etc.
Posted on 23. Dec, 2011 by epkdesigns in
All major artists have official websites. As we mentioned earlier, celebrities like Jay-z and Katy Perry, use the same platform we use to build your website. So you can imagine how powerful this thing really is.
Using third-party music players like reverbnation, soundcloud, soundclick, etc., is fine but has some downsides if that’s your only source. For instance, if you upload a song to soundcloud, then share it on facebook, what happens when someone wants to re-listen to your song? They’ll have to remember your soundcloud web address? Or go through your status/wall posts from 7 days ago til they find the link? Make it easy on yourself and your fans. Upload your songs to your official website as well. That way, fans can go to www.yourbandname.com instead of www.soundcloud.com/yourbandname.
Another downside is, not all third-party services are mobile-friendly, so when someone visits your link, they can’t play your songs on their mobile phones. Most music players are flash-based, which isn’t supported by most phones, besides iPhones.
Another disadvantage of only using social networking sites to promote your music, is the inability to reach all your fans fast and quickly. Most social networks limit bulk messaging. Even when you share a link, what are the chances that all your fans will see your post? News feeds only show so many posts, so its easy for your post to get buried amongst everyone else’s. Imagine having 5,000 followers or fans. It would take you nearly all day to tag or message every last one of them. By having your own website, you can encourage fans to sign up for text updates or a free account. That way you can send messages to all your fans at once with one-click or have them notified everytime you update your website ( not recommended if you plan on updating it often; too many notifications may annoy your fans).
So, whether you use own service, or some other company, make sure you keep your fans in mind. Having an efficient and easy way to access to your music, will help you not only build a strong fan base, but keep them as well.
Incoming search terms:
- soundclick soundcloud reverbnation