Do you need a website if you already have a MySpace?

Dave Muscato · #1 10-03-2007, 07:26 AM

Hey folks,

This is an offshoot of this thread, since you can't add a poll ex post facto.

Do you really need to spend the money and time to create and maintain your own web presence (yourbandname.com) if you already have a MySpace, especially considering that you can now sell MP3s directly from your MySpace? Plus, you can put mailing-list sign-ups there, and there are plenty of other website you can link to as far as requesting your band in a specific city (eventful.com), selling T-shirts etc (cafepress.com), and so on.

Please feel free to share your thoughts!

What if yourbandname.com is already taken? Ours is, but we have a short-lived opportunity to buy it for $1,000

Edit: To clarify, my band (Treasure Junkie) already has a website at http://www.treasurejunkieBAND.com, but we are trying to figure out if it's worth it to buy http://www.treasurejunkie.com. We also already have a MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/treasurejunkie ) and own treasure-junkie.com, .org, .net, treasurejunkies.com, etc, which just redirect to treasurejunkieband.com

skaliwag66 · #2 10-03-2007, 07:32 AM

I always look for offical band sites when i check out a band on Myspace.

Why?

Long Answer: Would like to see band pics (without having to register) and read more info.

Short answer: Myspace ROTS!

Diggler · #3 10-03-2007, 07:39 AM

Myspace is great for bands, but yourbandname.com is just professional. I consider Myspace as a networking tool, but our website is our business card/store front.

Not everyone, believe it or not, is on myspace. We send bulletins about upcoming shows, but also have a mailing list that gets notifications as well.

BuffaloMO · #4 10-03-2007, 07:40 AM

I would think a band would want their own domain with or without MySpace. Enter the band name, go direct to their site!

lpdeluxe · #5 10-03-2007, 08:23 AM

Our website tells how to book our band, what's on our schedule, has video and audio clips and features bios of all us aging rock stars.

Once we get some merchandise (caps, tshirts, coozies) we'll flog it there, too.

Can't do that on myspace.

ba-dum-ba-dum · #6 10-03-2007, 08:27 AM

As much as i'd like to believe otherwise, having a yourbandname.com is probably very important if you're serious about business. Like its been said, not everyone is on myspace, and myspace is a piece of crap, really (do they really need to whore themselves out to that much banner advertising?!)

Another interesting question would be, does a band NEED to have a myspace? hmmm...

applerocks · #7 10-03-2007, 08:38 AM

+1 on professionalism. It just promotes a better image doesn't it...

Also, if you've got yourbandname.com, it's really easy to find you with a quick search on google.

My domain name only costs me $10/year. I'm not sure if I'd pay $1000 upfront.

Diggler · #8 10-03-2007, 09:43 AM

Another thing to consider...

Email addresses come with the domain. It's great to be able to send out gig notifications from "Your Band Name" info@yourbandname.com.

infect · #9 10-03-2007, 09:55 AM

I think it all depends. If it's not for a living, you're maybe gigging a few times a month, and myspace serves all your needs, it should be all you need. I currently own my bands domain, but just redirect to myspace for now. However, If the band ever got huge, I'd turn off the redirect and have a 'professional' site. It's just nice to have options

Phalex · #10 10-03-2007, 09:56 AM

I am not a pedophile. No Myspace for me. That and that whole signing up to view stuff thing.

Diggler · #11 10-03-2007, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phalex

I am not a pedophile. No Myspace for me. That and that whole signing up to view stuff thing.

The pedophile statement is just messed up. You could say the same thing about the internet in general, cargo vans or bags of candy. There are a lot of legitimate uses of them without the ridiculous pedophile assertion.

Jeff Martinez · #12 10-03-2007, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diggler

Another thing to consider...

Email addresses come with the domain. It's great to be able to send out gig notifications from "Your Band Name" info@yourbandname.com.

+69

This is huge when communicating with clubs, labels, and other marketing sources.

Phalex · #13 10-03-2007, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diggler

The pedophile statement is just messed up. You could say the same thing about the internet in general, cargo vans or bags of candy. There are a lot of legitimate uses of them without the ridiculous pedophile assertion.

They do seem to round a lot of them up off of Myspace. My drummer has a Myspace page, and his daughter and lots and lots of her friends are his friends. So here we have a 43 year old guy with a list of friends that includes a whole bunch of teenage girls. I think that could be incriminating. It doesn't matter if it's innocent or not, when the attorney general wants to talk to you about your internet activity.

Leave it alone says I.

casualmadness · #14 10-03-2007, 10:10 AM

I am presently shopping for a band so I can't weigh in on the effectiveness of my band; however, I have several friends in bands who are very active (touring, recording, etc.) and the biggest complaint among them is that they will have 100xxx hits on their myspace page but less than 10xxx on their webpage. The fans tend to visit myspace more often. Now, having said all that I think that if you are in a band you MUST have a myspace. But you should also have a website.

bluestarbass · #15 10-03-2007, 10:40 AM

I think the cutoff is selling stuff. Its much easier to sell stuff on your own website. Then your making a profit to pay for the website hosting anyway. Id say 90% of bands would be fine with a myspace. Good test would be, and people with websites and myspace would be able to fill in better than me, what gets more hits. If your getting 3 times as many hits on your myspace, the website is a waste of money imo.

Juniorkimbrough · #16 10-03-2007, 10:49 AM

I'd have both. Maybe just the basic info on the website (photos, music, background info, etc...stuff that doesn't need to be updated frequently) and a link to myspace to see your upcoming gigs.

BigLoopDuke · #17 10-03-2007, 12:24 PM

We've got both too, but I've found the MySpace "friends" are much less motivated to attend, purchase or recommend. On MySpace, it's a games number. When we first got started, we blanketed areas we'd play, "friending" people. At this point, although our band has approximately 24,000 friends, the vast majority are folks who just wanted to add another number to their own friends list.

I've found the bulletins to be ok for harvesting knowledge about upcoming stuff, but you've got to include all the info you want to show into the headline.

Our mailing list is much more productive.

jive1 · #18 10-03-2007, 02:40 PM

The other thing to consider is that many workplaces and other sites block Myspace. E-mails from myspace is often filtered as spam.

Rusty Chainsaw · #19 10-03-2007, 03:10 PM

As others have said, Myspace is a numbers game. Sure, having 20k+ friends looks impressive, but you know that out of all of them, you might only have a couple of hundred (if that) actual fans who will support the band and come to shows, buy CDs/downloads/merchandise and so on. I know a local band who currently have 30k+ friends on Myspace, and they struggle to get 50 people to come to their shows.

If you have an offical website, you can personalise it considerably more for your visitors, provide many features that Myspace can't, and you'll have full control of the content in a way that Myspace won't let you have. And you can be fairly sure that the people who visit the official site actually count, as opposed to those who are only playing the Myspace numbers game.

troy mcclure · #20 10-03-2007, 04:55 PM

You use your own site if you will use it to market to clients.
You use myspace to build a fan base and build relationships with other bands.