Promoting Your Band 2.0

A website is always a safe bet for getting ur name out there. Simply buy a domain name (or use a free web space provider - however yourname.com looks more serious than geocities.com/yourname) and build the website yourself or pay somebody else to do it. It may cost but it really is worth the time and money if you make it good and advertise it right. Some good things to include on your website are MP3's, biography, gig dates (no matter how small and low key) and any other information you can think of. Then get it into as many search engines as you can. Its amazing how many people will look at your website simply by stumbling across it in Yahoo or Google. A website is always a worthy investment if you're serious.


If you already have a few fans, or even friends who like your music, its always a good idea to get them to do the promotion for you. Print flyers, stickers, make demo tapes, anything, and get people to hand them around or give them to their friends. Its a very effective way of spreading the word, through a Street Team. It is how Linkin Park started out and look at how successful they are today. If your friends and fans are willing, also get them to post on message boards or go in chat rooms of music websites. Promotion teams are very effective.


Go into chat rooms and message boards on the websites of other, already well known bands and tell the whole internet about you. Most message boards of well known bands have 10 000 + members, so just imagine how many people will see your name and check you out. It works, again, it is a method often used by signed and unsigned bands who need more recognition. It works for other bands and it will work for you, try it out.


Like anything, you won't get anywhere without a little hard work from yourselves. You won't get yourself recognised by sitting there waiting for it to happen. Spread the word about yourselves, pin up flyers wherever you can, advertise your gigs in newspapers, basically anything you can think of. If people like your music they will soon spread the word themselves and you will quickly get a loyal following which will keep growing as long as you are willing to put in the work yourselves.

You can't rely on other people to do everything for you and you can't expect things to just magically take off for you overnight. It may take a while but in the end its worth all the hard work.