Members wheresgrant3 Posted February 20, 2009 Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 In the age of myspace, facebook, another 'networking sites to get your band seen and heard how many bands here still have a website. Now here's a better question... how many still maintain their's (active changes every 2-3 weeks). I built my first band web siteover a decade ago and I'm pretty sure I was one of the first bands in the area to do so. At least we were one of the first with regular updates, photo galleries and media. It was always a work in progress... mostly hand coded html, some copied and stolen. It's still floating around in cyberspace unbeliveably... even though very few can find it (used to be wheresgrant.com until I let the URL expire). My current band's web site just celebrated it's 6th birthday and I was lucky that our singer is a PHP programmer. It isn't flashy, in badly need of a redesign and well could use a different color scheme altogether. As archaic as it looks it still gets 1200-1500 hits a month and as many as 200-250 unique vistors (linked from various music sites). We still maintain a myspace account an use that as our primary interaction but the website is still the primary place we store pictures... and I mean alot of them. Last night I counted... over 230 picture galleries, all averaging at least 48 pictures from gigs. That adds up to over 11,000 images. Don't ask me to count them all... that was just a guess. I guess my point in all of this is... I'm surprised at how many bands I see that have active gig schedules, yet never really maintain any 'home base' or update media on a regular basis. I'd say we capture 80% of our public gigs and put them on display. For us it's been a big part of our success and it keeps people coming out to shows in addition to new people finding us. Just curious how many still maintain a website and update media on a regular basis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fastplant Posted February 20, 2009 Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 We still have a main site that I update at least once a week. But we have a myspace and a new facebook site (which I don't use as much). I still think a main site is best as there are no limitations, but I see the benefits of social sites as well. What I hate most is bands that do have a main site that never update it. I'd rather they just had a myspace that was updated. I don't see the point of paying for hosting on something that serves no purpose. That said, as far as media, I upload all pics to the myspace just because it's quicker. But we do have a pics sections, music, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted February 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 We still have a main site that I update at least once a week. But we have a myspace and a new facebook site (which I don't use as much). I still think a main site is best as there are no limitations, but I see the benefits of social sites as well. What I hate most is bands that do have a main site that never update it. I'd rather they just had a myspace that was updated. I don't see the point of paying for hosting on something that serves no purpose.That said, as far as media, I upload all pics to the myspace just because it's quicker. But we do have a pics sections, music, etc. Updating is good... it lets people know that you're alive and still playing. BTW... I always liked your site... clean and efficient design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fernabulax Posted February 20, 2009 Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 I do. Had it since 2003 and it more than earns it's keep thanks to CD Baby. Had a Facebook and Myspace site but keeping up with 'friends' was such a royal pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted February 20, 2009 Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 I'm going to set one up for my new band, as soon as we have a name. My last band didn't have one--just myspace--and the band before that (5+ years ago, had a band site and myspace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Menace Posted February 20, 2009 Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 We have one. We have pictures of most shows, some videos...a forum. Looks much more professional than just a myspace page I think. We get about 1000-1300 hits a month on it. Check it out; www.rockfistband.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted February 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 We have one. We have pictures of most shows, some videos...a forum. Looks much more professional than just a myspace page I think. We get about 1000-1300 hits a month on it. Check it out; www.rockfistband.com Great site as well... And like myself and Fastplant you guys have a decent loyal following as well. Hmmmmmm I wonder what the connection is.... One day I'll get out to Minn and catch you guys. You have simply one of the best rock singers I've ever heard and the band is top notch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members THX1138 Posted February 20, 2009 Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 We do still have a main site - but to be honest, it pretty much just serves as an online promo pack for anyone who doesn't know about us. About all I do is update the gig calendar. All the networking and whatnot is done through Myspace & Facebook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted February 20, 2009 Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 We still maintain a website & a myspace page. I try to keep it active and all of the show photos go there 1st. Afterwards I put some on myspace but all can be found on our main site. Myspace is great and we actually got a few gigs through our myspace page. I make sure that the band's website is updated as much as I can & now that I started the "video ads" I change them every few weeks. with the band's Myspace page I make sure I send out bulletins for every show or when we upload new pics/ vids or whatever. Once in a while I'll post a blog but that is usually the same stuff found in the band news section of the website. I think it looks more professional if a band has a maintained website in addition to the a page on the social networking sites like myspace. (that reminds me I got to set up a facebook one...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Inazone Posted February 20, 2009 Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 I still maintain a site for my band, mainly for photo archive purposes, but also for a more organized way to present bio info, merchandise, track listings and lyrics. I'm not a fan of MySpace of Facebook myself, and I know that many other people feel the same way, so I keep the website as current as possible. Also, I think it displays a certain willingness on the artist's part to make at least a minimal investment in their self-promotion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fastplant Posted February 20, 2009 Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 Updating is good... it lets people know that you're alive and still playing. BTW... I always liked your site... clean and efficient design. Thanks man, I do want to update the design slightly though. Been meaning to for a while. But yeah, I think it's best to have function over form. I'd rather people not be wowed by our site but be able to find out where we're playing and such rather than have this amazing site that's hard to navigate. For anyone curious, this is our site www.bigfloppydisk.com We have some time off now so I'm promoting my girlfriend's shows more than my own right now, haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Menace Posted February 20, 2009 Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 One day I'll get out to Minn and catch you guys. You have simply one of the best rock singers I've ever heard and the band is top notch! Yep...not many like him..we're pretty lucky. You're welcome any time....you can sit in with us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members malmstorm Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 you can sit in with us! Hell yeah you can sit in any time! We have the same boards anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Menace Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Hell yeah you can sit in any time! We have the same boards anyways. What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be on your way to a gig? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GoodDogYall Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 My cover band keeps a fairly well-maintained website with latest gigs and recent photos. We're also planning on adding an "electronic press kit" page. It's very basic, but effective. We keep an e-mail list and send out "spam" to let people know where we're playing next. It has also been a great way for people to contact us for bookings. We give out swag such as lighters, t-shirts, and such with our website. All in all, it's been a pretty good bang for the buck. www.globalfmband.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkwire Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 I maintain our band site. I was having a discussion with a guy in another band the other week when he said with MySpace, Facebook, etc., he just didn't see the need for a dedicated website. I don't agree. Like Inazone said, you should be willing to put at least that much effort and expense toward your self-promotion. And nothing against MySpace or Facebook, we make use of those too. I really like the My Band/ReverbNation app on Facebook, I'm using that to organize our e-mail updates. We're a cover band, so I keep the site pretty straightforward. I think it should be like a well-writen news story and cover the 5 Ws and 1 H: WHO are we?WHAT do we play?WHERE are we playing?WHEN are we playing?WHY should you care?andHOW do you get to where we're playing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members theAntihero Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 My band does, www.lastchanceisrock.com, and i think its better than just having a myspace page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cherri Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 We also keep a home web site. I recently hired a local kid to redesign it. He did a great job. It's more or less a calendar, CD marketplace, and online promo. About once a month I go backstage and look up our hits to see where visitors are coming from and what search strings they use to find us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cherri Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 We also keep a home web site. I recently hired a local kid to redesign it. He did a great job. It's more or less a calendar, CD marketplace, and online promo. About once a month I go backstage and look up our hits to see where visitors are coming from and what search strings they use to find us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pjrake Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 we also keep a website, in addition to myspace and reverbnation. it's a burden to maintain 3 sites but i think it's worth it cause each site has its benefits. -PJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members srsfallriver Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 The wedding band that I play with only has one regular website. Its in dire need of a facelift but it still gets us work. The club band that I work with has both a regular site and a Myspace site. One jazz group that I occasionally fill in for has just a Myspace site. All the other jazz groups that I gig with seem to be thrown together at the last minute so there is not only no website, but also no business card. The problem I see with Myspace, Facebook, and anything like them, is that the potential customer has to have an account in one of those in order to communicate with you. Sure, alot of people have Myspace sites, but not everybody does. A regular site opens the door to everyone online. A business card with a phone number is also a good thing to have because, believe it or not, I still get gigs from people that either don't have a computer or are so afraid of them that they'd rather just call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tim_7string Posted February 22, 2009 Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 I signed up for my own site in 2005. I didn't really know about Myspace until the following year. If I had, I probably would not have created it. It's become more of a vanity project than anything these days, but I still maintain it. It will probably see more action now that I'll have a new band to promote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mstreck Posted February 23, 2009 Members Share Posted February 23, 2009 Our .com URL forwards right to our MySpace. I'm in the process of overhauling it (DIV overlay), but everything that we need (schedule, clips, contact info, pics, etc.) is already on there in one form or another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted February 23, 2009 Members Share Posted February 23, 2009 We still have our own band website - for a number of reasons. More and more corporate systems are banning access to social networking sites like MySpace. Secondly - we're a cover act - which means we're in violation of the MySpace TOS if we post any recordings of cover tunes. I prefer a private website to a page on one of the social networking sites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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