Creating an Online Presence for Musicians

If you stay in touch with modern music, then you've probably heard of Soulja Boy. As a 15 year old, Soulja Boy used the power of the internet to launch into a career as a rapper. Since then, he has gone platinum, made millions off of ringtone sales, and has started his own label. Now 21, Soulja Boy is still using the internet to promote his music.Using the internet, you too can launch your musical career. Using free tools, you can create an online presence and have your music heard by fans around the world.

The first step is to make sure you have all your music saved and backed up as mp3 files. Mp3 is an audio format used by most music sites online. Create a username that you will use for your online presence. Make it unique yet memorable. Using one username will make it easier for people to recognize you as not just another user, but a musician of professional standard. Create a simple logo using Photoshop if you have it, or download GIMP, an open source graphics editor. Your logo does not have to be anything fancy, just creative and memorable. Being memorable is one of the main goals of online music promotion. You want people to remember your music so they will come back for more. Create a Myspace profile. Sign up as a Myspace Music member. This allows you to upload your music to your Myspace. There are many free Myspace theme creators avalable online. Using a simple theme allows you to add your own style into your myspace very easily. Add a background with your logo on it. Also upload a banner with your logo. This will appear on top of your Myspace page. Upload your music in high quality 256 kbps mp3 format. You can offer your music as a free download or sell it for 99 cents. As a new musician without a strong fanbase, it is better to offer your music for free and sell it after you have a strong fan base.

Set up a Youtube channel. Here you can upload your music with videos. If you do not have a video for a song you would like to upload, open Windows Movie Maker and import in the song and an image. Make sure th mage is shown for the whole duration of the song. Export the video and upload it. Don't forget to insert tags. Tags are keywords associated with your video. Tags help fans find your music. Common tags include your artist name, names of artists you sound like and the genre of your music. To customize your Youtube channel, upload a background and enter a description of your music. Also insert links to your other sites on your channel and on every one of your videos. This helps people find more of your music.

One of the best sites for musicians, Bandcamp, allows you to upload your music to a custom url such as Bandcamp.com/mybandnamehere. No ads appear on your page and the site gives you a wide variety of audio formats to choose from. Best of all, Bandcamp is totally free. Another great feature of Bandcamp is statistical information. This allows you to see how many people are visiting your page and helps you keep track of increases in views to your page. Bandcamp has great customization feutures and allows you to set your own price for your music. And if you want, you could also make it free. Bandcamp also has a free html music player that you can embed on other sites.

No matter where you upload your music, you won't get anywhere without promotion. Common places to promote include forums and online musical showcases. These resources are just a search away. If you are an artist willing to spend some money on showcasing your music, buying a domain and setting up your own site is the best way to promote yourself while looking professional and having complete control over all of your content. Another way to promote yourself is collabarating with other artists and appealing to their fabase. By using these tools and working hard, you can accomplish your goals in music and have your music listened to and make your dreams come true.