The 5 Things Every Band Needs on Their Myspace
1. Readable text
You can’t read what you can’t see. So many myspace pages are destroyed by putting hard to read text over an incompatible background photo. Make sure your text is easily readable, easily accessible and logically set out.
2. Strategically placed Top Friends
This is the same principle as the one that worked in high school. Hang with the cool kids and you’re likely to be slapped with the ‘cool’ tag, regardless of your actual status. Make sure your top friends include bands that you, and your fans, love. It’s ok to have a few real friends scattered in there but strangers to your site aren’t interested in meeting your best mates Macker and Sheree, they want to know what bands you sound like, love and associate yourselves with.
3. Optional Music
MAKE THE MUSIC OPTIONAL! Myspace sites that blare music the second they are loaded make the blood boil and will result 9 times out of 10 in your page being closed. Let people choose if they want to hear your music.
4. A good band photo/logo
Don’t try and be quirky with this one. Have a decent band photo or a well designed logo as your profile pic. Loaves of bread, photoshopped movie posters and Paris Hilton pics are all no-nos.
5. Links to your stuff
If you have merch, music on iTunes or a physical CD to sell, make sure you have nice, clear links for people to purchase. If they are on your page, you have their attention. Now you need to make it seamless for them to purchase your creations.
On this point, here are two myspace pages that work:
http://www.myspace.com/thequills
http://www.myspace.com/scottedgarandtheuniverse
And two that don’t work quite so well:
http://www.myspace.com/jimmbay1
http://www.myspace.com/cowboy007b
