Myspace Band Support

Posted on 31 March 2010 by gregrollett

Myspace Band Support

Big shout out to Wicked D for finding this one (I am not always up on anything related to Myspace anymore).

Myspace has launched Myspace Band Support, a place where musicians can learn ho to effectively use what is left of the Myspace platform. Some of the features include:

How To Customize Your Myspace Profile

Myspace Band Support Themes

This section I am surprised to say that I am a fan of. While the individuality of Myspace pages is what helped the site grow, it also turned off a lot of web users. Getting some standardization could be good if they want to get the fans back on the site streaming the music and clicking on ads. Wicked D made a nice comment however that:

As far as the templates, I believe the music player should be the first thing that visitors see.  Fans come to your profile for your music, first and foremost!

Agreed there. Currently you can choose from 4 templates, preview them and watch some tutorials on how to customize them.


Friends and Fans

Next is some training on how to engage your fans on Myspace. Currently there are 3 features here, yet 2 of them are coming soon.

  • How to place friends into categories
  • How to create a buzz with your profile (coming soon)
  • How to get a fanbase on Myspace (coming soon)

The latter 2 that are coming soon could actually be interesting if they get in depth at how some of the grassroots bands have used the network, with examples, numbers and growth rate. If they just show you how to spam people and reply to comments, or give a social media 101 lesson, they will be behind the curve on that one.

Tips and Tricks

What could be a very cool section is instead replaced by some of the things nearly every band or artist on the planet can figure out in 30 seconds.

  • How to sync Myspace with Twitter
  • How to upload photos
  • How to upload videos
  • How to place friends into categories (if you are paying attention, things are starting to repeat)

Make the Most of Myspace

Last section of wisdom from the site that holds more bands profiles in one place than anywhere on earth. What are they going to do with this power?

  • How to use friend category
  • Use Myspace As Your Official Website (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)(oh and coming soon)
  • Download official Myspace band templates (again, really)

I’m not going to get into it today, but “Use Myspace As Your Official Website” is about as cool as still using beepers to get in touch with your girlfriend.

Some actually useful info

I always like to see what profiles do have a nice look and feel to them and now they are going to start featuring them on this page for other artists to see. Right now its the Sundance Kids. It’s a pretty cool profile backed by some good music. Go check em out.

There’s also a band Podcast that looked pretty cool, then I noticed it was coming from CD Baby.

Overall I think they have an opportunity to really educte bands (they have an audience I would kill to talk to). Hopefully they give some really valuable information in the coming weeks.

But, let’s ask you guys. What fo you think about the new Myspace Band Support? What can they do to make it valuable for you?

-Greg

Swap Myspace Player for BandCamp’s

Posted on 26 October 2009 by gregrollett

I wish I could take the credit for this, but I have to give it’s due to Corey Coleman, an indie musician from Buffalo, NY. It all started with a post on Music Think Tank when Andrew Dubber declared October 24th, 2010, “Global Quit Myspace Day” due to their inability to do something “great” with every band on the planet.

The comments is where some amazing thought went down and Corey laid the following comment that I recommend you all go and do right now on your Myspace page.

…Until next October, here’s a way to improve the experience for you and your fans. In response to Rich Dale’s comment above, there is a way to replace the Myspace player with the Bandcamp player. I did it at my myspace page

I believe the code is

<style>

table table td.text div
{
display:none;
}

table table table td div
{
display:block !important;
}

</style>

Just put it at the beginning of your “Musician Bio” section and then paste the Bandcamp embed code after it.

So there you have it. Get rid of the super compressed, load-hogging Myspace player in favor of the sleek download, streaming, payment and email generating player by the cool folks of Bandcamp (on our list of Music Marketing 101 Tips).

Here is a screen shot of Corey’s Myspace page where you can see the Myspace player removed in favor of the BandCamp one. Great move Corey and one I hope many bands take note of.

You may also note that Corey is using his Myspace page as a place to send people to more accessible points including his

Feedback and Homework

I’d love to see some more screenshots of people getting rid of the Myspace player. Anyone that sends one to marketing@genyrockstars.com will get the photo featured in an upcoming post.

Also, I’d love to know your thoughts on this great little trick. My guess is that you could use any player that fits your fancy including ones from our friends at ReverbNation, Grooveshark or Audiolife.

Till next time rock stars.

-Greg Rollett