The Guitar Player's Resource
You know what you want your music to say about you but what is your web site saying? Obviously your web site can't talk - or can it?
Music artists focus so much on writing and creating songs that they forget about the
importance of promoting their music. They will spend months or sometime years creating a new CD only to use the same promotional efforts they did last time with the same or worse results. One of the main contributors to the poor results is their web sites.
Whether it's the industry, the media or your fans, your web site is a critical part of how people see your music and you. It is important for you to take the time today to reevaluate the effectiveness of your site. Ask yourself the following; does your current web site help you get more shows or booked in the festivals you want to play? Does your current web site help you get articles written about you and your music in the newspaper as well as magazines and online? Do commercial radio stations play your songs after reviewing the information on your site? Do your fans buy the number of CDs each year that you want them to? Is your web site helping you fill up your shows so you have to move to larger venues?
If the answer is no to any of these questions then your web site needs to be revised. Here are some thoughts to keep in mind when reviewing your site to make it more effective.
Your web site should be a place where the industry, media and your fans can learn about the value of your music. Whether your songs are filled with important messages or the focus is on helping them escape the problems in life and the world for a little while, your site needs to teach them what you have to offer. Instead of putting up the standard outdated press kit bio trying using your Artist Story from your Artist Profile. Teach us who you are as an artist and what your music about. Tell us why it is important and what we will find in it. Is it really important for us to know that at the age of 6 you took piano lessons by 14 you could play guitar and your Mom thought you were great or you played in the following bands no one knows or remembers or worse, you sound like a cross between group A and group B (always a bad idea because if we don't like one of the groups you sound like, we're not listening!)?
Make sure your web site features different elements that will set you apart from other artists. For example, give us the stories behind the songs so we want to explore all of them and want to buy the CD. What about video of your live show so we can see what we will be missing if we don't go to the next show! What about having your merchant account with a shopping cart on your site (and you can use at your shows) so we know that when we buy a CD that the money goes to you and not a part to some store we have never heard of?
Your web site is your opportunity to show everyone what you have to offer. It should be the foundation for you and your music. It should speak for you when you
can't.
Author Tim Sweeney is head of Tim Sweeney & Associates, who are entering their 18th year of being, "the only true artist development company in the world."
Tim is one of the music industry's most sought after experts and consultants, and has written several influential books including "Tim Sweeney's Guide To Releasing Independent Records".
