You’re probably wondering what type of qualifications this guy, on a random blog, has to talk about getting an indie band some exposure on the internet? The short answer is none. The long answer is… very little. I used to run this little site called Punkcanada.net, which then became Canadanoise.com. Don’t bother trying to check them out, I didn’t link them for a reason: they no longer exist. You might be able to use archive.org to check them out, but do so at your own risk. It started out as a Punknews.org clone, but specifically for Canadian punk bands, then became Canadanoise, which never went anywhere before dying a slow, relatively painless death.

None of that, however, is relevant. Now, I’m just a fan. A fan who loves to discover new music of all kinds, whether it’s an established artist I just haven’t heard of yet, or a new and upcoming band just getting their feet under them. There are lots of avenues to discover new music, but lately I’m finding some of the up and coming artists aren’t putting it all together in order to help people, like myself, discover their music. This is a simple list of things a band can do on the internet to help people find their music and get some much needed exposure. And not to toot my own horn, but if you’re missing something on this list, you’re really only limiting yourself.

Websites Your Band Should Be All Up-Ons*

MySpace – Most bands get most of this right. MySpace basically made Purevolume** obsolete by incorporating band profiles with a Flash music player into an existing social network. Here’s how to take full advantage of MySpace. Take advantage of the “Add to Profile” feature. This allows a user to feature a song on their own profile thereby exposing any people who visit their profile to your music. Also, make at least one track available for free download.*** iPods made people want their music to be as portable as possible. Making a track available for download allows a person to legally take your music with them.

Last.fm – Last.fm is a social networking site that allows users to track their plays through desktop plugins, has a great radio feature (which unfortunately is no longer free outside of the US, UK and Germany), and allows users to sample music. If your band is already on Last.fm, make sure to take ownership. If it’s not there yet, ADD IT!! Make sure your biography/albums, etc information is right, and upload some music so users can sample entire songs. Again, make at least one track available for free download.*** Maybe even make it a different one than the one on MySpace.

Twitter – Twitter is quickly becoming the best place for bands to let their fans know what’s up and could essentially replace, or work in conjunction with, a tour blog. And the great thing about Twitter is that it’s as simple to update as to send a text message. This is also a great way to connect with fans on a personal level if you have someone in your band who’s willing to spend some time replying to and reading what other people are saying about your band.

TuneCore – TuneCore seems to make the most sense in order to get your music on iTunes, Napster, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody, eMusic, and a few others. It seems to have a reasonable costing system. Here’s a quick breakdown:

• $0.99 per song (one time charge)
• $0.99 per album per service (one time charge)
• $19.98 storage fee and maintenance (per year per album)

So if you’ve got a 10 song album you want to publish to iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, Amazon MP3 and eMusic:

• Tunecore will charge a one time fee of $9.90 for the 10 songs (at $0.99 per song)
• Tunecore will charge a one time fee of $4.95 for the 5 online services (at $0.99 per album per service)
• They will also charge $19.98 per year for album maintenance and storage
• Total charge for the first year to upload a 10 song album to iTunes, Napster, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody and eMusic is $34.83 with a recurring payment of $19.98 every year per album.

A friend also pointed me to Bandcamp which looks to be a great place to host music with great tracking tools.

Canadian Artists Only! New Music Canada – In the Great White North, there is no greater resource for independent music than CBC Radio 3 and the best (and possibly only) way to get your music featured is to upload it to New Music Canada. A great majority of the current Canadian artists I listen to I first heard on either the R3-30 podcast or the CBC Radio 3 Podcast. They even have a “New Music Canada Track of the Day” podcast.

Facebook – I don’t need to explain to you what Facebook is. You’ve already got a facebook account. So why not create a Fan page and keep your fans updated on the most popular social networking site? You can also limit the amount of status updating you do by linking your Twitter updates to your Facebook updates so that everytime you update Twitter, Facebook is updated as well.
While you’re at it, make sure your band has a profile on iLike which is known as the “Music” application on Facebook. Events can be listed here as well.

Music Alley (Podsafe Music Network) – By uploading some of your music here you’re giving Podcast producers permission to use your music in their podcasts without them having to get in contact with you individually. This is definitely a place you could “set and forget”, however you will be able to check back and see what podcasts have been using your music.

This is also not an entirely complete list. This list is composed primarily of the sites I frequent with a little bit of Twitter help and some Google-ness. If you have other websites/social networks that you use to discover music and wish more Indie Artists would pay attention to, leave them in the comments. A few omissions from this guide would include Blip.fm, Purevolume, MP3.com, YouTube, and Pandora (because as a Canadian I am unable to use it).

Unless you were taking notes you’re probably wondering where the heck everything was supposed to go again, so I’ll recap in brief. These pages link directly to the signup page appropriate for a band, and all signups are free.

Where to Upload 3-4 MP3′s for Streaming

* denotes make at least one track available for free download
MySpace*
Last.fm*
Music Alley (Podsafe Music Network)
iLike

Social Networking Fan Pages/Status Updates

Facebook
Twitter
Twitter App for Facebook or Ping.fm to link tweets to Facebook and MySpace Status Updates

Where to Upload Full Albums For Purchase

TuneCore
Bandcamp

Where to Add/Update Tour Dates/Shows

MySpace
Last.fm
Facebook
iLike

This sounds like a lot of work but these are the internet’s best resources for discovering new music, and the internet makes it easy for fans to find you provided you’re in the right places. I have no doubt that you’ll be able to reach a wider audience if you are on these services and actively update and maintain them.

One more thing that needs to be said, in bold and in caps, before I sign off on this post. IF YOU SIGN UP FOR A SERVICE BE SURE TO KEEP IT UPDATED!. There is nothing more annoying than checking up on one of your favorite bands than to find out they haven’t updated that page in over a year.

If you’ve got any suggestions as to what other websites you use to track down/follow artists please leave them in the comments!

*A Strong Bad E-mail reference. Educate yourself here.
**Purevolume was one of the first mp3 streaming sites to take the reigns after the original mp3.com was bought out by CNet.
***Yes, I know you paid good money, probably from your own pocket, to have your songs professionally recorded and you want to quickly recoup your losses. Newsflash! Getting exposure by letting people listen to free tracks will help you get people to your shows which is where you’ll make your money back.

Guitars and Unicorns, Interwebbernets - Tags: indie, music, social networks