I am a girl about the internets...(someone should look into offering valid credentials around that.)
Anyway, while this blog may have begun as a 'group therapy-let's-all-woosa-as-musicians' space, I've decided to add more objectivity to it, and one way is to curate content as I come across it.
Today, we look at this issue of owning your own space on the internet as a musician.(Stop panicking! Breathe in...out...and read on...LOL!)
It's been interesting to find that most musicians,locally and internationally haven't jumped onto this opportunity for many reasons. For instance,as a big hit, there's always content being put out about you, right? So if an interested party does a google search about who you are,plenty is bound to come up and inform adequately. And besides, if I have a facebook fan page and I tweet every now and then, what more do I need, right?
WRONG!!
There's more to it than just popping up on a google search, on a newspaper article here,or an event coverage there. It's imperative to have a place from which you disseminate info about what's happening around you and your art, a one-stop shop where a fan, potential client, or even a hater can amass all the info there is to you, ergo the need for every serious musician to have a website!
If still unconvinced, then here's the simpler solution/proposition. Get yourself a smartphone. Yup. My friend Astar recently acquired an iPhone and he's a different artiste altogether...true story! (He's particularly stoked about how he can now TwitPic straight from his phone's camera...apparently he'd have to undergo the arduous task of loading a pic from his phone...then to his computer...then on to twitter...determination!!!)
I know, the thought of having to do it yourself can be nerve-wrecking...but here's how said smartphone can be of such assistance to you, especially in updating information on your site. Posterous Spaces, where this blog is hosted, makes it ridiculously easy to post. How? via email! In my case, all I need do is send an email to life-of-a-gigging-musician@posterous.com with the body of the email as the content I want to share,and voila! Even better, you can autopost to your other social networks and keep all your fans/parties of interest informed.
It's no longer a consideration to mull over...it's fast become a necessity. When I hear of a musician, while the first thing I may do is conduct a google search, the next thing I definitely do is search for theirname.com, and if that doesn't arise...you get my point I hope. If not, let me put it differently. If I'm going to recommend that some international festival check you out, it's more embarrassing to me, to have to refer them to your facebook or twitter feed...only for them to find you talking about the yummy chicken you just had at KFC... now,do you get my point?)
I won't burden you with keeping your website updated for the now. Let's get on to this great article as to why you should look into having that website up and running ASAP, if you want to be taken seriously on these mean internet streets.
20 Reasons Why Every Musician Should Have Their Own Website.
Off you go, create that site, and then we'll reconvene and discuss some 'best practices' on keeping that website updated, ok?
Signed,
Fellow Gigging Musician.
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