Source: WikipediaSocial networking profiles have become the digital equivalent of pairs of underwear. Everybody’s got at least one. Most people have several. While some go through 6 in a day, there are a few people out there (some less akin to the ways of the world, and some free-spirited people who scoff at convention) who go without. Without abusing this analogy any further, for now, lets think about the importance of social networking and the music world.

The internet explosion has made it possible for the independents to have access to the same audience as the big fish. In fact, the reason that there has been such a boom in the music scene is exactly because of this. The big record labels no longer have the same authority they had in the 70’s. Literally anybody with a laptop, a hacked copy of pro tools, and a guitar can get noticed by people all over the state, country, and world; and they do this every day. duh. We take this for granted because most of us have been using the internet for all sorts of personal promotion for years, but how many of us use it properly?

Myspace (and the rest) has become the staple for self-promotion these days, which is obvious with the INSANE amount of ads they run all over the site. Everyone and everything has a myspace. What does this mean? On the plus side, it’s free and you have access to over 61+ Million users (more stats at Micro Persuasion), most of whom are right in the target age range for musicians and bands. It’s a lot like the new TV/RADIO advertising, in that you have the ability to broadcast a message to an incredible mass of people. The problem is that, like TV and Radio, social networking sites are noisy. They are cluttered with banner ads, spam, hacked user profiles, and 800 of your friends posting bulletins and blog entries all in caps. This means that not only do you have to work harder than James Brown to stand out in this mess, you also get very limited attention payed to you or anything you have to say… like TV and Radio. You either have to spend A LOT of money or you have to be in the top 10th of a percent for creativity to be memorable. Both are not realistic.

Paid personal websites, on the other hand, are anything and everything you want them to be. You have complete creative control over content, layout, and special features without all the noise and clutter that comes with free hosting and social networking. The problem is that you do not have an audience. You have to work very hard to get people to come to your website as frequently as they would visit their myspace page.

The beauty is in the balance.

Companies use broadcast advertising to encourage people to come into their store to make a purchase. Likewise, myspace is a good broadcasting tool. It can be the daily/weekly reminder that you exist, and it can be a great way for friends and friends of friends to be exposed to your presence. The next stage is to invite them to a more intimate encounter. If you meet someone at a bar, chances pretty good that you won’t get to know one another with all the chaos in the environment. To solve this, you would likely exchange contact info and agree to meet for coffee or dinner, or you leave immediately for a more calm atmosphere. In this respect, as you are wooing your audience, you want a quite, secluded place where you can interact with them, one-on-one: Your Website.

Once they arrive on your website, you might feature lots of content they can surf, such as a free download, some streaming audio, items for sale, CURRENT touring and recording information, pictures, video, a well-maintained blog, a guest book… I can keep going here. If you really want to step it up, there should be some kind of way for users to interact with you and one another. This just can’t be done on myspace alone.

MORAL OF STORY: Social networking sites are like underwear. Variety and quantity, though not completely necessary, are often better than nothing; But one mustn’t leave the house in underwear alone… no matter how many pairs one is wearing at the same time. And underwear that complements the whole outfit is twice as sexy.