The New Facebook - A Musicians Guide

By Ariel Hyatt

Several months ago I wrote an article on my 6 favorite Facebook apps. Since then Facebook has relaunched with a new design and now as a musician you can create a band / musician page.

Here is an updated version that explain how to set up a page from scratch and my favorite apps for you!

Getting Started & Ariel's Top 6 Facebook Apps For Musicians
Facebook is here to stay. I know a lot of artists who are already overwhelmed with MySpace tend to feel daunted by the whole concept of introducing yet another social network into their lives. On September 4, 2008 Facebook launched "new" Facebook and the new interface is easier to use than before.

You won't believe how many people who you never saw around MySpace are on Facebook. All of a sudden you will be back in touch with your babysitter from grade school, a ton of old friends, and even the drummer from your first band. And, if you have been resisting because you think Facebook is just for kids in college, you are mistaken. The largest demographic on Facebook is over 25. It's the 4th most-trafficked website in the world and it's the number one photo sharing application. Read the full stats.

With over 110 million active users it's here to stay so my advice is DIVE in (if you haven't already).

Here is a quick rundown for newbies on how to create a page as a band / musician and my favorite apps for Musicians when pimping out your Facebook profile!

FACEBOOK FOR NEWBIES - HOW TO SET UP A PROFILE
STEP ONE: Create a Band / Artist Profile

STEP TWO: click on the third button down, it will say: Artist, Band, or Public Figure

STEP THREE: Select Band or Musician After you select it, a pull down menu will pop up. Select band it if you are a band, or musician if you play solo or want to create a solo-page (you can create as many as you want so you can create one for you and one for your band).

STEP FOUR: Enter Your Name Name your page and select create page. You are now off to the races!

The rest is pretty self-explanatory - you will upload your photo for your main user icon, your bio, band members and photos and details.

STEP FIVE: Click Create Page Now you are live and ready to add Apps! What is an App? It's short for application and it is simply a cool additional tool that you can add to your page so that you can display features such as music, photos, and videos.

Facebook has a great page that explains how to help you with apps.

And the whole list of available apps is here: http://www.facebook.com/apps

Here are my top picks for musicians and links to where you can download the apps for your own profile.

1. Music By Reverb Nation
Play Your Tunes

Musicians and bands can post unlimited songs for streaming or download, add bios and band photos, sell your music and have your friends add your music and share with their friends (viral marketing for you!). This app also includes links to your homepage and you can add up to 30 of your songs (full-length) to your Facebook Musician Page. And the best part: great stats track song-play activity.

2. Vod:Pod
Display Your Videos

I am a big advocate in creating small casual videos to share with your fans. Videos are an excellent viral marketing tool. This app is the easiest way to show your videos and your favorite videos. This is a good place to display backstage moments, live shows and of course your music videos

3. zuPort
Show your Flickr photos 

If you are a Flickr user zuPort automatically imports your public Flickr photostream so you can show off even more photos to your friends. zuPort: Flickr keeps your sets, collections, tags, comments and everything else linked so you only have to update only once.

4. Twitter
Tweet Away and Have It Synched!

This app allows you to update your status on Facebook straight from your mobile phone. So you can be on the road but your Facebook page can be updated from your van! Pretty cool eh?

5. Facebook Mobile
Bring Facebook on the go  

This app allows you to use Facebook on the go. With it, you can quickly to upload photos and notes from your camera phone straight to Facebook. You can also receive and reply to Facebook messages, pokes and Wall posts using text messages, or use your phone's mobile browser.

6. iCast By iLike
Tell your fans your news 

Send bulletins to fans with iCast, the best bulletins system on Facebook. You can send multimedia or mobile bulletins, or just plain blogs. Your bulletins will show not only to Facebook fans, but also via iLike across 10 different networks. They are the go to app for communicating your music to your fans.

7. iLike this Artist
Show off to your fans 

Musicians, you can show off your fans on iLike on your artist page. This will add an "iLike this artist" button on your page, and will show your (larger) fan count across the entire iLike network.

Happy facebooking and please find me and join our group which features loads of free tips for musicians:

Ariel Hyatt founded Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR 11 years ago and her firm has worked with over 1,000 musicians and bands of all genres. The Ariel Publicity mission states that all artists deserve to be heard and there is a place for artists of every level to receive exposure. Ariel Hyatt has managed to place tens of thousands of artists in countless outlets from national magazines and TV to the most grassroots online fanzines. Her company is now 100% digital and helps artists increase their online exposure. She also runs Bandletter.com a company that creates newsletters for musicians.

Ariel PublicityÂ's Sound Advice is a free monthly e-zine for musicians & entrepreneurs who want marketing, promotion and PR tips for navigating the new music business. Sign Up here: http://www.arielpublicity.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Is DUBTurbo the Best Beat Making Software?

By Ryan Gill Why Is DUBTurbo The Best Beat Maker? Read This And Find Out... If you want to make your own music online or on your computer then you may well have heard of DUBTurbo. If you haven't it will not be long before you do! Especially if you are interested in making real rap, dance and pretty much any electronic music that you can think off. So why should you pick DUBTurbo? Well there are a few different options out there but the problem is that most of them are for people that really know what they are doing. You will need to know how to master, record and have a recording studio with all of the features and equipment in order to use high end solutions like Cubase or Fruity Loops. Of course if you have got the money and a few years to spare while you learn all about production this might suit you. For most of us however that want to start this new awesome hobby it is not feasible to spend this much money, especially not knowing whether or not you will like i
Read more

The Pressing Need for No-Glitch Voice Over Services

By Rajeev Dixit   With the world turning into one global village, the need for voice over talents has risen. The global village we envision the world to be has to speak a certain language. This happens to be English, for some it's the standard American English for other it's British English. The role of language in the expression of arts, culture, information and intellectual pursuits is indispensable. As today's people have become more attuned and interested in their neighboring countries and their cultures, the demand for multiple language voice over services has surpassed its merely trending status and is more likely to stay for good. This is much more applicable for voice over services. Businesses today normally demand high technological functions such as multilingual voice recognition as well as speech to text communication. This is particularly true for companies that involve outsourcing. Most work-relevant tools and gadgets also de
Read more

A Review of Musicnotes - Digital Sheet Music Dealer

Are you a musician? Can you find the sheet music you want? If you are anything like me, then the answer is no. Although the town I live in isn't that small, there still isn't a large selection of stores when it comes to music. There is only one small music store that I go to (and only on rare occasions) when I need something immediately, like guitar strings for example. When I want to buy sheet music though, that little shop isn't much help. There is only a small selection of sheet music for the most popular genres and most popular instruments. If you want to play Beethoven piano arrangements then you are fine, but if you want something else then you are out of luck. I couldn't find what I wanted in my area, so shopping online was my only alternative. After trying different online sheet music dealers I finally came across one that I really liked-Musicnotes. This website offered instant digital sheet music and I thought it sounded cool, but wasn't sure
Read more