|| The Sound Faction (dot com) ||

Everyone and their second cousin twice removed has a myspace account, and every one of those accounts gets bombarded every day by blind invites, events, messages, tags and other crap that just gets overlooked. While MySpace is still a hugely valid way to spread the word of your band, it's surely not the be-all-and-end-all of online music networking sites! Okay, okay, neither is Facebook! Facebook is great also, it allows you to quickly network with your fans, is interactive and accessible, but still not the end of the internet.

There are a ton of websites out there to help you network your band, allow new fans to find you and spread the word of just how much you rock, and best yet-- most of them are FREE! What?? Did I just say the magic word? Totally. Let's face it, being in a band is friggin expensive, especially if you're just starting out, or doing your own pavement-beating to get yourself heard. I read it best on the twitter of Sleeper Skylight member, Michael Reale: "@michaelcreale: Do most people perceive it as being easy to be in a band? ..because I'm poor, in debt and it's only getting harder."

So let's not call them "alternatives" to MySpace, let's call them "additions", because in this industry, the more face-time you have the better. I highly suggest signing up for all of them and if you're super serious about this, put in the massive effort it's going to take to get noticed by the right folks.

#1: LikeZEBRA

LikeZEBRA has just reopened and is better than ever! They provide unsigned musicians and artists with a competitive edge to showcase their talents and promotional materials to be found by other bands, fans, venues and music industry professionals. As an artist you'll also have access to viral promotional tools, along with the ability to promote, distribute and sell your music. Your fans will be able to connect directly with you, and other fans of your music and stay up-to-date on what you're up to.

#2: unsigned.com

Unsigned.com is exactly what it sounds like, a place for unsigned bands, artists and fans to connect, find new music and promote the crap out of your stuff! You'll have control over your page, to customize it to integrate into your band's branding (you have been branding, haven't you? That's another article, I guess), list your upcoming events & shows, highlight your music, host photo albums, and interact with your fans.

#3: PureVolume.com

Purevolume is one of the more popular networking sites, although you'd be surprised just how many people don't take advantage of it. the website, like the others promotes discovery of new music and emerging artists. The artists/bands have profiles that contain your basic information (news updates, photos, shows, and music for streaming). They also have the option to make their songs available for free download (or just one or two of them). Purevolume has received a lot of press since the site's launch in '03, and continues to grow strongly. Fans of your band can interact directly with you and other fans, and share your music with their friends as well.

#4: reverbnation.com

If you've heard of ReverbNation and haven't yet signed up for it, shame on you! ReverbNation is one of the best tools out there for bands to network themselves. The website allows artists/bands to interact with their fans, access to industry professions who support them in web-promotion, digital distribution, social-media marketing, direct-to-fan e-commerce, website hosting and concert booking/promoting. Perhaps one of the best features is real-time stats on the demographic of people listening to your music, where it's spreading, and who is passing it on to friends. You can also set up street teams to harness the power of your fans to promote your band and shows. And all of those features are free. There are "premium" options as well, which are not required for use of ReverbNation, but are an option for if you really want to step it up to the next level. They include professional-grade press kits, increased song-storage and advanced help in digital distribution. Whether you just use the basic free features or take advantage of the premium features, ReverbNation is a hugely important resource to use.

I have personally used all of these websites to find new music, connect with bands and fans, and keep up to date on things. Some of my favourite bands are ones that I've found on websites like these, so take advantage of the free resources out there for you. We really do want to see you succeed, but how can we as fans help you do that, if you don't put yourself out there to be seen?

Hope I see you on my next website crawl to find new music!