It's nice to think that people living half a world away can hear your music and read about your gigs at a mere click of a computer mouse. But they have to find it first. That's the harsh reality of the Internet. It's been said before, but one fact cannot be overemphasized: having a Web address is not enough. You can have the slickest Flash-enabled, audio-streamin', CD-sellin' site on the Net, but if people don't know where it is, they can't use it.
It's like having a gourmet food shop on an uninhabited island; people may want your filet mignon, but if there aren't any roads to your store, they'll settle for beef jerky at the Quik-E-Mart.
THINK LINK
The trick is to build roads to your site — the more roads the better. On the Internet, the roads to and from your site are the links. For newbies, a link (or hyperlink) is an object on a Web page that, when you click on it, takes you somewhere else, usually to another page or site. Underlying the word or image is a line of HTML code that directs the viewer's browser to the desired Web address or location.
Links are the Net's connective tissue, the things that make it possible for you to navigate from site to site when you're surfin' the Web. Without links, you'd have to know the specific URL of every Web site you wanted to visit, which would make the Net a lot less useful, not to mention pretty boring.
You can see where I'm going with this: if links are what direct people to specific sites, it behooves you to have as many links as possible that point to yours. For instance, Onstage printed a column about the importance of getting your site listed on search engines (see “Site Seeing,” May 2001; text available at www.onstagemag.com). Search engines are an important means of finding a particular Web site. The more links you have that go to your site, the more likely it is that search engines will find it.
More links equal more traffic, and the more traffic you get, the greater the chance that you'll sell lots of stuff and get people to come to your gigs. The message is simple but critically important: having links is essential to the creation of a successful Web site.
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS
Have you ever wondered why just about every musician's Web site has a dedicated page of links to related sites? It's called reciprocity, or “You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours.” The best way to get another site to link to yours is to offer to do the same for it. Such reciprocal links are a great way for like-minded musicians to team up for the common good.
Say you're a blues guitarist. It stands to reason that someone interested in you would also be interested in other blues guitarists. E-mail those with Web sites and offer to exchange links. Look especially for established sites that get a lot of traffic. Obviously, the more famous the musician, the more visitors to the site, meaning the greater the possibility that people will click over to you.
There's such a thing as setting your sights too high. You're probably not going to get Robert Cray to link his site to yours (then again, you might). But you'll be surprised at how many midlevel musicians and bands are amenable to a reciprocal exchange. It makes sense when you think about it. They have little to lose and more fans to gain. Look for bands similar to yours that are maybe a bit more successful. Shoot 'em an e-mail and look into an exchange. The worst they can say is no. The more bands you convince to say yes, the better.
PRINTED MATTERS
You should also target online music 'zines. Genre-specific 'zines are often the first place people go when looking for information. Many such publications feature links to bands and musicians. A search engine such as Google (www.google.com) or Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) is a good place to search for online 'zines featuring your type of music.
A good percentage of those 'zines are small fan-oriented operations run by only one or two people. They're usually eager to discover new artists who play their type of music. Just like you, they want to increase the number of visitors to their site, so they're likely to say yes to an exchange. (By the way, those sites are also a good source of reviews, so contacting them is further in your best interests.)
Many newsstand publications have online versions, as well, and some have room for links to musicians and bands. Traditional magazines generally have a higher profile than online-only publications, so a link on a widely read magazine's site could upgrade traffic to your site.
Many genres of music inspire virtual online encyclopedias. Examples include Hyperreal (www.hyperreal.org), a site devoted to electronic music; Kalvos and Damian's New Music Bazaar (http://216.92.67.11), which concentrates on experimental classical idioms; and the Punk Information Directory (www.punk-information.com), which focuses on punk and hardcore. Many such compendiums aim to list every band and musician related to their subject and are therefore open to submissions. A simple e-mail will frequently get you listed on such sites.
If you have the good fortune to be included in a general reference site such as the All Music Guide (www.allmusic.com), make sure that your site is linked to your entry. Calling attention to such listings is important; they give you added credibility in the eyes of a casual browser. (There's no sure way of getting listed on the All Music Web site — it has a team of editors and writers that decides what and who gets in — but somehow getting your stuff to a writer who contributes to the site might improve your chances.)
COINDEPENDENT
If you've set up your own Web-based record label, try exchanging links with other small indie labels that present music similar to yours. Don't let your competitive juices get the best of you; giving up a little free ad space (which is essentially what a link does) won't cause you to sell any fewer records. If anything, it might help you sell more.
Plenty of sites on the Web are devoted to helping indie musicians — giving business advice, providing gig-swapping services, and so on. Many have band listings that will link to your site. While you're at it, take advantage of music download sites such as MP3.com (www.mp3.com) and IUMA (www.iuma.com). Most of those provide free pages for musicians, which can in turn be linked to your own Web site.
The majority of the venues you play have Web sites that list past, present, and future performances. When you book a gig, make sure that the club has your URL, so that anyone checking the calendar can easily click over to your site. Indie-oriented radio stations are another possibility. Check out college stations in particular.
WE ARE THE WEB
Self-interest ultimately governs people's actions, but it's important to realize that sometimes by helping others out, you can also do yourself a favor. That's what links do. If you don't have a links page on your site, make one right away and collect and exchange as many links as you can. I listed a number of possibilities, but there are undoubtedly more. Try to think of as many as you can.
Although it's true that the Internet empowers the individual musician to an unprecedented degree, it hasn't completely liberated people. No one can survive totally on his or her own; you still need to be part of a community if you're to get your message out there. Make the Web an important part of your creative community. Build those roads so that when you play it, they will come.
Links to the Outside World
Building links is easy. If you use a Web-page-building program such as Macromedia Dreamweaver or Microsoft Front Page, you need only to follow the instructions in your owner's guide. If you hand-code HTML, it's just slightly more involved.
The link needs to contain the target site's URL and the target's name, which are enclosed by the HTML tags <a href= and </a>. Right after the second tag, place a description of the site. Here's an example:
<p>
<a href=“http://www.onstagemag.com”> Onstage Magazine</a> — The magazine for the performing musician.
</p>
The <p> (paragraph) tags separate the link from other entries on the Web page. When opened in a browser, the above link will look like this:
Onstage Magazine — The magazine for the performing musician.
You can use the above HTML example as a link template. Just substitute the URL of the site you're linking to and replace the copy with your own.
