When researching new bands, Squidrocker has to dig deep into the Internet to find the right information to put together a lens for the band. A small collection of links is used to find the basic information, then it's time to surf to find more.
This lens presents some of the online resources used by Squidrocker. Some are essential when researching a band; some are obscure; and others look good but haven't been tried.
Squidrocker Web Resources should be useful to bands and music fans alike.
1: The Essentials
Where to start on your rock journey
The obvious place to start in promoting your band or finding information on a band is with the official website. Most young bands start in other places because they can't afford a webmaster, domain, or just don't have the time.
For bands, the following links offer a quick and cheap way to promote; you're nerdy kid brother can use these links for you (just toss him a groupie now and then). For fans, the links are a jump-off point for research and information.
For bands, the following links offer a quick and cheap way to promote; you're nerdy kid brother can use these links for you (just toss him a groupie now and then). For fans, the links are a jump-off point for research and information.
- MySpace
- Yeah, it's a bit tired now, huh? The fact is that MySpace is still very viable and very important to artists of all types. Odds are, your favorite home-town rockers are on MySpace.
- Wikipedia
- No, I am not kidding. All that is good in the Universe is in Wikipedia. If you have a band and are making a real run for the big time, get in Wikipedia. If you are a fan, create or add to you favorite band's Wiki page.
- purevolume
- Create a profile for your band, create a profile for yourself. Most of the information on purevolume is readily duplicated elsewhere, but it is a good way to create an extended web presence. For fans of really obscure bands, it could be the only way to find information.
- YouTube
- It's easy: add your band's vids, find your band's vids.
- Billboard.com
- Bios, discography, and most important, music charts that stretch back to the mid-80's.
2: More Research Sites
Looking for Info on Bands
These sites are for fans and researchers. They tend to duplicate information found in Essential links, but occasionally a gem can be found. Also found are reviews.
- Rolling Stone: Artists
- RS can be a great resource for fans. Interviews, reviews, pics, and feeds can be found here.
- BMI Music World
- Great articles on bands. Database is a little small.
- Amazon
- Although a totally mercenary site, Amazon has graphics, reviews, and information on many band.
- Discogs
- An amazingly detailed discography site. Add, update, upload pics.
- Google Directory: Bands and Artists
- Gives excellent top-level results for established bands including hard-to-find fan sights and old "official" sites. Since the site is human-edited it should be possible to submit your own band site.
3.9: Misc.
Sometimes-useful links
Sometimes the following links can pan out some unique information. Most of the time, though, it presents junk.
- AOL Music
- This is a showcase for affiliate links with pop-ups added in for a bonus. Sometimes an interesting article or unique bio is listed.
- Yahoo! Music
- A better version of AOL's music section. Lots of info but sometimes not much is new or unique.
4: The Untested
Links to try and explore
Squidrocker runs into a lot of potentially useful sites while doing research. Some are untried but might be useful in the future.
- Virb
- From purevolume comes a MySpace wannabe; I found there might be a little extra content in this site not seen on purevolume. Otherwise, not particularly useful yet.
- Buzznet
- Bands put up a MySpace page just to have it done, then neglect it. Buzznet is a newer, more vital community that some bands simply prefer and update more frequently.
- The uber-cool of MySpace are continuing to migrate to Facebook in order to keep the coolness factor. Some bands hang out at FB... because it's where the cool people are! Or not.
- SoundClick
- This site has been useful to Squidrocker a couple of times with brand-new, local indie bands.
- Sonicbids
- An electronic press kit site. Reasonable prices for bands, free accounts for promoters.
- Airspun
- A mercenary band promo site that I've found some good music on. Lost of indie/ alternative stuff.
- mp3.com
- Not bad if not very original. They find articles about bands and republish on their site so you might not find many surprises.
- Last.fm
- Large social music site.
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