[cvinson]

I have a bit of experience here, as I run a website builder app for bands.

I launched Bandzoogle.com in 2003, around the same time that MySpace came out. I thought we were dead; they were offering all the stuff we did (a guestbook, music player, photo gallery) for FREE. How could we compete with that?

We decided to focus on being a "premium" service, and kept adding stuff that bands wanted. To my surprise MySpace actually helped our business. Bands would sign up because they wanted something more than "just a myspace page", or "without all those ads". We're the SmugMug to their Photobucket. It worked for us, we have 10 employees and have been profitable since 2004.

That said, social networks like MySpace are still necessary for bands. Potential fans will stumble across an artist's profile page, often from links from other bands they are playing a gig with. The goal is to hook them, then get them over to the artist's .COM site. There, they own the fan list, and can present a much more compelling experience than on a profile page alone. It is a bit more work to have to maintain profiles everywhere, but companies like ArtistData, Reverbnation, and my own (Bandzoogle) are making this a lot simpler.