In the various music-related roles that I have encompassed over the past few years (musician, bandleader, freelance writer, publicist, show promoter and blogger) I have spent a fair amount of time browsing band websites and reached a critical mass navigating band sites that are ugly, anti-functional, slow-loading and profoundly frustrating to the people they are presumably trying to impress.

Here are some simple observations that I’m presenting as axiomatic. Granted, a lot of them display my subjective preferences about web functionality, but the simple fact is that many of these simple mistakes drive away fans, writers, editors, label people, etc—and are therefore completely counterproductive. After the jump, six points unsigned and small indie bands should pay close attention to:

1. A Myspace page doesn’t suffice
In 2004, a Myspace page was the best thing in the world for an unsigned band with no web design skills. In 2005, a Myspace page was immeasurably useful for an unsigned band that had the trust fund backing to afford a private publicity and marketing team. In 2006, a Myspace page was great for a signed indie band or ignored major label act to curry attention. But it’s the waning days of 2007, and Myspace is dead. The signal-to-noise ratio of half-formed bands and “please add my band” spam has completely muted any impact you could hope to gain by pushing your band on Myspace. It’s still gasping for life, and worth maintaining a presence on, but think of it more as a way to interact with fans you already have as opposed to trying to deluge uninterested strangers with “friend” requests. That shit is played.

You’ll likely get more promotional mileage getting your music out to Facebook users through adding it to the databases of iLike and Garage Band, but note that the it is a much, much different system in which the bands are pushed to the top by a ranking of what users have been listening to in their own iTunes (a la last.fm) and that Facebook is a comparatively closed community — no more “please add my band” spamming for you!The importance of the dedicated band website has certainly waned, but it remains important — like spending thousands to get your music press on shrink-wrapped plastic drink coasters — it’s a seemingly-dated, yet crucial, way to signal to people that your band is established and serious and sticking around. Club bookers and promoters may prefer a digital promo kit nowadays, but the ones at the bigger clubs still aren’t going to take you seriously if you don’t have a shrinkwrapped CD with a UPC. And they’re not going to be overwhelmed by your sub-Geocities Myspace page with 35 friends and acquaintances.

2. Get rid of the Flash
I’ll acknowledge a personal prejudice: I loathe Flash websites. Abhor them. I hate how they load slowly, how they don’t have to follow certain commonly accepted usability systems that all websites share, and that by and large, when utilized in band websites, they rarely work the way they’re supposed to. And even if they do, they are rarely updated with current information. But from a purely functional point of view, they are useless.

As a freelance writer, I’ve endured no small amount of frustration finding that everything on a band’s page is locked up in Flash, to the point where I can’t even print the musician’s bio for later reference or cut and paste pertinent background info a Word document. Under a deadline, this is the sort of thing that can make you ballistic, especially when writing a show preview for a date that isn’t listed on the site at all because no one in the band or at the PR office knows how to update your shiny Flash website. And you can’t afford to re-hire the designer.

Sure, a Flash banner is fine. The best band websites out there have some sort of tasteful Flash banner that establishes the band’s identity or aesthetic well — this is useful because it sets the site apart from the often monochromatic world of CSS-heavy web design and highlights the creativity of the band. But get those links and that bio text in plain text, don’t wrap your photos and music up in annoying Flash wrappers that load slow or crash browsers, and let that information about your band be free — the way it should be, so that information can be better spread around the web, and many more will discover your band.

3. A few free mp3’s are a good thing
Period. I know many bands remain suspicious/disdainful suspicious of any mention of the term mp3, but if you want people to listen, you gotta give something away for free. No Windows Media. For godsakes, no Real Media. Absolutely no Flash players unless they offer a full-album stream in addition to a handful of free mp3’s. And no 30 second samples, either. Don’t have the hosting service to handle that? Check out a free hosting service like Fileden, which should be fine for most unsigned bands. And please, no links back to your broken Myspace page under the “media” tab of your site. Any unsigned or small indie band who doubts the necessity of disseminating free mp3s as a promotional tool in this day and age needs to read Berkeley School of Music professor David Kusek’s The Future of Music, right now, and take many notes.

4. EPK’s are a ripoff
As opposed to the desired effect (making your band seem more professional), EPK’s make your band look like a bunch of chumps. There is no one accepted way to present your publicity materials professionally, but nothing screams “unprofessional band with money to burn” like EPK’s. Also, it’s not as if Sonicbids, the company behind the EPK scam, engage about savory business practices anyway. Don’t waste your money and don’t get bilked. Instead, get a succinct press release and bio together in a .doc or .pdf format that is clearly labeled on a hidden press resources page (see below):

5. Direct press, bloggers and radio people to a hidden press resources page
These people don’t have time or interest to dick around with you and your web designer buddy’s brilliant creative design. Every label has one of these, if you want to curry the favor of people writing or spinning your band, you should have one of these as well. Quick and concise, don’t waste your time or their’s with design flourishes. Just offer direct, easy-to-find links to hi-res images (jpg’s please, 300 dpi or higher, at least 5 x 7 inches), mp3 downloads, your band bio (including notable press quotes) and a one-sheet for your latest release. You can also double up and make it useful for club promoters and bookers by posting your stage plot — they’ll be asking for a lot of these resources as well.

6. Web 2.0 is your friend. Embrace it
In just a few short years, bands have been given a riches of free promotional and media hosting outlets, that allow them to add dynamic content to their sites that would have been impossible for most in the past. Just like bloggers and Myspace users can post retarded Youtube videos almost anywhere they please, so can you post live footage, practice space arguments, or just plain ridiculousness, have it hosted for free, and use the content on your website.