Whether you are a fan of indie music or an independent musician yourself, you have no doubt noticed the number of indie artists who have been using the social networking websites like MySpace to increase their exposure. If you’ve ever wondered what some of the benefits are of doing this, or even how to tap into these powerful networks yourself, please read on.

First, keep in mind that MySpace actually encourages any and all recording artists to join the network, share their music and even actively market themselves on their website. MySpace frowns on many types of businesses using their network to market through – but musicians are one group that is exempt from this. They want to give you exposure and help you build your fan base.

Because of this, creating a presence on MySpace is something every indie artist should consider. Not only are there literally millions of people there just waiting to be introduced to you and your music, but MySpace also provides you with the tools you need to reach out to them quickly and easily.

For starters, once you’ve created a free MySpace account, you can create a webpage on the network to describe yourself and your music. You can also add pictures and most importantly you can upload samples of your music for anyone to listen to. If you have video from your shows, you can even put those clips on your page so people can listen and watch you perform.

Of course, you could do the above on any website, but MySpace is not just any website. Once your page is live, it will be actively promoted throughout the network. You will be listed in the appropriate music categories and potential new fans can find you while searching. You can also use the communication features of MySpace to communicate with the millions of other people there and tell them about your music. If interested, they can join your friends network. Your friends network can quickly become a very powerful promotional tool, since you can use it to instantly let everyone know about your latest release or the time, date and location of your upcoming gigs.

Savvy independent musicians also make sure to offer special benefits to those in their network who help spread the word about their music. Offering tokens of appreciation such as free music, tickets or t-shirts is a great way to get your MySpace friends to introduce their friends to your network. Methods like these can help you quickly identify even more potential fans and virally increase your exposure.

Especially for indie artists, sharing the work they create without having deal with expensive large scale corporate media promotions is important. By tapping into the free resources on social networking sites like MySpace, musicians get access to high-tech tools and a large audience. At the same time though, the promotion still operates at a grassroots level – through person-to-person networking and word of mouth.