Start A Band In Three Easy Steps: Myspace, Facebook And Twitter

There was once a time when to get noticed in the music industry you had to work hard. And I don't mean get up at six in the morning and do a paper round hard, I mean really hard.

Making demo tapes, chasing after record labels, camping outside record producer's houses for days on end were all common place back in the day. Rick Wilkes even poked fun at the industry in his comedy movie Airheads which saw a desperate rock band, The Lone Rangers take local radio station (Rebel Radio) hostage while they had their song played over the airwaves.

Today things have slightly changed. The internet has dramatically changed the way the music industry works. And it's not always a bad thing.

Sure, there's constant news in our ears that music industry bosses are losing money left right and centre through internet piracy. Take The Pirate Bay for example, a torrent searching website that gives people free access to thousands of illegal downloads. The two Swedes, Peter Sunde and Gottfrid Svatholm are currently locked in a legal battle over massive financial claims from industry officials.

But when you look at the flip side of the coin, you soon realise that the internet is a glorious place to find and promote new music.

Social networking site Myspace is well established with thousands of artists showcasing their latest works and advertising up-coming gigs. Last year Facebook joined the fight when RedBoxBlue presented Five Nights on Facebook, a five day exclusive gig streamed live to your desktop.

And now? Well, it's all about Twitter these days and it was only a matter of time until the microblogging site entered the ring.

South by South West (SXSW) is another five day marathon of exhilarating musical discovery and is held in Texas. 22 years of success has seen the small music festival grow into a media blast that showcases and often creates cultural and media trends.

With the looming recession on everybody's minds, it has been hard for many fans to stump up the cash to attend this year. And what better way to air this unease? Tell the world all about it on your social networking site of choice.

And apparently it worked. Nate DeNiro and Alex H Williams, two Americans, saw the mass of posts appearing and decided to do something about it. Enter NotAtSXSW, the cheaper alternative to the Texan festival.

NotAtSXSW went viral and soon found a place in the hearts of many a twat/twit/twitterer or whatever you call them. And of course, you can guess what happened next. They started to organise parties.

There are already events planned in more than 20 locations worldwide including London, New York, Wisconsin, Portland and Miami with more appearing every day. And all this thanks to the glorious internet.

So next time you are thinking about getting into music or starting a band or launching a club night, just remember that you don't have to work as hard as the old boys. Get your demo tape together, put an mp3 on myspace and tell the world about it on twitter. It's worked so far.