Independent bands struggle to see how much exposure they can gain online, because they have the daunting task of making sure their music is solid enough for strangers’ ears to hear their finished product.

Indie bands need to realize that they can create a market for their music before it is completed just by generating a presence utilizing social networks that are out there for them.

Bands need to look beyond Myspace and Facebook to gain the superior online presence they expect  when they use the internet.

The World Wide Web is more than what mainstream media says it is, but bands are too preoccupied with what they are told by them. The bands need to realize that there is more than Twitter that should be occupying their time.

Mybandstock.com has setup a Web site to help bands and their fans work together to produce music they love to hear. The site gives bands the opportunity to get funded and give back to their loyal fans.

The Web site has created an environment where fans have the opportunity to invest in a band’s project, “thereby purchasing Band Stock.” The project could be a: CD, video, merchandise, production, touring fund, or marketing tools.

In return, the band offers exclusive content such as tickets, personal phone calls and signed t-shirts to the fans that do invest in their projects. The investor also receives total access to the Web site including communicating with other users, stopping by their favorite band’s page and write on their stage.

Fans have the opportunity to invest in more than one band on the Web site. The site is meant to also help music fans discover new independent artists.

Mybandstock.com was brainstormed by Drew Leahy and Kevin Pritchard in the summer of 2007. Leahy thought of the possibility of purchasing stock in a band. The idea of a band controlling their own future through fan support began the business planning process.

The founders want music to, “flourish as it should: as an art, an experience, a way of life, and NOT as a commodity.”

Their “music revolution” was launched on January 15, 2009. To find out more information about the site, go to www.mybandstock.com.