Ok, basically one reason our band discussions are lacking, is that no one is really starting great threads. Starting a thread with "Discuss" or "Does anyone else like this band?" is not the way to go. It doesn't generate enough discussion. You also don't want to write an FA, or if you do, please do, we need those too, but for a basic band thread, don't write an FA.
Do write a description of the band, including things like "Sounds like" and why you like them. If you're making the thread because of some sort of news, please leave a link to a legitimate source, and don't start a thread based on some rumor you read on another message board.
Use
http://www.yousendit.com to upload songs for unknown bands. How it works is you go there, send a file to the server (you don't have to enter an email address) and it will give you a link. Paste that link in your thread and then people who don't know the band can get a song to listen to to try to get them interested in the band.
If you write a good short paragraph and have some audio links, the thread is much more successful and people can get into new bands. You can generate better discussion and they don't die out within a page. It's not a lot of effort to write a paragraph praising a band you want to share and uploading a song or two takes 10 minutes on a decent internet connection.
Feel free to add to this.