Unknown bands are now becoming superstars, all due to the popularity gained on their MySpace band profiles. A recent article on MSNBC’s website discussed the growing trend of band’s creating MySpace profiles.
Bands are drawn to MySpace profiles because they are free, easy to design, and allow many viewers. MySpace is now the third most visited website; I’m sure that beats out how many people watch Fuse TV a day.
Bands are now seeing MySpace as a way to bridge the gap between fans. I myself have visited many of my favorite bands’ profiles, and I find that they are much cooler and personal than the band’s website. I feel like I can connect with new bands by listening to their music and looking at pictures from the concerts and everyday lives of the members. New bands can be found by searching name, genre, location, or keyword. Successful bands such as Audioslave have previewed entire albums on MySpace before the release date. Features such as video and audio allow fans to experience new music from their favorite artists.
Many find MySpace to be more successful than competitiors because of interconnectivity. Any genre of music can be found in one place. When a user looks at a band’s profile, they can find music, video, concert dates, pictures, and information. You can also add the band as your friend, and find who else likes the band.
MySpace allows bands to market themselves for free. Songs can be downloaded, concert dates are announced, and marketing promos can all be listed on one profile. Bands can also market each other by listing other bands on their top friends or posting links to the other profiles.
Even large bands, such as Dashboard Confessional, have felt gratification through MySpace profiles. You can get a virtual picture of fans, and get loads of wall posts praising music. A counter is added to the pages to show how many songs have been downloaded per day.
A MySpace anniversary concert was recently held, bands could interact with the millions of fans they considered their friends on MySpace.
MySpace has recently joined with Interscope Records to form MySpace Records. This record company will feature new and well-known bands the music world of MySpace fans. Indie music is particularly popular on MySpace Bands, so I’m sure many of the three or four signed bands per year will be Indie bands.
As long as record labels and producers do not begin to abuse MySpace profiles, MySpace will continue to lead the search for new and popular bands.
I think this topic would be a very interesting thing for our class to investigate. From personal experience, I agree that MySpace is a great marketing tool and a way to become closer to bands. MySpace has introduced newly popular bands to our society, such as: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and My Chemical Romance. Almost every person in our class has probably looked at a band’s profile or at least listened to their music. It is truly revolutionizing the music industry.
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I agree that MySpace is a great way for bands to become more widely known. I have discovered many of my favorite bands for the first time by seeing and listening to them on MySpace. Seeing their profiles makes you realize how down to earth most of them really are.
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