How Myspace Has Revolutionized the Music Industry

When I originally signed up with Myspace, I didn't know what to expect. I knew it was a popular online community with a free membership and opportunity to keep up with your friends, both old and new. And just like the rest of the entire free world, I fell into a deep bout of obsession with Myspace and before long I was Googling for self-help groups. Myspace had turned out to be a valuable tool for me, not necessarily as an online community member but rather a fan of music. I believe that Myspace has been the greatest tool in my generation for the discovery of new talent. Here's why, from my all-knowing Associated Content journalistic opinion:

Myspace puts the fans and bands in the driver's seat. It allows every band an equal chance to be heard, whether you're a platinum recording artist or small emo-punk band from Spokane, Washington with no stage experience beyond that of the basement. Myspace offers the same tools and setup to every member and does not discriminate based on popularity and size. Every band can have their own page and place in the world's most popular online community. No longer are fans of music forced to devour whatever garbage the music corporations throw at us. We are in control and we choose to listen to what we like, instead of what corporations like Sony deem "marketable," resulting in a limitation to what's on the shelves at the local Virgin Records store. Perhaps the greatest thing about Myspace Music is that it is free for everyone. Bands that have no money to invest in marketing can now expose their homemade sound to a pretty big demographic, the entire world. Bands can customize their site and update it with new music, tour dates, pictures, friends, and blogs about different topics. From their perspective, it's a no brainer. Pay hundreds of dollars to have a website made for them, as well as pay for the search optimization involved with metatags and keywords or take fifteen minutes to sign up for a free site with the entire world at their finger tips? That's an easy one.

One way that it's revolutionized the music industry is it has changed the way bands approach promoting their music. Sure, it's still a great idea to float a demo around town to the local radio stations and music venues, but if a band spends more time recruiting fans on the Myspace local forums then they've increased their exposure much more than doing it the hard way. A band could develop a small following by never leaving the keyboard. For instance, there are several bands in my hometown of Wilmington, NC that I listen to on Myspace. I've even gone out to a few of the local venues to see them play and none of this would've been possible without Myspace. And I'm just one story of millions out there. Also, when I go to a show from now on I can easily research the opening act and learn a few songs before I see them. If I like them, it will be easy to keep up with them.

Another great thing about Myspace Music is that it is very user friendly. I couldn't think of any improvements the site could make. A band can customize the look of their website and develop a "personality" with different themes. A fan would simply click on their site and the songs will start streaming over the Internet. The fan is not required to download flash graphics or a media player. One problem I have with surfing different band sites is that I have to weed through the different pages to get to the one I want. It's five minutes before I've accessed their music or tour page. On Myspace, everything is on one page in a neat, organized manner. You can check out a band's tour dates, biography, pictures, friends, blogs, and music from one simple page.

One indication that Myspace is an important venue is because many major labels are very involved in maintaining a band's website. They bring in their own webmasters to handle the Myspace page just as if it were their regular site. The webmaster will add updates, videos, and songs on the page on a weekly basis. I've noticed many times that a particular band's Myspace page is updated prior to their own website. They see an opportunity to capitalize on the exposure so they've decided to embrace Myspace, not ignore it.

How does a fan find a particular band, you may ask? Well, it's really quite simple. In fact, all you have to do is by search by a particular style or genre of music on the Myspace Music page. For instance, if you like ska or reggae then simply search by those terms.

I see Myspace as being an irreplaceable institution for simple networking reasons. Everyone uses Myspace, but not everyone takes the time to manually search the web for different bands. The days of previewing songs on Amazon are over. Myspace is giving the underdog a chance for once, and for music lovers it has become a way of life.