The Ins and Outs of MySpace Music: Need-to-Know Info for Aspiring Artists

I have recently begun to post my music on MySpace, and I've done so reluctantly and with plenty of fear. Before I go on, though, let me address all the "Oh my God, Jetlag Democracy is also a recording artist" questions. FACT: I am a fairly successful avant-garde musician. In so much as any avant-garde pop artist can be "successful". Please, if you get a chance, take a look and listen to my great music here: myspace.com/calypsojohnsonmusic. There is a new song up every single weekday and I hope you like it.

Anyway, I'm not here to pimp out my site and promote my music. I do enough of that on a street-by-street level (whatever that means). No, what I'm here to do today is offer my help. I want to help you, Average Joe in the Average White (or multi-racial) Band. So you say you're in a band and you've heard about this thing called MySpace. What's this all about, you ask. There's a ton of fine print and a bunch of warnings, but you don't have the time to look at it all (heck, maybe you just smoke too much pot to care; it's understandable-after all, you are in a band). No worries, Papa Jetlag is here to help.

There are only a few need-to-know points when it comes to MySpace music. Other than the logistical, "how-to" stuff, which is fairly self-explanatory, there are really only two things that I feel the need to make clear…

ONE, MySpace Music owns your music if you put it on their site. It's true. I found this completely disheartening when I first heard this. (I read about it in SPIN magazine, you might have caught this article too). In a way, MySpace Music is the American Idol of the internet for shitty bands. It's loaded with crap, everyone's trying to be "big stars" and it's owned by FOX. Okay, it's exactly like American Idol. You see, MySpace is owned by the same company who owns FOX. And here's the kicker: If you post a song on MySpace, you know, to "promote" your band-well, that song is partially owned by FOX. You retain the copyright but FOX and all it's affiliates can use your tune (royalty-free) in any way they see fit. If they want to use it during 'House' or 'Prison Break' or 'The OC', they can… and they don't have to pay you. I completely agree that MySpace Music is an awesome tool for promoting music, but you may want to take this into consideration. Here's a couple of things to think about… 1. Only putting your demo songs up, 2. Constantly changing songs (this is what I do) and 3. Avoiding any obvious commercial material.

TWO, MySpace Music is serious when they say, "you must own the copyright". I have read a lot of bad things about people posting songs that they don't own. In other words, don't do it.

In closing, there are a lot of good and bad things about MySpace Music. I think there are a ton of benefits to it, but you have to be careful. Ideally, you should use it to host a few rough versions of songs as a way to promote shows. Start your own website if you want to offer your songs for free download. Unless of course, you want your songs featured on The OC. I shudder at the thought, but that's just me.

Thanks for listening, and good luck.