So what should your next move be with MySpace Music? The following is a guest post from Caren Kelleher, head of business development at Songkick, manager of unsigned band The Lighthouse and the Whaler, and an HBS grad to boot.
Six years ago, my favorite band sent an email out to its listserv and asked us all to join them on a new social network called MySpace. Being a superfan, I immediately signed up. There I found a place where I could stream music, write the band a note, meet other fans and find out about upcoming shows. For a music fan, this was heaven on Earth.
Today I sit on the other side of the table, managing The Lighthouse and the Whaler, an unsigned band from Cleveland. While half of me wishes for that utopian MySpace I remember, the other half is frustrated that MySpace exists at all. That's because MySpace has put millions of artists, particularly unsigned ones like Lighthouse, in a strange limbo.
Though popular opinion in this industry is that MySpace is dead, that's not quite the case. One reason is that MySpace is a leader in SEO. Just Google 'The Lighthouse and the Whaler' (or most other bands, for that matter) and the first search result will be its MySpace page. Unless the site were turned off today, it is unlikely that this will change any time soon.
This puts MySpace in a strange void: it's a site that's dying, yet still cannot be ignored by bands. If someone stumbled onto a MySpace artist page and found it outdated and left to die, it would be fair to assume that the band broke up or doesn't care about its social media presence. While the redesign and strategic shift should encourage bands to keep up with their MySpace accounts, it's time-consuming to update every social networking profile and to communicate with fans across so many networks.
That is especially true when you consider the utility of the web as an A&R tool. While we used to hear about bands being "discovered" on MySpace, recent stars are being made on YouTube. Scooter Braun claims to have found Bieber through YouTube, while Greyson Chance and the PS22 Chorus kids also found fame and new opportunities thanks to the site. With 360-degree contracts on the rise, I expect YouTube to become a more important part of the A&R process and hope the site builds out better features to support such use.
However, if Myspace has taught us anything, it's not to put all your fans on one site unless it's your own. The Lighthouse and the Whaler has 11,000 fans on MySpace versus 2,000 on Facebook. Growing that fanbase feels a bit like starting over. Sure, there are a lot of faux fans on MySpace - like corporate brands, other bands, and aspiring porn stars - but also a number of fans that regularly engage with the band by requesting gigs and sending fan mail. While the band is using Damntheradio, email notifications and social media to help grow its fanbase on Facebook and YouTube, it will take time for the band to amass the fans it once had on MySpace.
Even then, I'm weary about sending fans to Facebook since it can change privacy policies, tab layouts and other settings with little or no notice. Still, it is not enough to rely on an email list, especially as younger fans turn to alternative ways of communicating, like SMS.
Even with the rise of artist service companies, few are positioned to replicate what is perhaps MySpace's biggest asset: its role as the musician's calling card. The myspace.com/bandname URL is a common convention most bands adhere to and more consumers recognize. Chances are good that the piano man at your neighborhood bar has a MySpace page, as do the world's most successful acts. While combining a number of APIs and widgets on an artist's homepage can achieve the same functionality of MySpace, few have the potential to achieve the URL ubiquity that MySpace has.
And so, we're sort of stuck with MySpace Music, whether we like it or not.

Comments Closed
The Insider Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Myspace made their bones via music and artist discovery. Perhaps they failed to understand everything else after that. This is a nice post!

Chris Rockett Thursday, January 13, 2011
I think that it's best to keep it simple with music marketing and focus your efforts where the fans are.
It's not a problem for most people to manage myspace, youtube, twitter and facebook.
But it's also a good idea to try and divert people off those sites and onto your mailing list ASAP.
Really like this article, I'm going to blog about this.

Scott Friday, January 21, 2011
Yea, I've tried to get people on our mailing list as well as an SMS list, but I get the most engagement from Facebook (even more than I ever got on MySpace, despite having 1/100th fewer fans on Facebook).

@PatrickTrojman Wednesday, January 12, 2011

jefrey Monday, February 21, 2011
for thanks..

@bjza Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The only reason for a band to use any social network is to interact with fans. If a significant number of fans aren't actively using Myspace to connect with the band, then the band should drop their account. (If the band was never using Myspace to genuinely interact with their fans, they were probably part of the problem.)
No band should ever put themselves in a situation where they feel "married" to one service. Use the many individual services that do one thing well and use them as they're intended, use them as your fans do. Don't expect one service to do everything: users will only end up feeling betrayed once the service begins to feel less like THEIR space and more someone else's. (Note the hostility with which Vevo is being greeted by Youtube users: the one-way broadcast model runs contrary to their expectations and leaves them feeling robbed.)

gRassrootsy Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Well said! Myspace isnt dead. I guess its more appropriate to say that it is "dying" slowly.
gR wrote an article almost a year ago called"Is Myspace Dead?" and its got a couple really great points about things that still make it a viable site.

@bandzoogle Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Bandzoogle The smartest post about Myspace Music that I've read

@caren Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Buck Thursday, January 13, 2011
Very well written summation of the current state of MySpace

@Burghsounds Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Charles Alexander Wednesday, January 12, 2011
MySpace was a nice idea and a novel platform that lacked direction and purpose. Platforms hang around because people get comfortable with the idea and are reluctant to let go until a more appealing platform comes along that serves the same function.
That's what MySpace is. Kinda like an old, working, you-know-how-to-use-it microwave. It's fine for what it is. But I'm not gonna build my career around it. This just underscores how focussed you should be on your own web site. Especially, if you have an app to complement the site.

@davidkav Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Christopher Buttner Wednesday, January 12, 2011
"...it's a site where nothing is happening, yet still cannot be ignored by bands.
"And so, we're sort of stuck with MySpace Music, whether we like it or not."
MySpace is over... the day before this article ran, DMN ran this report about MySpace: Myspace Executes "Organizational Restructuring," 47% Chop...
So, what is it then? Nothing happening and yet MySpace still cannot be ignored? Or is DMN's vetting process for submitted article lacking that such ridiculous contradictions get past the editors.
This is the United States... we're stuck with nothing, especially MySpace. Such an ignorant statement. I'd like to tear this article apart, piece by piece, but anyone with a modicum of marketing savvy can see all the flaws, like cracks in a sidewalk.
Bands, here's a suggestion, put a banner on your Myspace page: 'Everything's better at (your website URL)", get serious about your website, build it on a CMS backbone, like Wordpress, and start amping it up with a Facebook Fanpage & Tweet like crazy.
It's one thing to have 11,000 fans on Facebook, but what are they doing? What's the conversion? 2,000 seriously active fans on Facebook are worth far more than 11,000 inactive Myspace fans that are like fleas abandoning a dying giant.
It's a new world with new technologies. Adapt or die if you stay on Facebook.

Christopher Buttner Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Correction Adapt or die if you stay on MYSPACE.

PartlyCloudy Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Christopher, I'm failing to see the contradiction? Rather I see nuance. Myspace is dying, yet bands still need it b/c of its reach and legacy etc --- so not a black or white matter.

tone Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Does a new band NEED Myspace to be successful? This is the question.

@fingertipsmusic Wednesday, January 12, 2011

@griffijw Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Chris "Seth" Jackson Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Unfortunately, MySpace is still the main point of contact for getting gigs. Many promoters and bookers go there first to contact a band. Not having a MySpace page may make it harder to be contacted.
Plus, many bands are still active there. I use MySpace to see where other bands are playing in a particular zip code. You just can't do that with FaceBook or most other services.
Even though fans aren't signing up or participating, MySpace is still one of the first places people go to hear your music. They are used to the interface.
- Chris "Seth" Jackson
http://howtorunaband.com

jon ji Friday, January 14, 2011
myspace is still the defacto epk for most bookers.
that's the working truth.
facebook is a different medium with a different function.
people are getting made at their wrench because it won't make orange juice.
silly.

jon ji Friday, January 14, 2011
i meant mad not made.
drat.

@tonyadam Wednesday, January 12, 2011

@sippycupyall Wednesday, January 12, 2011

@Valleyarm Thursday, January 13, 2011

@gulture Thursday, January 13, 2011

prthatrocks Thursday, January 13, 2011
Numbers don't lie... it's not like we haven't seen the demise of MySpace on the horizon for quites some time now.
Forbes Magazine, July 2007:
Class War: MySpace Vs. Facebook
http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/20/facebook-myspace-internet-tech-cz_ccm_0723class.html
Digital Music News: January 2001. MySpace is now chopping 47 percent of its staff, according to an official announcement this morning. MySpace CEO Mike Jones pointed to a global pare-down across most departments, and a slash of more than 500.
http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/011111myspace47#2spyOrFJ3GB-UhMTtbf_pQ
Have you ever heard of the Titanic Fallacy? What was the critical flaw to the Titanic? A captain trying to set a world speed record through an iceberg field? The ship hitting an iceberg? Even if the Titanic came in safely to New York Harbor, it was still doomed. 11 years earlier, two brothers invented the airplane.
Time to adapt people. Myspace is a losing cause. YouTube is the #1 online resource for people researching both new and old music, combined with a savvy Wordpress blog for your band in where Twitter and Facebook are driving fans to your blog.

k Thursday, January 13, 2011
Yes, youtube is good for watching videos (and not everyone makes videos). Myspace has things that youtube doesn't. It's one of the first entries that comes up when you type a band/artist into google, and if all you want is to listen to a few songs, it's handy for that. That's how people use it now, and why no one logs in anymore, giving the illusion that myspace is dead.

@GBayliss Thursday, January 13, 2011

Yves Villeneuve Thursday, January 13, 2011
The truth of the matter is, your true fans will follow you wherever you go.
I've got all my eggs in Myspace.
If I choose to go elsewhere, my true fans will follow me. No artist needs a nest of fickle eggs.
www.myspace.com/yvesvilleneuve

@donalscannell Thursday, January 13, 2011

@SophianF Thursday, January 13, 2011

@Alter_K Thursday, January 13, 2011

@sippycupyall Thursday, January 13, 2011
ATTN: ARTISTS, KILL YOUR MYSPACE
Just do it. Now more than ever before. They tried revamping it and now the music player’s wonky and the tour dates are awkward to read and they fired 47% of their staff. It’s time.
Here are the steps for the redesigned account:
1. Log into your account, go to your URL
2. Click Edit Profile just below your name
3. On the left hand menu, scroll down to Cancel Account under Account Settings & Privacy
I get the impression websites are built on foundations the same way houses are, just with code instead of concrete. When Myspace is trying to keep up with new advances in web development, it’s like watching someone add 10 new floors to a 1950s split level.
SEO is the last thing Myspace has going for it. Raise your hand if Googling your band name yields a first result of your Myspace page. That will be gone in a matter of days after deleting it, and your www, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, or Muxtape will show up next. Just make sure you have shows posted, music streamable/downloadable, and an email address. If you have your Myspace page but put up a message like “find us elsewhere at:” or “Myspace sucks, email us at:”, you’re doing it wrong.
You’re actually still using it for messaging back and forth with folks? How many messages from shitty artists, spam, and promoters do you have to sift through until you find something of quality? Of those quality contacts, how many times do you take your conversation to email/phone/something else?
Myspace is the only webpage you have? Just make the switch to a new foundation, give it a month overlap and let your dwindling Myspace community know you’re jumping ship too.
Don’t just let it go idle, kill it. Less Myspace pages means less Myspace traffic means less Myspace advertising moneys means less shitty social networks. The world will be better. The sun will shine brighter. I promise.

@leninstomb Thursday, January 13, 2011

Patrick Faucher Thursday, January 13, 2011
The job of any social platform is to bring people together and let them have meaningful exchanges.
Connecting to fans @ MySpace is only valuable as a discovery channel if you can capture and engage those fans on a level that goes beyond just friending and inevitably goes beyond what you can do at MySpace.
If MySpace can reinvent itself and foster valuable connections then it will remain relevant for artists.
At Nimbit we think the simplest, most useful approach for artists (and labels) to take with MySpace would be:
1. If you are going to keep a MySpace profile, make sure is is up to date. Otherwise don't have one.
2. Give the fans that show up there some creative ways to support you as an artist - get them to tell two friends, offer track for email, sell stuff directly, even just let them donate $$
3. Engage them further at your own website and/or get them to sign up to a fan list that you fully control outside of MySpace.
4. Measure the results, track who comes to you from there and what do they do after - did they signup, buy, pass you along to friends?
There are many good platforms such as Nimbit that help you do these things and most are FREE to signup for.
From here you can gauge how valuable MySpace is for you and whether it is work the time you put into it.
Patrick Faucher
Nimbit CTO & Founder

@brookeparrott Thursday, January 13, 2011

@BrianCharniga Thursday, January 13, 2011

@mrbitterness Thursday, January 13, 2011

@bzzzbip Thursday, January 13, 2011

@robertofisher Thursday, January 13, 2011
Thank you for the thoughtful article. I work at Myspace, leading product for Music. Our team and I here do read these articles and the commentaries.
It's always good to discuss things which aren't black and white. We are listening to artists, labels, fans, and we know there's a lot of features which could be improved, simplified, and opened up more. We're continuing to work to deliver value to artists and their fans. We also know that the old models are changing as audiences shift and the needs of the music community continue to evolve. I've been working in digital music for 11 years now, since early days at LAUNCH.com and at Yahoo! Music. It's more challenging than ever to be effective online.
We here hope to improve so many more things about our offerings still, and at the same time we have been able to introduce some truly exciting products recently specifically designed to help artists, such as an open fan management platform and an open stats platform. The fan program let's bands build their fanbase and message them wherever they are, and the stats product now offers the ability to track stats outside of Myspace on Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook. (By the way, they're *free*.) We've also just introduced distributable song embeds which allow independent bands to have the same music that publishes to Myspace also play off of Myspace. And, we have more great artist products in the works, and some pretty neat stuff that will improve the overall experience for fans online and in mobile too.
We even recently met with the Facebook team to talk about unique ways we could work together which truly benefit bands and the fans that are on the Facebook platform. I personally love the features Facebook offers, and also think Myspace offers a different and more colorful type of experience for artists and fans. We're hanging in there because we believe that having different types of solutions in the market is a good thing for all, and we're working hard and remaining positive because we believe that there is great value in our offering. That value becomes more evident as we improve things following the relaunch of the Myspace experience. We continuously do user testing and talk with bands, band management, labels and fans too. For the open minded and forgiving people out there, do wish us luck -- the world will be a better place, in my humble opinion, if we here at Myspace really get it right to facilitate artist and fans connections through music over the Internet.
Hit me up if you have positive passion and ideas about moving forward. If you don't, no worries but we ain't got time for the haters :-).
Peace,
Roberto

Yves Villeneuve Thursday, January 13, 2011
Roberto, I'm at myspace for the long term and have no interest in diversifying...I don't have the time for every social network. I appreciate the dedication management and staff have put into improving the site with all the extra tools.
My greatest compliments go to the way Myspace has always allowed artists to access other bands friends list and directly ask for friendships of their fans. It's the easiest way to make friends for your band on the net.
Due to hidden reasons, it has been 12 months since I ceased to spend 2-4 hours a day making new friend requests on Myspace. Maybe band managers and their staff should spend more time doing this...engaging others on Myspace to become your client's friend on Myspace.
I assure you, it does work and when you positively treat your friends they return the favor by financially supporting you. Large friends lists are created much quicker this way than asking them at your show.
Regards,
www.myspace.com/yvesvilleneuve

NathanJE Thursday, January 13, 2011
Is Courtney Holt still at MySpace? Roberto? or anyone?

@robertofisher Thursday, January 13, 2011
Yes.

@MusicMarketingX Thursday, January 13, 2011

Karl Thursday, January 13, 2011
Great post! They've changed everything after Tom, and they simply lost the original idea. The new myspace is really slow and stupid.

@jpretus Thursday, January 13, 2011

Jeremy-Joseph Rosen Thursday, January 13, 2011
This editorial is founded on several assumptions, a few of which have already been addressed by other commenters.
Still, the SEO argument and the "URL ubiquity" arguments tie together and are both incorrect. The search engine rankings will go away the less a band (or anyone) relies upon MySpace. The less relevant the page, the less likely people are to link to it, the less likely it is to float to the top. MySpace pagerank can die pretty quickly if you stop using MySpace.
Journalists, fans, and promoters will stop using it for any purpose at all and adopt the .com if it contains the information they need. Wikipedia, artist sites, and other third party platforms have all been taking peak positions away from MySpace pages in the last two years. The URL ubiquity thing? That's Caren's unsupported hunch. My hunch is that people will use whatever's at the top of search results if it has the band's name in it and that that can be your official site, Facebook page, blog, Last.fm, ReverbNation, or whatever if you actively use one of those platforms instead of MySpace.
Do what you want to do online and do it well. Have some presence at industry-leading third parties. Don't feel pressured to tweet or be on Facebook all day or make clever videos if that's not what you're good at. It will show. Do the things you like to do online. If you don't like to do anything online, find someone to help you out.
At the end of the day, let's remember that it starts with your music first anyway. If your music sucks you're not going to make it from the ground up.
Jeremy Rosen
Director, Digital Platforms & Web Sites
Roadrunner Records

prthatrocks Thursday, January 13, 2011
Michael Brandvold, KISS' Former Online Marketing to Give Away Band Website Evaluations, in cooperation with ArtistHead.com.
http://www.newmusicweekly.com/news2.php?a=5107

@buzzsonic Friday, January 14, 2011

@bigrelative Friday, January 14, 2011

me Friday, January 14, 2011
i'm in disagreement with this post, myspace killed itself when it let "bands" dominate. facebook won out because it's personal, and that won't last for long now that every business thinks you want to 'like' or 'friend' em.
i negate any band that gives me their card with only a myspace.com/myband website. to me it just shows they're not good enough or profitable enough to afford $15 a month to have their own website....

Eddie Gordon Friday, January 14, 2011
Myspace should be turned into a major online radio station with a professional schedule of Radio DJs playing genre's of music coming to the site with a click through to buy the music. As a global platform, already with a huge database and advertising structure it would be a massive waste of opportunity not to be proactive.
Pandora is ok but try getting your music onto their playlist - it has an archaic way of dealing with new submissions that 99% of the time hinders progress.
The playlist could be 50% public voted for using CAPTCHA - anybody with a good set of ears will hear if something is being mass voted for that is crap which could then be played in a section Dead or Alive.
I know there are licensing and royalty issue's to being an online radio station but the majority of the battle for global recognition is already in place. Everybody has heard of Myspace.
With the right management team and DJ line-up it could be an incredible success and totally turn the business around.
It would be such a buzz if they did this to challenge the control of terrestrial radio in the USA and succeeded.
I'd help and you could have a Digital Music News show at 5pm everyday for an hour telling people what the F is happening!

@robertofisher Friday, January 14, 2011
Am glad you mentioned radio. In fact, the team and I have been considering the value that radio could bring to artists and fans if done in a new model a la 'Myspace'.
Internet radio continues to be a
growing market, and I believe will continue to grow very much larger
still as the connected planet comes together. Radio can be a phenomenal
discovery product in addition to being a pleasurable listening
experience to consume. I was part of the team who built the original LAUNCHcast radio, where unlike Pandora we were able to offer the ability to improve airplay for music the industry was interested in promoting. The marketing editorial organization and I have in mind that if we do radio, that we'd like to figure out a way to help service that hole in the online market. I believe we're well positioned to do that.
The content we receive from artists here at Myspace is truly
massive and very different from the content with which Pandora operates
its service. Myspace see new song content published often long before they get
pressed for distribution, and often see songs that never make their way
into traditional distribution channels. I'm not allowed to reveal catalog numbers but trust me... we are hands down the world's largest audio catalog. I think that's pretty awesome, and a unique
opportunity for artists, for fans, and for Myspace.
Finally, with content rights being what they are, radio can also help reach consumers on mobile handsets, opening up new audience opportunities which is good for business all around. We remain very excited that Myspace Music is able to offer what we do on Myspace.com today, and more recently with our distributable song widgets. I'd be even more excited if Myspace Music radio could come to life, and be powered by artists, fans, and DJs.
Stay tuned... more on this soon, I hope.
Peace,
Roberto

@FanWaveMedia Friday, January 14, 2011

Michael Brandvold Friday, January 14, 2011
Great article and hits the point I preach all the time, make your own website the hub of all online activity. Don't send all your fans to another website that you don't control. Use the social sites as a extension of and traffic source for your own website.
I would encourage you to read a recent article I posted about how bands should use Facebook and Twitter with their official website. I used a study of KISS to show how not to do it.
Michael

@2TuffDC Friday, January 14, 2011

Ben Friday, January 14, 2011
The only real argument she makes for MySpace's continued existence is its SEO placement. However rumor has it that their agreement with Google expires this year. Additionally, those MySpace friends are worthless if they're no longer coming back to MySpace to interact with bands (which they're not). MySpace had the opportunity to own the social networking space but squandered it with a lack of safety regulation, requirement of HTML knowledge for design, and a cluttered layout that doesn't benefit anybody. Take away the SEO placement and acknowledge the fact that MySpace friendships don't equal quality correspondence and you've got every reason you need to ignore the site. It's dead bandwidth and it's painfully overpopulated with mediocre bands, and the fact they just laid off nearly 50% of the company only underscores its impending doom.

prthatrocks Monday, January 17, 2011
I really don't think we're stuck with Myspace for long: http://blogs.forbes.com/adamhartung/2011/01/14/why-facebook-beat-myspace/?boxes=Homepagechannels

Tigershungry Monday, January 17, 2011
Out of everything I can see at the moment something like a combination of soundcloud and Rootmusic seems like the way forward. You can have access to all the benefits of existing within facebook but keep all your music 'safer' on soundcloud.
Myspace is just a bad habbit that musicians will kick soon enough. Myspace is just to big with too many stake holders now I think to ever really whittle itself down into something dynamic enough to retain the dominance it has with independent artists.

Allison Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Agreed! You don't have to get stuck with MySpace! Granted, for the band she's talking about, she might have more MySpace friends, but look at eg Rihanna - 21.7 million FB likes v 2 million MySpace friends. Wow! Huge difference!
Facebook is much easier to use, and there IS a solution for musicians on Facebook - BandPage. It's not about coralling all your fans to a new social network - they're already there! And once your music is up - they'll stay there.
Let the great migration begin.

@itsthathipster Saturday, January 22, 2011

Graham Way Thursday, February 03, 2011
I agree with Chris (Rockett). Building your email list is key.
Indeed, too many artists make the mistake of using one or another networking site as their "home" on the Internet, when they should be setting up their main place of business on their own piece of Internet real estate. An artist's domain is their castle, so to speak.
Sure, go hang out on the social media/music-oriented sites and spend some time building interest, but the ultimate aim is to get people to and through your door, where you have the most control over what goes on, can grow your list and ultimately convert those people into loyal fans, street teamers, buyers of merch and so forth.
And, for those like Scott who may not be having as much success as they’d like getting people to their site and onto their email list, I’d bet there’s some online marketing things you aren’t doing as effectively as you could, or aren’t doing at all, that need looking at.
Great article Caren--something my blog readers would appreciate for sure.

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