Where are people going? They certainly aren't writing more letters and hanging out in groups and having "conversations" and they definitely aren't checking out more concerts. So where are they and what are they doing and with whom? I mean, you can only Google your own name and your ex's so many times before you get bored, so what is everyone up to on the internet? Nobody listens to the radio - nobody even watches tv anymore. WHERE THE FUCK IS EVERYONE?
I'm not the first to say or think this but it feels like a big shift is happening. Not like a 2012 shift but just a change in the way our generation uses the internet and phones and communication toys.
Remember when we all signed up for Myspace accounts? Then bands like ours signed up and that became a huge vehicle for getting our music out into the world. This band owes a lot to Myspace and it's users. Word of mouth has carried this band this far. But why am I going to coinstar every week with change I find to buy food and Myspace has made Billions of dollars off me and my band and others just like me? I mean, they offered us all a free service. We took the bait, swallowed it and it tasted good.
Well, the worm is starting to turn in my stomach now.
Now if people want to check out my band they are bombarded with movie ads and singles dating ads and other bands and videos of people getting hit in the balls (thanks bob saget) and more and more bullshit - all people making way more money than me but it's not even about money. There were still ads back when it started but you gotta admit it's become a little ridiculous and very a.d.d. Even on YouTube, another "free" service, you can't watch anything without ads popping up here or there but at least my band gets heard...right? I mean, they gave us a free service that became a trend so then everyone goes to one place for their stuff right? Even Radiohead is pissed they don't get any money from the millions of advertising revenue they bring sites like YouTube. So how much is a free service worth? How can you value exposure? I don't have an answer but this is what's going through my head right about now.
I can't blame Myspace, YouTube, Facebook or any of these sites for creating such a genius trap. I mostly blame myself for relying on these things like everyone else has for so long. Band's stopped making .com websites because myspace could do it for you for free and usually - better. But is it okay to subject your listeners to ads and bullshit that they don't want? Don't you just want to be able to focus on what you intended on doing? How many times have you stopped listening to a band's song online because you clicked something else on the page that took you away from it. I love videos of people getting hit in the balls just like every man, but can I at least get 4 minutes of your undivided attention? I don't know, can I? You can say that all these websites have helped the music community and everyone get exposure. True. But at what cost? Better yet, whose profit?
We're all fighting for everyone's attention. The internet has made music less about music and more about getting people to give a fuck long enough to be discovered so you get your chance to impress them with your beautiful songs. I don't think it's right to subject listeners of my band to ads and bullshit they never asked for. I think it sucks. They had an intention behind typing in our url or searching our name and then they are averted away. What gives? Fuck off. Leave these people alone - I want the best for them. But this is the price we all pay for using free services. Well, I personally apologize to you all for enduring so much trash just to get information or listen to a song or watch a video of us. It's not right. I can't believe you aren't pissed. Are you pissed? Maybe I'm alone in this one. Maybe people ignore all the bullshit and just go for what they want.
It's time to go old school...we're going to have...a website again. (DUN DUN DUN!!!)
www.thereforeiamrock.com
(tempted to register www.fucktheguywhoownsthereforeiam.com like FYS did)
I know, it's weird right? Who would have thought? A site dedicated to one-single-thing without interruption. Thank Al Gore for that one.
In the near future we're going to have a new website and we're going to try and make it as interesting and thorough as possible - for you. Maybe you won't go to it, maybe you don't care, I hope you do - but at least it's there if you do. An oasis from the a.d.d. internet world. People will still probably go to our myspace more and that's fine, at least we have our own little corner of the universe where we can do our thing in peace and you can enjoy it in peace as well. A little too romantic? Maybe. But fuck it, at least there we get to call all the shots. If it doesn't work out then we'll just start posting videos of us getting hit in the balls. Anything for you. And when Myspace crumbles and everyone scrambles to find a new home - we'll be waiting for you with a shotgun, canned food and enough water to live off of for years safe in our .com bunker. That is, until 2012 when the anti-christ has a ufc match with the world. Ha.
Be well.
-Brian
this is my opinion: myspace, facebook, and twitter are all so popular now. to a lot of my friends, i may seem inactive on myspace, but really i'm usually just lurking the homepage. i use myspace strictly for music. if a see a band is playing soon in the area, i'll most likely use myspace to see what they sound like. if i like it, i'll add said band, read the bulletins, look at their pictures, and leave comments. and every time i log in, it's all right there, waiting to be looked at.
ReplyDeleteyou also mentioned myspace users being bomboarded with ads. it's not just the adds lately. lots of bands want these fancy-ass profiles. and with all the html, flash, and java shit running everywhere, my little overworked laptop slows down, it freezes up, and i just get frustrated.
if you think making your own website is what you need to do, i can support that. but i know i will still be signing into myspace more often then checking your website, simply for convience.
much love.
thanks for the feedback! i agree the band pages can become a little much, we try our best to make it look sweet and have a lot of content but not bog down your computer.
ReplyDeletei'm glad you are a avid myspace user, as am i. it helps us to hear this stuff because we're not a huge corporation who can do study groups and find out what our listeners our doing - it's all perception.
we'll still be using myspace and all the other techno-goodies to give our listeners as many options as possible but we're going to focus on the website so we have a home for all things TIA for whoever wants it.
take care
brian
Your post has been sitting in the back of my brain all day, turning and folding and shifting...I have no solution for you, just some random thoughts, I reckon.
ReplyDelete'You Are Connected' - yes, we are all connected 24/7 by our new tech toys. Who doesn't love their iPod, Blackberry, enVy, etc..., their Facespaces, Twitters, et al. It's one thing to be connected, but another entirely to actually know how to communicate, that's what's missing. How do we convey our real thoughts and emotions? That takes far more language than one status update or tweet can convey. We can give the snapshot and hope someone infers the rest, but when do we ever sit and really talk about how we are feeling and how our lives are going?
Digital Media has also changed the landscape. The longform album is dead and if the single doesn't get to the point in the first 20 seconds, it's "skip, skip skip" as we shuffle through our iTunes library, looking for the next 20 seconds that will make us forget the last 20 seconds. God forbid a song comes up that's longer than 3 minutes..."you mean I have to pay attention and listen for 5 or 6 MINUTES???" Not that anyone can hear the beat or lyrics over the sound of their keyboard or mouse clicks or text taps. Could it be we've 'Escape'd and have forgotten 'The Sound of Human Lives'?
I apologize for the bad puns with the album titles, but it puts TIA in perspective for me. The last time I saw you guys, the energy, the sounds, and the raw emotion that was so evident in the songs you played and in how you played your instruments and how Alex sang, I got a bit choked up. It was so clear how much what you guys do means to you and how you want to convey that to your audience. Once again, I say thank you for doing what you do.
So long story short, we need to learn how to use these technologies to communicate, not distract us from reality, but to add to it and enrich and enhance our lives.
Much love,
Chris Mac
Macwigout Productions
google wave
ReplyDeletethanks for your insight chris, you hit the nail on the head.
ReplyDeletewe have no problem when we are in the same room with people either talking to them or playing on stage and thank you for noticing we do care very much about what we do. it's the internet and the way it has changed and spun that i'm trying to figure out.
cheers
brian
i can't agree more, man. its good to see that you guys actually give a fuck, and some things havent changed since i saw you guys at the old Norwood Leigon shows back in the day.
ReplyDeleteA. fans, get a new laptop if you can't handle media sites allowing complete customization - this is a huge break through for bands. The only limits it puts on their marketing/image is their own magination. The creative, original bands (with quality music of course) will still shine through.
ReplyDeleteB. Instead of complaining about no one showing up to your shows on tour, find new ,effective ways to embrace networking sites. Build a grass roots following and don't depend onyour niche website to 'network' you and your fans. The only people looking at this ( or looking for it) will be dedicated fans. Broaden your horizons and stop trying to do what so many have done before you. It's way easier to follow an already beaten path - you will not stick out in the crowd.
I agree 100%
ReplyDeletebandcamp.com
its the best website for bands.
keep in touch.
greatfriendofmine.bandcamp.com
:)
what i really like about myspace is the top friends. i've found a lot of good music through top friends. its incredibly helpful in my eyes. and i do hate the myspaces that are just so flashy and look "good" and then end up having the shittiest music. it pisses me off. and shallow, superficial people buy into that shit, instead of really trying hard to find good music (because it is hard to find really good music these days). good music is worth searching for. as for the ads, i agree and find it pretty disgusting that ads are almost impossible to avoid. after playing 3 songs on myspace i have to click out of an add that i will never, ever have any interest in. i dont know if any of this was relevant or helpful or whatever, but i just want it to be clear that i agree. keep up the good work. music is important.
ReplyDeleteHey Brian.
ReplyDelete-I think the main problem is that bands that are signed to a record label do not add on myspace anymore. They think that since they are signed that they no longer have to promote themselves anymore. I honestly think that is what kills alot of good signed bands. Yes, there has been a shift from myspace to facebook, but alot of people still use their myspace for music and check it on occasion.
-This is my tip. Even though you are signed...still add on myspace!!! Just go to other bands' myspaces that have a similiar sound and add people off of their comment board. By adding off their comment board it shows that: 1.the person commenting actually likes that bands music (and maby yours) 2. They still use myspace/check it 3. they care enough about the band to post a nice comment...showing that they are loyal to said band. Also, dont add people who post ads or "showing sum love!"
Try to add like 100 people a day or try to hit the limit...I think it takes me like 4 hours a day to hit the limit when I added for my brothers old band (Riendeau) due to running into the "this person does not accept from bands" or "you need to know that persons last name to add them". And it still takes me a long time when I add for his new band (Hailey, it happens).
-Also on your off days of touring hand out flyers/one song cds to people as they leave other concerts whether it be bigger concerts with signed bands or local Boston shows (Lynn M.A. has alot of local shows). This is how bands orginally got their name out...why should you stop now just because you are signed. Hell, maby even play a few local shows just to get your name out there even more.
I can't say that I avoid Myspace for music; however, I'd much rather walk into a record store and scan the CD racks and buy something that peaks my interest, but all that aside...I do appreciate the fact that you intend to develop a website. Ads on Myspace piss me off and Facebook is looking the same way. I actually just deleted my Twitter because I'd rather call my friends and see what they are doing (versus checking their tweets, I guess). Either way, I hope you guys come back to NorCal soon. I was pissed I couldn't make it last Sunday...had work :(.
ReplyDelete"the illusion of legitimacy is more important than actual legitimacy" a friend of mine told me that a few years back. you've destroyed that illusion with this post reaching sites like ap.net. now your peers (other bands - signed & unsigned) know that you aren't doing any better than them. seems like a desperate plea to me.
ReplyDeleteanonymous- one day the facade will fall for us all, and we'll stop leasing cars we can't really afford, stop buying houses we can't really pay for, and musicians will stop needing to act like they're already celebrities selling records in order to, well, sell records. i know for a fact that there are acts out there who've played in front of 10-20,000 people a night with members who are technically homeless. does that make their music any less marketable or worthwhile? i'd argue that it simply confirms that they are real human beings who play music and also happen to have real lives.
ReplyDeletebrian, kudos for laying it out on the line and throwing it out there how things are going, questioning the current state of this business, and generally just stirring the shit, which not enough people are doing today (there's not enough room for that behind the somewhat limiting "illusion of legitimacy" apparently.) i've seen enough of my peers told that reaching out and letting fans know the reality of their situation breaks some sort of pseudo fourth wall, that once a musician is a "real person" the magic is gone. once all this clicking and clacking and general internet masturbation is over, maybe people will see once again that the magic is actually just sitting right there in the music. keep doing what you're doing; best of luck to you and the rest of the guys.
TLDNR
ReplyDeleteYou should have known this.
no one wants to really believe the idealistic dreams they hold so close are just mirages in the desert. of course myspace was such a success, it was new and most importantly it was working. it's synonymous with "music" in this infantile millennium. you get what you pay for, right? almost every site will turn to ad revenue to simply support the costs of maintaining a website, and if the times really are tough for the TIA crew, I figure that eventually thereforeiamrock.com will have to put up a banner or some way to support itself since it isn't through music.
ReplyDeletethe fact of the matter is music is based in the moment. the first time a song hits you, it's indescribable. a particular set of factors come together to call to a higher feeling in you and that defines that moment in your mind, and the emotion that it is able to draw out of you stays with you forever as a result. that is why most people never age out of the music they listened to as a kid. they are unprepared for the new adventure the adult world has to offer. their bodies are rapidly growing, and the sunshine atmosphere of their childhood has peeled away to reveal the cold brutal reality of an unforgiving world, plagued with disease, sin, death and depression from a species unable to come to terms with what it is they exactly feel. at a micro-level, these preteens and teens have no understanding of their feelings, they are carte blanche, again with no paint brush. music fills that void in any matter of ways. motivation, salvation, understanding, enabling, destruction, encouragement.
and it will never be predicted as to what adolescent attachment to music will be in a given time. hip-hop has made a huge explosion in the 90's and the children that grew up with music that appealed to an unspoken-for black community finally reaching out to the "white" top 40 stations have hit their puberty phase within the last 1-2 years which explains the grand permeation that hip-hop culture has penetrated in america. it finally reached the alternative scene, and much tension has resulted from the likes of attack attack, brokencyde and hollywood undead and the culture clash forming as a result of acts like these gaining popularity.
so perhaps it's a difficult road to travel. to think music was a gateway to financial success was a misstep in anyones train of thought, and there are many intangible factors at work, but the fact of the matter is promotion still works for temporary stability. bands like motion city soundtrack will never be top 40, but they appear to be quite comfortable, without having to rely on coinstar's at stop and shop.
Hey man, saw this via Absolutepunk. I must say I totally agree with you. I moved my URL forward to ReverbNation from myspace because of the same reasons you mentioned: Lots of peripheral garbage clogging up pages. ReverbNation is a great site for musicians and gives you solid feedback as to who's playing your songs, where you rank locally, etc.
ReplyDeleteGive it a try. Myspace is dead.
Topspotusa.com Music News
ReplyDeleteLook at what trent reznor has been doing with the nin.com site and his iPhone app lately. Hes trying to start something new. Something where all that matters is bands and their fans. The sooner he opens it up to bands other than nin or releases it on the world so other bands can follow in his shoes the better. Its basically the best community based model we need. last.fm + that would be a godsend.
ReplyDeleteI see a big return back to the blog as of lately. Blogs kind of died down for a while but now everyone is kind of going back to them.
ReplyDeleteYou can easily turn your blog into a .com it works out nice.
I agree with you though. I never check myspace anymore and when I do it's to add various comments (filled w/ music players) from people I've never heard of.Making your myspace sound like you're eating in a resturaunt where everyone is playing a giant boombox with their own crappy music on it. Or to add new friends whose taglin when adding is please follow me on twitter. I never recieve anything useful from the site anymore. It's like a brand new car for free, but with strings attached. The car example furthered: imagine you just got a brand new car great right? Well the only catch is they get to stick magnets all over the paint job and put stickers all over the windows. By the time they're finished you can't even tell it's a car...in fact you don't even want to look at it.
Twitter is popular as of now. I do use it often just because I converse w/ so many artists for interviews, etc. and that's just where everyone is at and willing to communicate for the time being.
Never tried Facebook just don't care to add the countless people I never & still don't give a crap about from high school so they can all say: "Wow dude you look really different. I work at Wal-Mart now. Want to hang out?"
Hey Brian,
ReplyDeleteInteresting article but, you're slightly out of the road with the website thing. Clearly Myspace, Facebook and twitter are not the avenue to take for bands in 2009, but you don't have to make a website out of nothing these days. Just get the Wordpress editor, it's free stuff, easy to manipulate and you can almost do anything with all the widgets existing these days.
In fact you should juste move this blog to a Wordpress account and make that site your band website.
The thing is that when you'll get that site, you can't juste throw all the myspace, facebook and twitter crap away. Because, even if you seem to think otherwise, it's where the people are. You got to use all of these to get you're name and music out there.
Once you've done that, meaning loging in daily and commenting, visiting and responding to contacts. The SEO step begins. That Wordpress website you just create won't come up in Google results by magic. You gotta use simple tricks to get your site right up there when the name of your band is type in google. If you can even beat you're myspace URL then you're on the road to victory!
Hope this helps you clear you mind a bit.
Etienne
P.S. The text might not be perfect, i'm a natural french speaker.
I think there has been a total saturation of the market. I was in a band that used myspace when, like you said, was a major vehicle for pushing our music to an audience in which we couldn't otherwise do. I, like you, watched the efectiveness of myspace diminish and it seemed to be directly correlated to more and more bands using the service. As time went on it was easier and easier for younf kids to record a shoe string budget ep in there basement. They could then upload it to myspace, send out mass messages to users asking them to check them out or come see a show. And there was absolutley nothing wrong with that. They were after all doing the same thing we once did. I think users inboxes started to get flooded. But how many bands do people want to hear about on a daily basis? How many shows can they go to? How many people are going to check a 'Therefore I am' show when there little cousin or brother has a show that night that they are obligated to attend? I think that myspace moved from an informative service to a 'how much shit can we shove down your throat service'. But I'm glad you addressed this as it's been on my mind for quite some time.
ReplyDeleteI never got why bands didnt stick with their own domains, you deserve better (much) than myspace.
ReplyDeleteMy recommendation.
Register a domain, get your geeky neighbour to set up wordpress, install something like facebook connect or google connect. Make the most out of twitter, facebook, myspace as vehicles to DRIVE traffic to YOUR domain. Dont put your content other than teasers on others sites.
A lot of musicians are using The Sixty One these days. You could give that a shot.
ReplyDeleteI agree, myspace sucks, and it's dying. I think the future of music will look something like reverberation combined with social hubs like facebook and twitter.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thinksketchdesign.com/2009/01/16/web/media/music/reverbnation-why-facebook-will-eat-itunes
First mistake: getting rid of your website (or never having one to begin with). I was in my last band right as myspace started breaking for artists, and it became a pretty strong promotional vehicle for us just as it did for everyone else. However we also constantly updated both the content and design of our website as well (prob helped that two of us were graphic/web designers as well). A few years in, we started noticing how shitty myspace was getting (and this was back in 2006 or so) and started promoting the website more heavily on our myspace, purevolume, etc. Then we did something drastic. We stopped posting new music and instead pushed our "friends" to our site whenever we released a new track or video. Our web traffic grew immensely, and gave us full control over our content.
ReplyDeleteNow that its almost 4 years later, there are even better tools. Use something like TOPSPIN to build a music player that anyone can embed on their sites or other networks, and manage it from your own website. Keep people coming back, engage them, and ideally you'll turn them into a customer.
You really need to try thesixtyone. It's two video game geeks building a rich ecosystem that makes it fun for people to listen to non-mainstream music. Great design and excellent resource for artists looking to reach fans outside of the friends/family circle.
ReplyDeletethank you all, i love all this feedback and ideas. glad i could stir up some dialogue.
ReplyDelete-i love what trent has done with nin and their website, great model.
nexus said...
Look at what trent reznor has been doing with the nin.com site and his iPhone app lately. Hes trying to start something new. Something where all that matters is bands and their fans. The sooner he opens it up to bands other than nin or releases it on the world so other bands can follow in his shoes the better. Its basically the best community based model we need. last.fm + that would be a godsend.
First, if your big announcement is making a website, at least link to your site. I've never heard your band. I probably don't care enough to type the URL in my browser or copy/paste. Just make your link an actual link and save me the trouble.
ReplyDeleteSecond, even with all the ads and crap on MySpace, it's still easier to hear your band there than on your own site. Here's the horrid experience I just had:
1. I read your blog and saw the url www.thereforeiamrock.com
2. I copy/pasted that url into my browser because you were too lazy to make a link
3. The homepage of your site is just a big sign up form for something. I've never heard your band. At this point, I certainly don't care enough about your band to give you all my personal info. 99% of people in my shoes would just hit the back button here...
4. ...but I see the tiny, barely legible text that allows me to continue without signing up. (Also, the page mentions "sign up" and has a big "Sign Up" button, but what am I signing up for? are you going to send me tons of crappy emails? am I joining some club?) I hit the link to skip the sign up.
5. The next page is three links -- no info about your band. no photos. no info about shows, just three bulleted links. I'm glad I didn't sign up because this is not that interesting.
6. I click the first MP3 link and something starts downloading? Did I just get transported back to 1999? Are you seriously forcing me to download a 7MB file, open iTunes, and listen there? I just want to hear what your band sounds like. At least on MySpace there's a nice little flash player so I don't have deal with downloading anything.
So yes, you've gotten rid of ads, but by step #6, I completely lost interest and canceled the download. I never did end up hearing what your band sounded like.
If you're going to make a web site, learn how to make a usable web site.
Please don't take this personally, but you're not thinking clearly about this. Allow me to explain:
ReplyDeleteFirst, it's important to realize that value is created through partnership. Basically, the net value of the two products when coupled can be greater than the sum of the two individually. For this reason, you shouldn't imply that profits from your partner imply that those profits subtracted from your profits -- it's quite likely you have both made more together than either of you would have made without the other.
Consider a Mall. The mall operator can charge more for rent in the mall than it could for an equivalent store in isolation because there is value of bringing consumers together. The store owners make more money as a result of partnering with each other and a portion of those profits goes back to the partner because the two have collectively decided that it is a better strategy than for the mall owner to charge an entrance fee to visitors.
Second, it's incorrect to compare the success of any one band or even a sample of bands to the success of myspace, google, etc. Rather you have to compare the success of the two industries collectively. As users become exposed to a greater variety of music and musicians, they will become more selective in their tastes. So some bands who are truly exceptional will be vaulted to success by this plethora of users and their use of social tools to communicate with each other. And more mediocre bands who used to be able to eek out a modest living will no longer because users find more awesome bands than they used to (and have a fixed amount of attention to give).
The fact is, there have never before been so many awesome bands heard by so many people and it has never been _easier_ to get into the business than it is right now. So while it seems that you're band might not be one of the best in the world that succeeded, you need to realize that you at least got the same shot as everyone else and a better chance at success than you would have had 20 years ago.
People are still spend most of their time using email and watching porn. Set up a mailing list to send out concert dates (mailchimp is easy), and link a proper domain to a blog (like this?).
ReplyDeleteThen sign up for every retarded social networking site and spam them with links to your own domain.
Bitching about ads on a free service is lame lame lame. A, it costs them $ to run the servers and pay the programmers to write the code that you're using, and B, grow some balls and don't use them if you think they're sketch.
At some point people need to understand that when you stream that video of a dude getting kicked in the balls, it costs the company streaming that video $ to send it to your ISP, and it cost your ISP $ to lay the lines to your house, and it cost another company $ to write the code that makes it show up on your monitor.
and the $ to write the code that makes alll those parts in your computer work. and that makes all those computers talk to each other? and then makes it easy enough that people can use it with absolutely minimal understanding of what they're even doing?
maybe you failed at the whole online marketing thing because you don't understand the tools you are using?
hey dave, sorry for your horrible experience, i said the website was coming "in the near future" not a day after the blog i posted with some opinions and questions, that page is a placeholder our label put up for the time being but thanks for trying!
ReplyDeleteEach tool for its proper purpose. A website is the right tool to communicate with your existing fans, and to bring in people who are interested. It is not a good tool for attracting the interest of entirely new people.
ReplyDeleteFor that, turn the problem around. Try to find some good music online. Then consider your most effective techniques and make sure you can be found that way. If you find no effective technique, consider creating one. A genre-specific subreddit might do nicely if you can get it critical mass.
As for the website, it needs work. Dave's criticisms are good (except maybe #6 -- I and many others prefer a straight mp3 to a flash widget, but there's enough people each way to justify both.) Perhaps bigger than the design issues is that it just needs more content.
Good post! This is why I created www.achterband.nl (dutch). Unlimited mp3-upload for bands, unlimited downloads for fans.
ReplyDeleteBut what if my site grows? What if I cannot pay for hosting anymore?
I can understand the need for ads, but it has to be done right. Don't interupt content with ads. I think Google mail is a good example. Just a tiny ad above my emails... I might even click on them one day...
I found this post through Hacker News, I don't mean to offend but I'd never heard of you or your band. The first thing I did was type http://purevolume.com/thereforeiam to see what your band was all about.
ReplyDeleteSounds pretty good, so I found some new music to listen to, but I think that this is indicative of the way the web is moving. I was using an aggregation site to find interesting things, but when I want more information about something there is a specific provider I use.
If someone write a book, I look it up at Amazon.
If someone is a musician, purevolume.
If someone has some code, github.
MySpace and Facebook and their ilk are failures, because they are so much of everything, they become nothing.
purevolume is awesome because I'm getting the part of your band that I want quickly, structured, and easily consumable.
Great post, great music, cheers.
From my experience in a band, building websites for major label artists, and running Bandzoogle.com, using your own .COM in conjunction with social network sites is the best way to go.
ReplyDeleteUse social networks like MySpace for prospecting. Potential fans will stumble across your profile page. Hook them, then get them over to your .COM site. There, you own your fan list, and you can present a much more compelling experience than on a profile page alone.
You've taken a great step by offering a free download for people that sign up to your list. Fans on a mailing list are gold. They're much more interested in you as an artist than the average MySpace friend, and will be more likely to check out a show or buy some merch.
It is a bit more work to have to maintain profiles everywhere, but companies like ArtistData, Reverbnation, and my own (Bandzoogle) are making this a lot simpler.
I have to disagree with your basic point. I have found MySpace and Facebook to be valuable tools, despite the ads and clutter. My music is being heard by more people than I ever thought possible, and through other great services like CDBaby I'm getting sales all over the world.
ReplyDeleteIn my wildest dreams, I never expected the little songs I write to get such a wide listening audience. The social networking sites have been a big part of that.
MySpace started as a friends site, NOT a music platform. The potential for exposure for your, and my, music changed the way the owners of MySpace organized the whole thing. Sure they capitalized on it as a way to make money off musicians, doesn't everyone? I think the drop off in hits tha MySpace is experiencing is nothing more than the social members who aren't musicians going to Facebook and Twitter as an alternative social network. MySpace is still getting 50 million hits. What are they complaining about? If I google myself by name only on Google my MySpace site is number one on top of page 1. I think that competition haS been good for the MySpace users. I now have ten songs on my profile when at first I could only have four.
ReplyDeletePersonally I couldn't care less how many ads pop into the page while people view my page and listen to my music. It's still free for me to use and I'm getting what I pay for. I was quoted well over $300 to build a website with a fraction of the features that my MySpace site has. I'm not going anywhere else. I loathe Facebook in so many ways that I don't have the vocabulary to adequately express it. I haven't even considered Twitter, nor will I. THAT'S the bullshit site!
I think Myspace and all those sites are fine. It is the MUSIC that needs fixing. More ORIGINALITY is needed. My band(unnamed)is doing rather well and we just scored record deal using e-mail thru MYSPACE... Ask ANY label, they are tired of copycat music. Put GOOD. ORIGINAL music out there, and you WILL get results.Nobody will 'appear" at your doorstep. You have to network and treat your band as a job, priority #1 in life. Fuck your McDonalds(or whatever)job.If you half ass things, you get half a result...If Myspace or others don't help...Learn to ADAPT and SURVIVE...."Real" websites are WAAAY overrated too. I STILL feel NO need for a "real" website. As my Myspace is already very busy...Anyways,my advice is to step up your game...Music is not always about money either,if you want to get rich, go to medical school or be a politician. As REAL music is ART.The sad reality is most of us artists are starving. And we bleed and starve for our art...Album sales are a thing of the past. To summarize;Adapt,Evolve and Improve,or DIE...
ReplyDeleteI understand myspace makes more money than they put back into the website, but someone does have to pay the bills to keep everyone's songs hosted and available for instant listening. Dave has a good point.
ReplyDeleteAlso -- try going to your bank to turn in your change! They won't charge you like Coinstar machines do.
I remember dialing a phone number. A phone that had a cord connected to it. I also remember being very irritated by this incessantly ringing phone. One that I couldn't just put on silent mode. Maybe I just remember too much. Or maybe things are changing a bit too rapidly. myspace and facebook. originated within the last twenty years. Flight within the last 120 years. Modern transportation and communication are beyond anyone's grasp of anthropology.
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