Myspace promotional system not to be used in isolation

Response to The Explosion Blog post: "Is the Myspace Promotional System all it's hyped up to be?":

I agree with your thoughts on Myspace as a promotional tool. The ease of getting a myspace means that everybody can do it. In this new networked model we are all produsers. The problem with this is that it makes it harder to get noticed in the sea of budding musicians because people are being bombarded by friend requests left right and centre. When there is too much information to digest people lose interest and soon it becomes easier to decline friend requests or ignore them all together. However, there is definitely still a place for Myspace and i would not go so far as to call it 'hype'. Myspace now fills a huge gap that was left in the traditional business model. Myspace helps KEEP the fans.

Back in the day a band would, as you quoted Pearson, "starve in a van for a year at a time...driving across the country playing to 50 people every night", be seen and heard on tv and radio along the way and their cd would sit on a shelf in the record store. The problem with this is that none of these things offer continuous and ongoing promotion. The tour will come to an end, the tv and radio spot will last for ten minutes at most and the cd is a finished and packaged product unable to be reformed and changed. These promotional tools are over as soon as they began soon to be forgotten by their audience as they move onto the next concert, tv/radio show and cd. This is where Myspace can help. Myspace helps KEEP the fans.

On Myspace a fans interaction with a band is never switched off. Any time of the day or night you can log on and listen to their songs, comment and view photos. It is now easier for a band to form a fan base and even easier for that fan base to be expanded upon. For example, one night after a gig one of the support acts came up to me, introduced himself and gave me a promo cd. I went home and eagerly put the cd on only to discover that it didn't work. However, all was not lost. There was a magic little ingredient on that promo cd; a myspace address! This allowed me to go straight to his site and listen to all his songs, read his reviews, pictures and comments. I then added him as a friend, struck up a conversation and he is still to this day one of my good friends.

Like you, i don't agree with Pearson's argument that because of Myspace bands will never have to tour again. There is still a place for touring and radio interviews. History has shown us that old media never die out, it is simpy their functions and status that change (Jenkins, 2006 p13). Myspace, when used in isolation is not the worlds greatest promotional tool. There are simply too many bands vying for your attention. However, when used in conjunction with more traditional models of promotion Myspace is definitely all it's 'hyped' up to be.

For further thoughts on how Myspace is great for forming fan bases and keeping them see my blog post "Myspace is the way to go for the struggling musician" in response to Isha's blog post "The Long Tail: When will the music industry get it?".


Reference

Jenkins, H. 2006. Introduction: "Worship at the Altar of Convergence" in Jenkins, H. Convergence culture: When new and old media collide. New York: New Yoork University, 1-24.