This article from The Daily Bruin (UCLA’s newspaper) came up in my Google alert last week. I thought it was an interesting (but short) look at how technology is making it possible for anyone to make music more readily, and then use social networking sites like MySpace to market themselves.
This article got me thinking again about MySpace, which I’ve thought about a lot off and on ever since I read this article in Wired about a band called Hawthorne Heights who has catapulted themselves to success not via the classic recording industry, but by using the Internet (and MySpace in particular) to attract, retain, and manage their fanbase. At the time of the article, Hawthorn Heights had a mailing list of over 200,000 fans which, as Wired points out, is “a direct marketing list that any major-label act would kill for.” Plus, because of the nature of a “friends” list on MySpace they have produced incredibly loyal fans who will come out to see them wherever they go. They always sell out clubs on their tours and were a major act in the 2005 Warped tour.
By using the Internet Hawthorne Heights as done something that many have dreamed of and have become “middle class” musicians. By that I mean that they are not multi-platinum, mansion living, private jet flying rock stars, but they are making a living touring and playing their music.
In the past it was the record labels’ job to listen to all of the music that was created, all of the aspiring musicians and bands, and figure out which ones were good enough to give a shot. But could MySpace or a similar site take over this role effectively and perhaps be enough to create a new, livable, class of musician? MySpace is certainly embracing this possibility with a dedicated music section, and it’s even announced that it will be forming a music label of its own. I certainly hope they, or *someone* can manage to find and tip us all off to more good artists–there’s so much great music out there right now that never gets promoted, but I find it almost impossible to sort out the good from the bad.
