Myspace and Artists: For The Better or Worse? By John Degrazio
Posted July 26, 2006 — in KOAR Rants, Music News
“I feel that it makes everyone look smaller, not bigger. Take for example, when you see some joe schmo artist who has a well known band in his
top 8. If you are a complete unknown and you have U2 in your top 8 it makes them look smaller.”
Throughout the entertainment industry it is getting harder and harder for acts to define their market. On paper, one would think that with so many available resources and new avenues to get heard, record companies should be able to really up the ante, however it is becoming apparent that much of the problem is indeed stemming from the “artists� themselves.
(You can find Phaze 9 promoting themselves daily drowning out comments on mainstream bands myspace pages including SOAD, Flyleaf and 10 Years.  Phaze 9 consist of a family including mother, father, and seven year old son. They purchased a Friendbot)
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There is more than one issue to address, the first being that there simply seems to be a lack of quality acts in general, but why is that? Maybe kids are too quick to pick up the Playstation controller over the axe. But beyond a lack of inspiration there is a major shift in this country that is happening right before our eyes: the insatiable lust for fame. Now, even my 40yr. old balding next door neighbor thinks he is going to be famous. The two biggest contributing factors of this in my opinion are Myspace.com and American Idol. American Idol has paved the way for thousands of fairly talentless people to take the mainstream airwaves. At best, the majority of these people are closet singers that ordinarily couldn’t draw their best friends out to come see them perform at a karaoke bar,
and now they really have a “voice� with this Myspace craze. Myspace.com is really interesting because it takes all the allure and mystique away from the artist. Back not too long ago you would only have a few outlets to get your “fix� on the band in which you craved. You invested your time to see them perform, to see the video on MTV, or you went to the store to buy the magazine they were featured in…there was an investment. These days you can know what band ate what for breakfast this morning, what brand of toilet paper they use, and what their favorite TV show is- there is no mystery. Everything about our culture and where it is headed is the antithesis of Rock-n-Roll. What rock band back in the day would post a journal on their daily life…are you kidding me?
Another contributing factor to our debilitating arts and culture is the way we access our music. Nowadays what is a song? It is a meaningless file- just bits of data which you come to as you please. You have thousands of these “files� like you have pennies in a jar, and they are worth about as much to you. Besides, who really has time to check out new music when they are so busy parading themselves on Myspace…sorry, I’m not on the Myspace bandwagon. I feel that it makes everyone look smaller, not bigger. Take for example, when you see some joe schmo artist who has a well known band in his top 8. If you are a complete unknown and you have U2 in your top 8 it makes them look smaller.
It is also important on a technical level to consider the fact that music is being recorded in a way that is less human than ever before. As a producer I am all for digital, but with it’s unprecedented editing ability, we are no longer listening to a band, we are listening to a studio engineer’s edits. Music is all cut and paste these days- we are listening to a computer, not performances. If the band can’t play it you edit it, if the singer can’t sing it you auto-tune it. If you don’t hear the band live, don’t trust your ears!
A subtle but very critical issue with regard to modern recordings which few are aware of is the ongoing loudness war. Try this for an experiment: take a CD you bought 15 yrs. ago, put it in and listen for a few minutes. Then, without touching your volume knob take a CD you just bought recently and put it in. The volume difference is staggering, and it comes with a big cost. To compress mixes this much in the mastering stage seriously compromises the quality and makes most CDs hard to listen to at loud volumes all the way through. The music is so “squeezed� that all the dynamics and life are gone. This part of it is the fault of the record companies believing louder is better- it is not always the case.
To sum it up, we are living in the “me� generation, or more appropriately the “Myspace� generation, and it seems a majority of bands/artists are doing their thing for the wrong reasons. Songs these days are becoming more and more like advertising slogans, but the public is buying less and less. Until we get back to the place where music is made for artistic reasons and not financial ones, we will see and hear the same old re-hashed garbage. Ask your friends, your teachers, pretty much anyone on the street, and they will all agree that music right now is lame. Aside from a few really cool things here and there, we are in a drought! Again, a big contributing factor to this is the fact that the playing field has leveled. That’s not to say that new outlets like Myspace.com can’t be useful or profitable, it’s just not Rock-n-Roll to me.
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John Degrazio is an A&R Consultant and producer/singer songwriter. John has worked with De Sol (Curb Records) among others.
John, everything is well-stated. Let’s take Phaze 9 (which is a very vague, obscure, and meaningless band name with a cliched “z” in it…) for example.
What exactly are they trying to accomplish? Fame is absolutely correct. But what is their product like? I personally don’t know what they sound like, but by judging them from their promotional image, I doubt I will actually go to their Myspace page. The image is centered on the son, 7yrs old, and personifies the child (who, in reality, was in diapers only 3-4 years ago, and is still playing with Legos) as an adult band member with the attitude to boot. With that said, I’d throw their press pack in the garbage. Everybody has a belief that their product is the best, and able to be sold. Myspace has only opened the flood gates to mediocre acts and has drown out the true musicians who break their backs to make their music the best that they can, set up regional tours, etc. It has it’s pros and cons, but presently, it’s the cons that are ruling the bandwith on myspace.
Comment by Scott — July 26, 2006 @ 10:37 am
this article is right on point. myspace is an ego inflator, pure and simple. bands need to reveal less about themselves so that fans can actively try to find out more info. music is sucking more than ever today because bands are wasting their time leaving smiley face comments on myspace instead of practicing their craft. also, i have personally seen bands with 100k myspace friends who have 30 people show up to a gig. A&Rs need to continue to seek out groups who have packed shows, not fancy websites.
Comment by JHM2010 — July 26, 2006 @ 5:16 pm
And that is because myspace was never about the music…the band pages are just the hook to get folks to sign up for the social networking site. That said, I hold American Idol and its ilk more responsible for this phenomenon, and frankly, the entire reality TV craze. Everyone wants their 15 minutes no matter how talentless or how much the lack any merit or reason. Its just that, more than even, these folks are choosing music as their platform because, to them, it looks “easy”.
Comment by mondo — July 27, 2006 @ 5:09 am
I think myspace is a great way to stay on top of what your favorite bands are doing, since their myspace pages are usualy updated more frequently then thier official band website.
That being said, I think to use it as a tool to find new talent can be a double edge sword. Nothing will ever replace a live show. No Pro tools can save you out there.
Comment by Saverio — July 27, 2006 @ 7:45 am
I won’t get into my personal feelings on why I like and dislike MySpace at the same time, but from a purely professional standpoint, I must admit I am sick to death of it.
In such a short amount of time, MySpace has taken over unsigned music to the point where bands think that without a MySpace profile they have no chance of success, and they also think that WITH a MySpace profile, there isn’t much more they need to do. Saverio said it, ‘MySpace pages are usually updated more frequently than their official band website.’ Does that strike anyone else as sad?
Every day I am sent links to MySpace profiles to check out new bands. 99% of the time I don’t click it, for the following reasons:
1. The audio on MySpace is complete shit
2. The pages take too long to load, especially when the artist has 5 videos, flash banners, 9 billion friends, and hasn’t shut off ‘auto-play’ on anything.
3. The band should have a website…plain and simple.
4. Pop ups annoy the hell out of me
5. I have to log in to see anything other than the front page
6. It’s unprofessional
We have made it too easy for them. It’s so instantaneous. Before, you wouldn’t get a demo from a band until they had been together for a significant amount of time, road tested the songs, scraped together enough money from day jobs and merch sales to record a couple tracks, and networked with all of the right people for it to work its way up the ladder. There was a certain guarantee when receiving a demo…at least you knew they really wanted it.
I admit, I bought into the MySpace thing at first, and even found a few bands who I started working with. They were promising. Great look, good songs, lots of friends and plays. Seemed like a good deal. Not one of those bands still exists today. Not one. The issue here is, I got them too early. They didn’t have to work for it, and as a result had no idea how to work for things. The bands fell apart the moment it got hard.
Comment by AJ-KOAR — July 27, 2006 @ 8:28 am
i strongly disagree…if your a band on myspace and your music sucks & or your image sucks and your sending out random friend request and or comments your going to hear it, you’ll get shit on plain and simple. A lot of people dont realize that myspace is weeding out shit bands everday, obousily these bands r deleting all the negative comments or emails that they receive but believe me their reading them and it is hitting their moral. It is saving people from wasting their lives because finally their getting real feedback from people who dont give a fuck who they r if they like the music they tell them if they dont they tell them. If your getting comment after comment thats says your band fuckin blows and so on eventually they figure out music is not for them.. believe me ive been through it I deleted my page and my dreams and am now doing a trade. Mtv was once a fad Myspace will be like mtv a faD that never goes away live with it..Its breaKING GREAT NEW BANDS EVERYDAY
Comment by greg — July 30, 2006 @ 5:19 pm
I agree in part with AJ, although I do have a myspace, I only spend about half an hour to an hour a day on there, most of my time is spent writing songs, rehearsing, gigging songs out, recording etc. Myspace was great for me when my last band split and I plodded on alone, I could’nt gig with out a band, so I thought I would try it and see what happend. 99% of our gigs are booked thru myspace now and we’ve had some great ones!! Death Disco, Cabert Voltaire, The Rock Garden etc etc. Its a double edged sword, great for connecting your music with people all over the world, but hard to define in terms of how ‘real’ the fans are. The will never be a substitute for the old fashion long hard road of rock n roll!! without it, an artist will never be able to handle their own career and everything that goes with it. But by marketing yourself on sites like myspace, you really come to an undertstanding of how things work and how fast moving and fickle everything is at the moment. Plus its free!!
sara xx
Comment by sara hawley — August 1, 2006 @ 10:59 pm
Myspace can make bands (especially local bands) look huge, but go to a show where they keep a tally of the fans there and see how big they actually are. For the most part, the better the band the bigger the following. this however doesn’t not translate to myspace where the band good be great or crappy and have 4000 friends and 2000 comments. All you have to do is find the average attendence of a band to see how good they are. Followings almost never lie.
Comment by Sean — August 3, 2006 @ 1:57 pm
WOW!! I think were going a bit overboard with the myspace bashing. I agree, it has a bit of a cheese factor to it, but as far as it being the be all, end all of good music, is just crazy. I happen to find myspace to be a pretty descent research tool. Now a days when a band is brought to my attention, I ask if they have a myspace account, it’s convenient and pretty informative. Listen, the last time I checked, no band has ever signed a major deal because they had 200,000 plays on their player. The market is getting inundated with lousy shit because some of our A&R friends have lost their ear. Let’s call it right!
Comment by Jeff — August 4, 2006 @ 9:20 am
I think that it’s a great tool as well.
I am in the same boat as Sara, I broke up my band and had a go on my own. Once I started recording my own music, it was a nice gauge of my sound. I posted songs, then sent messages to random people on my friends list to ask an opinion. I got mostly great feedback, and they in turn told friends about my page who then sent me requests. Some people also said it was a good move asking opinions of fans on works in progress. It seems to me that they feel like they are there from the start like coming up with a band just starting out.
It’s also satisfying that you see that people are actually listening to your music. I have about three or four times as many listens as page views. That means someone is listening more than once and to multiple songs. I have never and will never use bots to bump up friends, views, and listens. I’d rather have a real number to wrap my head around.
I am living out of the U.S. right now, but will be returning in the next month at which time I am going to form a band and start playing my ass off. I have actually made friends with some other bands who would give me shows opening for them starting out and have actual fans who I have discussed being a sort of street team in towns which I have not played yet.
To me it has been a great marketing and promotional tool.
Comment by John — August 8, 2006 @ 5:58 am
good luck John!! The point made about friends/fans on myspace and gig attendance is a fair one..except that with myspace bands can have fans all over the world, 99% of them will not be able to attend a gig in Manchester (UK)..on the flip side you can have bands with a strong local following..but see them play outside there own town/comfort zone and its a different story!! The best way is, write the best songs you can..gig them out and build a career slowly, that gives the band time to get a stage craft and just to develop themsleves as artists, build your core fan base and most of all keep in mind why you wanted to be an artist in the first place, its too easy today to get overloaded with websites and internet bullshit. Its a good tool, but not the be all and end all!! At the end of the day, the song is the most important factor and the quality of your live perfmance is a close second.
sara xx
Comment by sara hawley — August 9, 2006 @ 1:26 am
Hi John,
Disappointed here. You have generalizations of the MySpace community are discouraging and bland. Your assesment of home based computer recording is irrelevant. Producers have been editing takes since the beginning. Anytime someone mutes or “ducks” something on a track, it’s essentially an edit. Tape is spliced. Loops are made (remember the Bee Gee’s?)Happens all the time. It’s how hits are made. Computers make it easier and faster and good producers with a computer can use it wisely to create a great mix. But you’ve chosen to highlight what seems (to you) to be negative about the whole thing. There’s some great bands out there on MySpace, somehow you’ve managed to overlook them. Too bad.
Comment by Jesse McGrath — August 11, 2006 @ 9:42 am
Myspace is just a tool to get someone’s music out to other ears. It is not a definitive on a fan base or an audience base spectrum. How naive a professionl artist(and I put the emphisis on professional)would be to even assume such! A&R folks can’t possibley listen to everyone that they get told about! You and I both know that most of what is recorded in a studio can make a bull in a china shop sound like an ark angel! There are very few artists out there that actually have talent and sound good LIVE. With that said, making the effort to go out and check these artists out for one’s self is ultimately what it is going to have to happen!
Comment by Renee' — August 11, 2006 @ 9:45 am
Times are changing, you should embrace myspace for it. Just because something doesn’t stay the same or traditional doesn’t mean it is a bad thing. I am sure the generation before music TV were saying some of the same things you are saying. The bottom line is, there has always been bad music and there has always been good music. Now, since music is so easily published, there is a lot more bad music. But there is also a lot more good music to hear now. If you don’t like certain songs then don’t listen to them. But take notice to the fact that since music is so much easier to publish these days, you are going to get a lot more good music too. I agree that music should be created from the heart rather than becasue the artist just wants to be famous. You just have to pick your way through the bad ones and you’ll find MANY good ones.
Comment by Keith — August 24, 2006 @ 4:40 am
This debate is very interesting. I am currently in an NYC based rock band (called: Do You See the Dark) and we are using MySpace to promote ourselves. We have been slowly building up a base of friends on MySpace, but we are realistic as to whether or not these “friends” are even real people. My opinion is that even if only 10% of the people we add are real — it’s worth it. I think the important point to recognize is that when new tools are developed, whether it’s digital editing or MySpace, they are not a substitute for talent and hard work. They are merely tools that should be used to enhance, but not relied on in lieu of strong live performances / a real fanbase. Do You See the Dark has a consistent draw of over 50 people at local venues (CBGB’s, Crash Mansion, etc.). And we rock every single person in the club when it’s time for us to do our thing. Considering that some of you are A&R’s, what advice would give a band in our position? We have heard from some reputable sources that a high play count on MySpace will put labels on notice. Is this a complete fallacy? We hope the sum of our efforts (of which MySpace is a small part of) will lead us to s successful career as a band. We know that smiley faces and profile comments won’t fetch us contracts. However, the main author’s point that MySpace hurts bands, which might be valid to a degree, is a bit overstated. I have had the same thoughts about how the mystique behind bands has vanished in the MySpace era, but what’s the alternative? It’d be silly not to use such a simple resource for exposing others to your music. We’ve spent much time, effort and money on our first EP. We plan to send it to radio stations, labels, booking agents, venues, etc. But even so, would shunning MySpace be a productive endeavor? I don’t think so. We hope to make some CD sales through our MySpace page – whether that occurs remains to be seen. Anyway, in my efforts to promote on MySpace, I’ve done my best to keep the band intriguing. For example, no one knows what we eat for breakfast. So here’s an exclusive for the readers of this website: I ate a ham and egg bun from this small Chinese bakery on Clinton Street in the Lower East Side. Consider yourselves insiders. Thank you.
Comment by Mike — September 3, 2006 @ 5:22 pm
MYSPACE.COM/CAMORAGZ ……go hurry!!!!
Comment by myspace.com/camoragz — September 7, 2006 @ 6:43 pm
I am a singer/songwriter from Boston, and just wanted to touch on the comment about the quality of musicians out there. The “Fame Factor” I think is right on point, and slowly bringing the natural progression of quality music down, and at the same time, the proficiency in which these musicians know their instrument. Because of modern recording techniques and digital editing/mixing, we have closed a HUGE gap in the line that one must follow in order to obtain a long lasting career in the music business…practice. As with anything “you practice hard, you’ll get better” The industry has made the ultimate goal of fame and fortune a close looking mirage, which is forcing musicians to release music prematurely through whatever outlet they can, only to get nowhere faster. (Myspace, etc) So now we are referring to these acts as “fairly talentless” and not aspiring, ….shame on us. They are having to pave a new road, like the rest of us. But most of these feelings could probably stem from the fact they’re people out there like Simon Cowell that take a great thing like music and creativity, and kick dirt to make a buck at the faces of the very same people that created the music for his prize contestants to sing along too.
As for Myspace, my take is kinda simple. I don’t count on Myspace for anything that I can’t do the old-fashion way. I don’t request friends, I don’t look for 16-21 year old girls and Spam them , because they’re the popular music market. I use Myspace for a really fancy address book. When I want a gig somewhere, in an area that I have never toured before, I will research the clubs, find the owners and present them my music. I think that Myspace can be a great portal for musicians. Not for fame and a label deal or a million plays for A&R potential, but for aiding your potential career with new relationships and touring potential. Remember the best record deals in the industry are given to the artists that are already doing it WITHOUT them. A good friend of mine told me “Get in touch with what emotionally moved you in the first place to make music, eventually the right doors will open”- Kyle Cook (Matchbox 20, The New Left)
And for all you musicians reading this that don’t get it…….go practice.
JR
http://www.jonrobert.com
http://www.myspace.com/jrtour
Comment by JR — September 15, 2006 @ 10:25 am
how’s things goin im an artist in MD i have tracks from an up comein producer by the name Kang Kong im tryin to do what ever i need done to get out there.Contact me when ever you get the cance i have a couple tracks on that myspace page also.
Comment by ShattahDreams — October 22, 2006 @ 6:19 pm
Ok I have enjoyed reading all the comments and here is my input.
The bottom line remains substance is everything in whatever you do.
My space could be thought of as the wild west for marketing your band or art project right now and we are now learning more about the average person. The average person doesnt understand the quality difference in sound or visuals but there are alot of people starting to.
We are finding out that sometimes people spend millions when they could have gotten away with a few thousand and this is important.
We are finding that people have been zoning out the bigger media chains and sources for things that seem more grassroots. So now every Joe and Betty wanna be a star can try. As the final destruction of the myths of artist musicians and the like can be destroyed. Average people need to destroy it to take away its mystery from them and this is the information age and thats what people do.
I say let all the closet myspace pretend artist have there 2 seconds of fame. We are a culture that must destroy the things we love or that are passe soon anyway. The real art will rise and in the end it will be restored. In my opinion a more level playing field will be developed.Art for art sake might still shine through in the diseased and over advertised music biz. This is a cleansing maybe a cleaning of a polluted format and at this time in history we are seeing alot more media forms even highschool kids seem to do something that is considered media now. We are destroying the myths through technology in my opinion and it has been long awaited. You may not need a million dollar advertising budget to be heard for now. Although in the end you cant fool yourself and you are what you are and thats what matters.
Comment by David Morose — October 29, 2006 @ 11:43 am
This really is a fascinating debate.
Having been a producer for 10+years I have seen many, many acts pass through my doors.
The vast majority were mediocre to say the least. This has not been changed by MySpace. I have recently found it a very interesting tool in terms of test marketing current projects. It becomes clear very quickly what works and what doesn’t, and I won’t deny that it helps us keep the faith when folk say nice things about what we’re doing. Also it means that you can get your work heard by the kind of worldwide audience that was only ever possible before with a major deal, and afterall isn’t that what we want, people to hear our work? I do think there is an argument that says it gives crap music a voice it would not otherwise have had but anyone with experience knows that shite inevitably gets sniffed out and avoided.
I agree that the X-Factor’s and Pop Idol’s of this world have given Jo Public a false impression of how much hard work is involved, but they soon find out that fame and fortune are pipedreams except for the very few.
I have hope that the internet can help democratise the music industry, digital distribution being cheap and easy cuts out some of the need for big companies and their large chequebooks, and is already vastly reducing their revenue and thus their unpleasant stranglehold of the industry. Think about it, all the major decisions about what will and will not be successful are made by middle aged men who only care about the bottom line. MySpace isn’t the answer but I think it is a symptom of the revolution taking place.
I disagree that gigging is the answer for all forms of music, it may possibly still be true for rock bands but music is far more diverse than that these days. what matters surely is trying to make the best music we can.
not everyone is going to like it but that’s the way it is.
I think that any method of getting your work heard which is free and doesn’t line the pockets of the faceless majors cannot be a bad thing.
Comment by Rex Kwondo — November 27, 2006 @ 5:09 am