Reality Bites....Further proof of myspace's declining relevance

I have been checking my bands myspace lately and they are just not getting that many plays. I was scrolling through the myspace top 100

Number 100 major label recording, 437 plays today.
Number 100 unsigned recording, 256 plays today
Number 100 independent recording 800 plays today

American idol winner Taylor Hicks 267
Nashville star winner Angela Hacker 057

Number one unsigned just over nine thousand
Number one indie rock (#3 over all)about 8 thousand
Number one indie hip hop (#1 over all) 218,000
Number one major label 80,410 (hip hop)
Number one major rock (#8 over all 21,000 ish)

American Idol Winner Kelly Clarkson 3,392
Recent Winner Jordan Sparks 5,800

I want to point out a few things here. One unsigned artist are getting more plays than major label artist. Two unsigned non-indie artists are getting more plays than national tv music competition winners. And three my disappointed artists with there 20-50 plays a day are only 160 plays from being in the top one hundred. With exception to hip hop no one is really getting action on myspace at least not in the indie world. If I had all my facebook friends listen to 2 songs I'd be in the top hundred. And if they all listened to my play list twice I'd beat Jordin Sparks, and I wouldn't even have had to listen to Simon.

Don't worry about your myspace plays...it's irrelevant. The club owners may not get this yet but they will. How many people can you bring to a show, and how many fans can you make out those who come. That's what really matters. You can't do it overnight, those days are done as proven by the Idol winners of yore. Don't worry about getting signed to a major label, people like indie more. Just do your thing so well people can't help but talk about it. Have ways for them to spread the word, and thank them for it. Give em a fee shirt or cd for referalls. Treat them like the summer intern you love and need.

j.

Why Facebook triumphs over Myspace

Facebook isn't flashy, you can't add backgrounds and profile songs, you don't get a personalized url, it doesn't even let me know which movies and music to be aware of. I LOVE IT!

It's simple, My mom got a myspace and used it for about two weeks, she got a facebook and added apps, sent me gifts, uses it for email and IM, she's even trying to get my dad set up with one. Myspace never did get there IM working I tried it a few times and it was annoying at best. Within hours of the FB IM launch I was making sure people knew about it, it's brilliant, it just works.

The only reason myspace is still around is for bands and that is changing quickly thanks to the I-like app, and actually there is a mysource app to integrate the myspace player into your fb page.It's no suprise that whenever I hang out with 20 somethings facebook comes up in the discussion. "Did you see the pic I tagged of you?" or "I can't belive what she wrote on your wall", Even my mom asks if I've seen so and so's status recently.

People still feel like facebook is there's myspace is too "commercial" it's pop music and FB stil feels like an underground indie record. I can't just go to your page I have to be your friend, you have to accept me. This is the same reason movies are becoming hit's after they get released to netflix and not opening weekend. You can share a dvd pass it around have a bunch of people over and be an evangelist. It's why music like august rush and juno are huge and mega budget summer blockbusters will be forgotten. No one feels connected to Speed racer, but we can relate to 14 year olds who are sarcastic and pregnant. It could be our niece or neighbor.

People are generally tired of overdone, they are tired of being pitched too and seen as a market, they want something to be connected with a club that feels exclusive, make them an evangelist for your music. Don't worry about how many plays you have on Myspace, make sure you have a killer website and a mile long email list. Get your FB artists page up and invite them to join the club. Don't worry about national airplay get on the local station that is going to vouch for you as a credible indie artist.

Myspace was the bridge but FB is the on ramp to a new way of fan based media. And I think there are some lessons to be learned from the social networking giants.