JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum So Where Does Your Song Rank On Ourstage?

I don't have a lot of time at the moment, but here's 2 big points on MySpace.

1. The "friends" thing on there has become a waste of time. If people really invited people they have any knowledged of or interest in to become "friends" then it might be relevent. But what actually has happened on MySpace is that most people simply are collecting #'s rather than real people they have a connection to. They want to increase that "friends" number in any way they can simply for the sake of doing it. It's a status thing. A lot of people think is means something to have a larger number. It doesn't. It DOES mean something if you have a number that actually represents people you've met, people you've formed an ACTUAL friendship with and people who might actually have an interest in your music. That applies often to people with low numbers of friends... but those who simply go about trying to hoard numbers from strangers are being dishonest and inflating their popularity for bogus reasons. The number isn't important.. the real people behind them and how you form real relationships does. MySpace teaches kids and adults alike the opposite lesson and it's damaging to the artist community to keep the false facade of that myth alive. Even Bill is clamoring to know who has the 50K members, when he REALLY should have been curios as to who the person with 1000 friends who sells CD's and gets people out to shows is.. then he might learn something useful. (Sorry Bill.. but you took the bait hook line and sinker and made my point perfectly).

2. MySpace is simply a mega corporation (owned by Rupert Murdoch) who is collecting data and hits to sell to advertisers. That's their entire model. They use music as a free lure to get people to use the site and they pay ZERO to anyone in return. Sure, some people have been able to use the site to promote what they do, no question. But that is simply an accidental by product, not the intent of the site or company. Ourspace would also like to increase traffic and numbers. They are focused solely on the music as a method to build the community and they are offering real life tangible benefits all along the way to the artists involved for their participation and help in doing it. It's a partnership where the more you use it, the more value you get out of it and the more value they continue to put into the system. It goes beyond just the cash they pay out. They are building relationships with venues and promotors to book talent. They are working with experts to offer mentoring sessions. They are engaging directly with the artists themselves regularly to improve the site and find more ways to make it mutually beneficial to both parties. MySpace has never and will never do that for the indie artists. When they finally decided to break off and become a stand alone entity for the music portion of MySpace.. did they come to the artists who helped build it with their music and fans to get them involved? No. They pissed in our faces and went instead to the Major labels who have always shunned them and gave them part ownership and let them set up all the rules to benefit themselve and excluded the entire base of users from the process. Now, at best, the community will get a few table scraps of benefit solely as a by product while the majors use the site and cash in.

I think MySpace and Ourstage are about as different of their pathway to get to the same place as is possible.

Brian