With a quick click of the mouse, MySpace, an interactive blogging website, connects users to thousands of artists of every genre across the world.
Since it was first launched in January 2004, American-based MySpace has grown to include more than 50 million registered profiles, 25 per cent of which are maintained by users under the age of 18.
Users create their own “space,” essentially an alter-ego, where they can cultivate their persona through blogs and photography. They can share their thoughts about everything from last week’s episode of The OC, upcoming concert tours and fashion, to more heavy hitting topics such as suicide, drugs and divorce. At the same time, users are able to post their favourite songs or music they have created themselves.
MySpace is a breeding ground for countless young artists to showcase music, photography, poetry and visual art, while serving as a network with both a vast artistic community and their friends and fans, without geographical boundaries. For artists who fear they may be deemed too edgy, MySpace acts as a direct link to their fans, without pressures from a label, production company or a distribution team.
An estimated 550,000 musical artists have posted songs on their personal MySpace sites and this number is expected to keep growing. Each day, 170,000 new spaces are created by users across the globe.
MySpace is not limited to small, unsigned artists trying to break into the industry. Well-known musical acts including Weezer, Madonna, Black Eyed Peas, Billy Corgan and and even Neil Diamond have premiered songs and full albums on the site. This has created a sense of intimacy with their fans through blogs, web stores and in response some receive thousands of messages from MySpace visitors.
For Canadian musicians, such as Broken Social Scene, Emm Gryner and Wintersleep, MySpace provides an opportunity to be heard by music lovers on an international level, without the hassle for fans to have to seek obscure downloads. This is also true for local Ottawa acts, including Million Dollar Marxists and The Architects, who have a large following on their MySpace sites.
The social network is showing few signs of quieting down in the near future. In 2005 Rupert Murdoch, the chief executive of the News Corporation, paid $580 million to purchase MySpace’s parent company Intermix Media Inc.
A recent deal with Interscope Records plans to use MySpace as a launching ground for record deals for unsigned artists, as well as sponsoring international tours.
Critics of this web community, including many weary parents, fear that it is a mere cyber hangout, where teens can push the limits of MySpace censors with scantily-clad pictures and an array of four-letter words. The March issue of Vanity Fair calls it “a virtual city of sex and youth culture.”
However, despite what anxious parents may believe, thousands of youth are logging on and exploring uncharted music.
Through a few simple keyword searches, MySpace allows the community to connect with lesser-known artists. The website acts as more than just an online dating service for teens. Rather MySpace is a breeding ground for thousands of unknown bands hoping to get their foot in the door.