MADE

Everyone knows that MySpace is the place to go to find music artists who would otherwise have no voice. Now they can be heard by thousands who also want nothing more than the chance to be heard themselves. MySpace Music represents the power of technology and the Internet to connect everyone, but it’s also a huge playground for people who love to deny reality. Let me explain.

New York Times Columnist David Brooks made a very poignant observation about all this in a piece he wrote in the New York Times a while back. He said, “People visit their friends’ pages and drop lovebombs. There’s scarcely a critical word about anyone or anything in the whole network.

It’s just fervent declarations of friendship, vows to get together soon and memories of great times gone by.” Brooks is right. Log onto MySpace and look through all your friends’ pages. You will be very hard pressed to find a single condescending or critical remark about anyone, anywhere.

One would think that MySpace Music—where millions of bands and groups host their homepages—would make room for criticism, but that’s never been the case. Far from it. Even though MySpace Music is a relatively more formal and business oriented network than regular MySpace, people are just as nice and approving of each other.

Check anyone’s page on any day. You’ll see people leaving messages like, “dropping by to sho sum luv yor shits smashin.” Or, “Wasup? I’m feeling ya style…I got some sick shit.” Or how about the guy who says, “Wats good my dude? You doin some big things out here, hyping that real underground hip hop! That’s wassup. I joined your mailing list because im lookin to grab your album, songs on your page is soundin SERIOUS. I let you get real by doin your thing, but if you got time, check out and comment on my newest track.”

There’s nothing wrongs with comments, but the problems begin when comments become an opiate. Many people become so addicted to the affirmation and praise they get through them that they forget that most of the people leaving them aren’t doing so because they actually like their music.

They’re doing it because they want them to check out their own pages to leave comments about them. People know this but they forget it very easily when getting wrapped up in the emotional absorption of reading other people’s “praise.”

The result of all of this is that many people are deluded into believing that they’re better than they really are. If there’s one thing that can’t be denied, it’s the bad quality of much of the music on MySpace. But, but…there are also some very talented people on MySpace…and Imeem…and Twitter…and all those other places where people promote themselves. But the law of averages ensures that most people’s music won’t be all that good. Talent really is rare. MySpace just makes that even more evident.

Although MySpace is an excellent venue for showcasing music to the world, one unintended side effect of it is that it gives people inaccurate perceptions of the music industry and how one goes about being successful in the new world of music. One of the more damaging notions that the whole MySpace phenomenon has promoted is the idea that the music industry is just about music.

The music industry is largely about marketing. It’s about the marketing of image and persona and talent. It’s also about authenticity, but authenticity has to be marketed too. Some people trying to get their music heard are aware of this but they have a very poor understanding of how media-oriented businesses work. They also don’t understand how people go about starting successful media businesses, which is exactly what a record label or a band is.

Successfully maneuvering the music business requires similar sets of skills. With all its flash and pomp, MySpace Music gives outsiders the impression that there is a limitless supply of future music stars out there waiting to be discovered by major labels. The reality is far different, of course.

The new landscape of the music industry is tough, but at least the artist has control. You don’t have to sit on your hands waiting for the A&Rs to respond anymore. Maybe you won’t end up making as much money as the megastar who gets the record deal, but you have a much better shot at making some kind of money if you’re an average music artist who wouldn’t get signed anyway. It’s a much more democratic music industry thanks in large part to social media and the Internet.

By: Twitter Buttons