Culture catalyst – myspace.com

mercado negro - 21/10/06

Myspace.com was introduced at the start of 2004 as a means lubricating the interaction between artists and studios in the intense competition of the California movie and music industry. 

By the end of 2004 there were around 5 million users, rising to 27 million by the end of 2005 then doubling in 2006 to a present membership of close to 60 million users worldwide. 

The rapid expansion has been fuelled by constant press exposure for the site certainly aided by the sale of myspace.com in July 2005 to Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp Group for us$580 million. 

The group controls an impressive (or frightening) array of global media and myspace has benefited through this support network by joining “Fox interactive.”

Already imposing publicity has appeared on myspace.com, much to the chagrin of long term users.  As Newscorp focus on ways to effectively extract revenues from their asset the forms of advertising may become more and more aggressive. 

Some of these initiatives may directly benefit both parties such as the myspace record label and ringtone options have been introduced that look to generate income through bands that use the site.

In a recent development myspace seems to be moving towards competition with itunes as the fact that both buyer and seller are part of the same social community circumvents intellectual property laws.  A market could be created consisting of 3 million bands and over 100 million potential buyers with mp3 files “watermarked” to limit piracy.

However there still seems to be some doubt over the terms and conditions by which artists surrender their work to the myspace community.  This was highlighted in a recent clash between left wing poet songwriter Billy Bragg and myspace lawyers.

These issues aside, the importance of myspace to the growth of new music in Mexico cannot be underestimated.  In a country that is experiencing rapid expansion in the access to technology with an estimated 17 million people with internet access in 2005, myspace came on the scene at the perfect time.

With the ability to establish a myspace page carrying music in the form of mp3 files, videos photos and other multimedia, bands have been given a new way to reach their potential fanbase and record labels, not just in Mexico but worldwide.

The evidence for myspace as an effective way of breaking new bands is compelling; Clap your hands say yeah and my chemical romance in the US, the Artic Monkeys in the UK have all risen to be in the public gaze after starting their journey in deepest cyberspace.

In fact there has been much talk of a new model for the music industry with record labels defunct and bands reaching their fans direct.  Although the initial cost of studio recordings and the control of other forms of mass media by “the big four” make this suggestion somewhat premature.

For the user the ability to stay in direct contact with bands and search out new sounds is myspace at its most interesting. 

Being informed of new dates and developments helps fans feel part of what is going on.  Having a myspace is more than creating a virtual presence it is at its most effective when you play an active part in the community by making constant personalised comments and supporting “friends” initiatives.

The Mexican bands that top the “myspace charts,” based on plays and visits, include Porter and Allison.  This gives us an indication of the age range that represents the real “myspace monkeys”.

“Street-team” strategies where fans penetrate other communities to spread the word about a band are probably more effective with the unquestioned adoration that often exists between a teenager and their favourite group.

It is difficult to see where myspace will go from here.  Newscorp certainly did not buy myspace to create good karma with the kids. 

One must expect changes as time passes that make the system more and more commercial and less and less community orientated. The changing demographic is a variable that should be considered carefully as over 50% of users are now in the over 35 age bracket.

In the mean time the scene in Mexico continues to benefit from the “myspace effect” as a culture catalyst aiding the rapid expansion and impact of new music.

http://collect.myspace.com/misc/terms.html?z=1