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Mypace.com/Atlanta
by Iain Bluett
 Ever since MP3.com became extinct and friendster.com became a frustration rather than an addiction, one site has come to define the new generation of online communities more so than any other. Nowadays everyone from the NBC Show 'The Office' to Pepsi has a homepage on myspace.com.
There's no doubt the site makes it very easy for bands to make 'friends' in other cities and get their music heard by new people. It's simple to create a page and upload a couple of songs, a bio, and some tour dates. Next, you invite a few friends to join you, then start contacting other myspace.com members and get them to add you as their friend. The more friends you have, the more popular you are...?
Simon Horrocks of Horrocks Artist Management uses the site extensively for his band Jet By Day . "By hitting up people in a new market where the band were about to tour, we could easily get 30-40 people out to a show who hadn't even heard the band before."
If you're looking to find a band, it's easy to click on to their page and instantly be able to listen to a couple of streaming tracks. Venues are able to get in on the action too, and The Earl , The Loft and The Drunken Unicorn are all on myspace.com.
Most people use Myspace because it is easy to get turned on to something your 'friend' likes. Plus, it's less invading than your typical spam. It's easy to see who your friend's 'friends' are and essentially, "what they like." You find a band in your mates list of 'friends' and you check them out. If you decide you like them, you add them as your friend. This 'friend database' keeps spreading, and the number of friends you have can grow pretty quickly. It's simple to post blogs (essentially a newsletter) and for people to read your blog without having to be on any mailing list.
Since we began, Atlanta Music Guide has grown to nearly 2000 readers on it's mailing list, but in less than a year, over 800 friends have signed up on our myspace.com page. It's more simple for our readers to check out a newsletter whenever they feel like it, rather than get one more email clogging up their inbox. Myspace.com allows your friends to subscribe to your blog, and it sends them a notice whenever the blog is updated.
Rob from Soulhound told us, "Myspace has become almost a vital tool to get new people to our shows. It has introduced Soulhound to a lot of people that normally wouldn't randomly surf onto our website. People are becoming less willing to give out their e-mail addresses, and in most people’s minds there is less room for spam if you sign up to be a band’s “friend” then if they were to sign up on a bands e-mail list."
Marshall Seese claims that "since we put our music up on [Myspace], the average unique visitors to our main website each day has gone from 35 to 450 visitors in the span of 20 days."
Tim Sweetwood , who manages Hot Young Priest and Good Friday Experiment , explains, "Myspace has helped me out in several ways; Sometimes I use it as an EPK (electronic press kit). I use it as an alternate way to get touch with bands and I use it to promote shows. It's also a way for me to discover new acts for possible representation."
More and more signed artists use the site as a more personal way to stay connected with fans, rather than a label run newsletter. Butch Walker said, "I sold a shitload more records than my label bothered to help sell, by turning a ton of new potential fans on to my record through sites like myspace. Because of the viral structure of the site, you are able to get fans of other acts to give a listen to your music simply by clicking on a picture. I love that. I'm able to listen to new music by unheard of artists with just a few degrees of separation. I guess a lot of folks use it to get laid, but the music community is an underground treasure of self-promo...one day at a time, making major labels more and more useless."
"The Myspace tool offers the ability for bands to easily network and gig swap with other bands from all over the world. More importantly, bands can promote their music and upcoming events to existing and future fans based on myspace user or "friend" profile demographics that can range from age, sex, school, occupation, network affiliation, zip code, etc." explained Scarlett Lopez , who manages Echovalve.
We've compiled a list of all the Atlanta bands, venues, and music related companies using myspace.com. Even 99X Radio and several record labels such as Shut Eye Records and Goodnight Records use the site.
Check out Atlanta's finest on myspace below and email us if we're missing you! |
