As you look at the chart above (thanks to Alexa.com), you see that Facebook (blue) surpassed MySpace (red) in daily page views in mid-January and hasn't looked back. Does this worry anyone?
MySpace has fallen out of the Top 10 Websites in the world after coming close to making the Top 3 in 2008. Facebook users, on average, spend over 2 more hours on the site than MySpace users. According to Nielsen Online, Facebook's average time spent per user passed Yahoo and AOL to become the #1 Web Brand in that category.
The "clunkiness" of MySpace has really turned me away from it. I am tired of the slow uploads, the pop-up ads between songs, songs that never play and songs that quit after a minute or so and go to the next song. I find myself going back to my long lost music scouting site, Purevolume (anyone remember when Purevolume was the place to go for new music and not MySpace?).
Bands, you need to start thinking about Plan B. Most of you rely on MySpace for your fan interaction, label discovery and buzz. The first thing you need to do is go to GoDaddy.com
Instead of relying on MySpace to try to run your band platform, you need to create your own music platform on your own URL. All these other sites should feed off your home site. Give each site different exclusives but make sure everything points back to your home site. Host your merch store on your home site. Host a chat room. Host comments. Host an email list. Get a music stream box. Is that too much work? There are companies that can do most of this for you like Stagebloc.com. SB will even allow you to update your hub site AND social networks at one time!
The point is that MySpace is falling and falling fast. An article on DigitalMusicNews today says that MySpace is scrambling to find answers. But with a million sites popping up everyday, it might be a little too late. MySpace has been playing catchup to the other sites for the last year or longer. As the article states, MySpace is in "dire need of an overhaul."
Even if Facebook or another site creates an amazing social music platform, it does not mean you should rely on that new platform and stop your plans for your own music hub for your band.
Bands, I'm warning you, start Plan B now or you will be left in the dust of the collapse of MySpace as your music platform.
13 comments:
This should make for good discussion!
July 14, 2009 at 2:49 PMbecause of myspace's over-saturation mixed with it's decline popularity we launched our own site to act as the hub for our online presence.
July 14, 2009 at 3:33 PMwww.goperiscope.net
we are still working on it, but slowly it is gaining functionality.
Very insightful article!
Myspace's decline has been pretty drastic. I still use it everyday for music purposes but its almost unbearable. You can rarely get though an entire first song with it cutting out.
July 14, 2009 at 4:22 PMBands need to start taking use of every social networking tool out there. Twitter and Facebook are the obvious ones, but with no streaming platform it really difficult for it to be the essential tool.
It's time to start being even more creative. with your online prescense.
-Toph
ChrisBlanco67[at]gmail.com
yeah i am so tired of Myspace, i think bands really need to find a new and innovative way to get their music out and interact with their fans. Myspace clearly isnt the best way to do this anymore
July 14, 2009 at 5:29 PMYou might want to dig a little deeper into the Facebook numbers...what's driving the usage #'s is the sharp increase in the over 40 group...hardly the demographics most indie/pop bands target...another example of where "more" isn't necessarily a positive trend...
July 15, 2009 at 7:10 AMMyspace definitely needs an overhaul, but Facebook is really not friendly towards artists. Having to scan a copy of your ID to fax in to them to "prove" the songs youre posting are yours? Come on!
July 15, 2009 at 2:46 PMTwitter has been a big help. I think the trick is to not rely on just one thing, get your music out on a variety of sites, get videos on multiple sites (not just Youtube), and just have content all over the place.
I agree, when Myspace first startet..before the music platform, the majority of users were the demographic that indie/pop bands aim for. Facebook has such a wide demographic that it would be extremley difficult to ever really get out of it, what artists once would get out of myspace.
July 15, 2009 at 4:24 PMToph
chrisblanco67[at]gmail.com
I've been thinking about this issue lately.
July 16, 2009 at 12:22 AMAnd I'll be honest, I've been on Facebook so much more than MySpace.
However, I will agree that Facebook isn't exactly convenient for bands.
Oh, and I do remember and miss when I was always on Purevolume to discover new music. haha.
The Facebook/Myspace comparison in this article was to show that MySpace is losing ground to Facebook but it's also losing ground overall.
July 16, 2009 at 6:57 AMBands should be setting up their own music homepage no matter what social network is #1 or which one has the best music platform.
Social networks are lamesauce.
July 16, 2009 at 7:18 AMCell phones are cool.
Like I actually like getting those text updates from fearless records (even though I have no idea how they got my number).
Ryan, they have secret spies :)
July 16, 2009 at 9:32 PMI Hate facebook all around. Myspace is still fun. And Tim changes his phone number more times than new bands pop up on either site... -Justin
July 18, 2009 at 10:10 AMGreat post Timmy, I couldn't have said this any better than you did! And thanks for the StageBloc (www.stagebloc.com) shout-out... we really appreciate it! Things really are changing, and bands need to start looking to more than just MySpace, etc., for their entire internet presence. That's been and remains the central reason behind StageBloc: helping bands develop and maintain their entire internet presence.
July 28, 2009 at 4:30 PMPost a Comment
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