MySpace is a unquestionably a boon to music marketers, but it has it's flaws and limitations as David Devore of Jambase and FanMailMarketing.com points out:
MySpace is a great resource and has some real value to artists in connecting on a one to one level with current and potential fans.However, there are also some real issues that come with a MySpace centered marketing strategy.
1) MySpace owns the fan relationship. If you ask MySpace if you can get a database of your fans and friends the answer will be a big NO. Your relationships with your fans can only exist within the MySpace context. The value to MySpace of owning your relationships is in driving their advertising dollars.
2) MySpace is a microcosm. Darwin said that inside a closed environment survival of the fittest would reign. As the MySpace landscape grows and the visitor "noise" increases and people grow their "friends" into the thousands, it will be increasingly difficult to be "heard" in the communication din. What will matter most is the quality of the fan relationship and the necessarily the quantity.
3) The band as a "brand" never really is developed inside of MySpace. Instead, the branding and messaging is diluted as a subset of the MySpace advertising machine.
4) Prediction: MySpace is a fad. It is dangerous to build relationship marketing around a fad. The danger is that as the fad fades so does the relationship rather than empowering ever increasing fan loyalty.
5) MySpace does not substitute for a real online presence. MySpace is only really accessible to other MySpace users. Although there are a lot of people on MySpace, there are many more that are not. Why would any growing artist only want to be accessible to a relatively very small population of people that requires a login to access?
6) MySpace is low in tangible return on investment. "Time is Money". People can spend huge amounts of time devoted to MySpace marketing, but it is almost impossible to see a tangible return in tickets sold or downloads generated for that time. Instead, the overwhelming metric seems to be comments and "friends" which is really rather vague.
Smart music marketers know that MySpace can be a great way to find and engage fans. They also know that it is only one slice of a much larger online pie that will ultimately drive long-term success and quality fan relationships.
Tomorrow - The MySpace Series Part IV: More On MySpace's Limitiations
