Social Media

Can MySpace Music Survive The MySpace Decline?

image from theradreport.com
image from i277.photobucket.com "MySpace Music profiles remain the simplest, fastest way to check out a new band", argues Ray Padget on Mashable. That's a matter of opinion, but there's no denying that MySpace is still a powerful player in the music space. So the big question may really be, can MySpace Music survive the wider MySpace decline?

"Not unless it figures out a better way to keep visitors at the site," according to Padaget. "A non-user’s typical visit might begin and end at one artist’s page. When you’re done with the band, you’re done with the site."

The solution: "MySpace needs to guide users to similar artists, perhaps artists recommended by the band itself. There are too many obscure artists for a computerized system like Pandora to be effective, but personal tips from a favorite band, linked to the respective artist pages, might add an idiosyncratic twist."

"The page structure is there; MySpace Music just needs to connect the dots."  Unfortunately for MySpace Music, there are a whole lot of dots to connect.

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9 Comments

  1. I totally agree. it just seems so stale and static in comparison to Facebook and Twitter. And if you are a novice as far as HTML goes, customising the pages still seems way too much of a minefield. I get asked for advice and help all the time from my not so techy band friends.
    It really is a case of; drop in, listen, drop out.

  2. I definitely prefer listening to bands on Bandcamp than MySpace. Then there are no overlay and audio ads to get in the way and slow the pages down.
    Everyone still needs a MySpace, as a lot of people will google “Bandname Myspace” to hear more music of the band, but their influence is rapidly diminishing

  3. MySpace is definitely still a necessity in the business. It’s an easy and straight forward platform for Artists to create a central website, when they might not otherwise have the resources.
    Agreed on the points made however… they need to connect the dots, and there are a lot to connect. I’m very surprised that MySpace is so far behind design/technology wise when it comes to web 2.0… I’d be interested in seeing a site overhaul with new features… but when is that coming?

  4. Let’s not forget why Myspace went into decline in the first place….because their interface and user experience are utterly awful. Their failure to even attempt to keep up with the times drove a very captive audience elsewhere.
    In the music world is still functions as the defacto EPK, but with the social aspect completely dead its usefulness is very, very crippled.
    I always wished Myspace would’ve bought Reverb Nation and implemented its interface. RN has never been able to get the traffic they need to be a player, but from an artist’s perspective they do just about everything right. That set of tools in tandem with Myspace’s traffic would have put them both in a very strong position.

  5. WaTunes is also a good choice. They enable users to buy mainstream & indie music + let artists sell music on their site and make their own iPhone Apps for FREE! Something definitely work checking out.

  6. That’s a good point. The thing about Reverb Nation is that it’s very centered around promotion for artists and the tools that go along with it. It doesn’t seem like there is as much incentive for the average listener to come and join Reverb Nation. If Myspace bought Reverb Nation they’d have these nice tools, but they’d still be losing the core audience of music listeners that don’t want to use the site. At least Reverb Nation isn’t filled with Myspace’s spam.

  7. “MySpace Music profiles remain the simplest, fastest way to check out a new band”
    Weird that Mashable would be over 12 months behind the curve like that…Bandcamp. Myspace Killer, past tense.

  8. Forget Myspace. Soundcloud and Bandcamp are way ahead. My Soundcloud is linked to Facebook, so all of my favorites are posted to my wall. You can embed custom (way better) players from BC and SC wherever you want, including Myspace.

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