Last night, I took the padlock off my MySpace account.
Apparently, the last time I used MySpace was on July 7, 2010; I was seeking interviewees for an article I was writing on Pabst Blue Ribbon.
I stepped into MySpace, and I hardly recognized the place.
The Internet elves had spruced up the interior. The look had changed. The setup had changed. I had to update my profile.
I know what you’re thinking.
In your Facebook-dominated life, MySpace is a kind of throwback, like a Rubik’s Cube fumbling around in frustrated hands or Falco belting out “Rock Me Amadeus.”
MySpace seems like the 8-track tape of social media.
Most social media seems centered around Facebook and Twitter, with Google+ as the newcomer trying to catch up and MySpace as the oldster trying to hang on.
“Almost everybody sees MySpace in the same light,” writes Nick Clayton. “It was the dominant online social network. Then along came Facebook. End of story.”
It seems that way, but as Clayton says, that would be wrong. Sure, it’s behind Facebook, but MySpace’s 40 million hits per month in the U.S. alone is a force of marketing and promotion.
Clayton points to the TechRadar blog, which recently said, “…MySpace has new owners and it’s looking in a new direction – forget social, it wants to be a music and entertainment hub, streaming music and video and providing artist pages and radio stations.”
MySpace never was the 8-track tape of social media for bands and musicians. Quite the opposite, it remains one of the best places for artists to promote their songs.
And while its platform for music carries on, MySpace is also making a run at “American Idol” and “The Voice” with an online TV program called “Let’s Big Happy.” That’s “Big,” not “Be.”
The show centers around a blogger named Olive who helps promote bands. Bands and artists – including The Gay Blades, Math the Band, Generationals, Chiddy Bang, We Are Scientists, and Andrew W.K. – become part of storylines and get to perform.
Meanwhile, MySpace also wants to be a platform for both on-demand and broadcast television. Eventually, you’ll be able to go to MySpace to watch some of your favorite shows – and be able to “share” them with friends. “Television is about to get social again with myspace TV,” says the
site’s promotion.
MySpace is growing, morphing, evolving -- and about to get exciting. For real. Earlier this year, MySpace was seeing more unique visitors than Google+ or Tumblr.
So dust off that old MySpace account, get updated, and look for cool things to come. And drop by MySpace and say hi.
-Colin Foote Burch
How long does it take you to write an article like this?
Posted by: Reorganization Bankruptcy | 04/15/2013 at 05:58 AM