Stereogum Steps Into MySpace
Sure MySpace is a haven for sexual predators, but you can't deny it's changed the face of online music in a matter of months. For that reason, the site is able to bring NYers the hottest buzz bands from 2003 for free. Central Village fills us in to their not-so-secret matinee show this week:
MySpace Secret Shows Presents: A Special After School Performance with Franz FerdinandWristbands will are available at the East Village Tower Records, but get this: in order to get one, you have to bring a printout of your MySpace profile with Secret Shows in the top 8, so we know you are truly a friend.Friday, April 14, 2006 @ Hammerstein | Doors @ 3 pm
And with that, I'm happy/scared to introduce the inevitable myspace.com/scottstereogum. It's pretty pathetic right now, and obviously I haven't put in any design time. (Should I go K-Fed camo?) But add me as a friend, I'll add you back.
Question for the group: is a MySpace backlash in effect? I'm all for pre-teens bonding over shared taste in crappy emo bands -- or Limp Bizkit members using the forum to dis each other -- but I've noticed a giant increase in bands linking to their MySpace jukeboxes instead of free MP3s. And I want my MP3!
Posted at 11:40 AM
Lame, but whatever.
Posted by: Van at April 13, 2006 12:05 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Myspace is so 2004, unless you're 16 years old, in which case it's apparently still awesome.
Congratulations Franz, that sound you hear is me flushing that last ounce of appreciation I had for you down the toilet. "Myspace Secret Shows"? If you make this profile your most bestest friend? Gag.
Posted by: G at April 13, 2006 12:28 PM | ReplyScore = 0
I'm so glad I'm too old to worry about being cool. MySpace, by the way, is neither cool nor uncool, but it does help me keep up with the occasional tourdates & whatnot. Just yesterday, I found a college friend who has been living 10 blocks from me for the past 5 years & I didn't even know...
Posted by: janine at April 13, 2006 12:49 PM | ReplyScore = 0
...and sexual prey. dont forget sexual prey.
Posted by: jerry at April 13, 2006 1:00 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Maybe I'm naive, but are people actually boning on account of MySpace? it seems the equivalent of actually going home with the nasty dudes that cat call you on the street. "Hey, u r a cutie. IM me." That's nasty.
Posted by: janine at April 13, 2006 1:10 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Myspace rocks for seeing whats up with D list celebrities, like Joe Rogan
http://www.thesuperficial.com/archives/2006/03/03/joe_rogan_fights_on_myspace.html
Posted by: Josh at April 13, 2006 1:37 PM | ReplyScore = 0
MySpace is the new Wham!
Posted by: Jimmy James at April 13, 2006 2:01 PM | ReplyScore = 0
2:15 pm, still "a lot of wristbands left."
Posted by: Amrit at April 13, 2006 2:08 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Bands can link to myspace and still allow downloads of the mp3s...
as for the backlash-- who gives a flip. It's helpful for keeping in touch with friends-- especially far away friend.
Unless you're a producer for "dateline" or any other journo trying to get a generic teenage sex-driven story, i don't see what the big commotion is. I'm old enough to remember the hullabaloo about cyber-sex and chat rooms and the possibility that people are pretending to be someone they're not on AOL.
Oh, and the sandra bullock movie "the net" totally prvented my grandparents from getting a computer until rather recently...
eh.
Posted by: kip at April 13, 2006 3:39 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Hey, here's a concept. Bands can also put downloadable music on their own-domain-name websites and skip MySpace altogether.
BTW, did you know that MySpace is owned by Rupert Murdoch?
Posted by: memememe at April 13, 2006 7:51 PM | ReplyScore = 0
memememe: putting music on their own websites is a nice idea, but I'd guess that a lot of upstart indie bands don't exactly have the cash to pay for all of the bandwidth and advertising that myspace gives them for free.
Posted by: josh at April 13, 2006 8:08 PM | ReplyScore = 0
i remember joining myspace because bands were only posting songs on myspace. it's lame as hell, but it's better than streaming WMA.
p.s., whatever you do, don't put music in your profile. i know you're thinking, "i'm scott stereogum, i pick the songs that everyone will like" but the beauty of the blog is that I choose whether i want to hear the song or not.
Posted by: sunburntkamel at April 13, 2006 9:38 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Just came by to show you some love.
Posted by: Joey at April 13, 2006 9:46 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Oh we're friends damn it. Be sure to add that sick ass K-Fed rap to your page just like I did, dude's seriously GANSTA!!!! It ain't easy bein mother fuckin K-Fed.
Posted by: Kyle at April 13, 2006 11:21 PM | ReplyScore = 0
I hate how the music starts immediately on MySpace pages ... especially 'cause I'm already listening to something 99% of the time! So don't worry -- I won't be streaming anything from there.
Posted by: scott at April 14, 2006 10:34 AM | ReplyScore = 0
I hate myspace, too, I guess, but it's helped a lot of bands out for better or worse. Don't hate Franz for knowing a good advertising opportunity when they see one.
Posted by: Jaime at April 14, 2006 12:20 PM | ReplyScore = 0
I help to run the Califone MySpace site - http://myspace.com/califonemusic - and I've made sure that all of the MP3s are downloadable. I've also posted a number of live Califone and Red Red Meat shows for download (in high quality format, not MP3, but anyway) for fan enjoyment. And we're having a lot of fun doing it.
Thanks!
Posted by: loper at April 14, 2006 12:28 PM | ReplyScore = 0
word on the street is:
http://static.flickr.com/45/127543793_965a824672.jpg
Posted by: matt at April 14, 2006 1:52 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Bout time, myspace will never be the same...
Posted by: each note music blog at April 14, 2006 3:21 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Dear Scott and everyone else who hates when songs on band profiles start automatically, like i used to - If you go to the "privacy" section of your profile preferences, there is a box you can check that will disable the auto-song-start thinger. This discovery pretty much changed my life. Try it!
Posted by: Jens Carstensen at April 14, 2006 5:58 PM | ReplyScore = 0
From what I hear, myspace was a sponsor for the entire Franz/Death Cab tour. So it was probably in the agreement somehow that they had to do a show like that.
Posted by: Nik at April 15, 2006 3:51 PM | ReplyScore = 0