Where are the MySpace superstars?

[keithtoxic]

 

Most people still don't know who they are. Sorry, but it's true. You're right, album sales have come to mean nothing (a very recent development, BTW, and one that hasn't so far proved to be for the better). That doesn't mean it's a good thing. Selling CDs may not have been the focus recently, but you still have to sell something in the way recordings -CDs, downloads, whatever-and do it in large numbers, or the labels that are subsidizing these bands won't be doing it for long. Any assclown band can tour the US. I did it for three years plus, six nights a week, pushing an album. Big deal. Thousands of them are doing it as we speak. The question is, are they earning any money? I mean more than just gas and a cup of Top Ramen every day. Although fame has apparently become the new currency du jour, unfortunately, it takes money, and lots of it, to keep a touring national act on the road. The new myth seems to be that you give away your records and make your money touring. And that may work for a few bands. But when you have to pay an agent, a road manager, pay for motels, a bus, a driver, fuel and maintenance, production, book keeping, road staff, food, laundry, gear maintenance, etc etc, even 5-10 k a show disappears very fast.

 

 

You seemed to have missed the main point of me mentioning them touring relentlessly, the part where their label backs EVERYTHING. The last tour the devil wears prada went on every show was sold out, and they ran out of most of their merch half way through the tour.

 

Does that not equate to myspace sucess to you?

 

And to the point that not many people know who they are, how old are you? I can gurantee you you will probably never hear of these bands, as they are not the kind of bands people 25+ will listen to, and that's not the market they're aiming for. Most of the bands I listed have huge status among trendy teenager and scene kids. If anyone of those bands play in a town, that show is going to be sold out and the venue will be packed with trendy kids from ages 14-25.

 

Just because you toured nation wide doesn't mean anything, did you pack each of your shows on your tours with people, or have sold out shows? How about running out of merch about 5 shows in?

[Dean Roddey]

 

You seemed to have missed the main point of me mentioning them touring relentlessly, the part where their label backs EVERYTHING. The last tour the devil wears prada went on every show was sold out, and they ran out of most of their merch half way through the tour. Does that not equate to myspace sucess to you?

 

 

Well, it equates to being on a label. If the label wasn't backing them, where would they be? They'd have a lot of people listening to them on MySpace, but no paying them anything for that privilege, and they'd probably doing a shoestring budget tour of some sort.

[keithtoxic]

 

Well, it equates to being on a label. If the label wasn't backing them, where would they be? They'd have a lot of people listening to them on MySpace, but no paying them anything for that privilege, and they'd probably doing a shoestring budget tour of some sort.

 

 

Which goes back to the original point of myspace. They got signed because they had a huge following on myspace. I wasn't mentioning them touring to talk about their now success, I was bringing it up to show what myspace brought them to.

 

And I can't belive I forgot to mention one of the biggest myspace sucesses, PlayRadioPlay!

 

It was originally a solo project of Dan Hunter, and he only played shows in texas, never played a show out of texas. He had a HUGE following on myspace, and was the number 1 unsigned indie electronic artist for an extremely long time and has currently over 9 MILLION plays on myspace. This got the attention of island records, and they signed him to one of their subsidiary labels, Stolen Transmission. They got him a full band, almost like 2 or 3 months later he released a 5 song EP, and in 2 months he's releasing a full length album, both of which are sold(or in the case of the full length, will be sold) worldwide at places like best buy, fye, all that. He's about to go on tour with Yellowcard and MXPX, and basically at the age of 18 his life is set.

 

All this is from never playing a show outside of texas, and getting complete myspace fame.

[Dean Roddey]

Well no, the point of Myspace, at least as stated by the bazzillions of anti-label posts on this and uncountable other fora, is that the internet is the way around the labels, for the artist to take it straight to the consumer and keep all the control and revenues (what little there are) to himself. If it's just a way to get noticed by labels, that's a whole other thing, just a stepping stone to ultimately being a label artist, and the labels are still the ultimate goal and the only means to real success.

[sabriel9v]

Honestly, two of the biggest myspace stars are Lily Allen and Soulja Boy. Both of those artists received the majority of their fanbases almost exclusively through myspace. I don't think myspace guarantees longevity or revenue for an artist, but it's a great and cheap way to gain exposure.

[BlueStrat]

 

You seemed to have missed the main point of me mentioning them touring relentlessly, the part where their label backs EVERYTHING. The last tour the devil wears prada went on every show was sold out, and they ran out of most of their merch half way through the tour. Does that not equate to myspace sucess to you? And to the point that not many people know who they are, how old are you? I can guarantee you you will probably never hear of these bands, as they are not the kind of bands people 25+ will listen to, and that's not the market they're aiming for. Most of the bands I listed have huge status among trendy teenager and scene kids. If anyone of those bands play in a town, that show is going to be sold out and the venue will be packed with trendy kids from ages 14-25. Just because you toured nation wide doesn't mean anything, did you pack each of your shows on your tours with people, or have sold out shows? How about running out of merch about 5 shows in?

 

 

You are right on all counts. However, it is you who seem to have missed the point. The OPs post is about bands who have made it solely on the strength of myspace, not bands who have used it as a means to get a labels's support. I already said that myspace is a tool to achieve bigger and better things, and not a means in itself. You are only proving my point. As Dean said, without the ultimate support of an "evil label", these bands wouldn't be anywhere. Myspace is just the newest version of the A&R man that used to scout bands, only myspace allows the labels to see who is selling and who isn't.

[thedolaon]

 

If you don't believe myspace can create success for a band, you're an idiot, and I'm leaving it at that. Bands such as The Medic Droid, Hollywood Undead, Forever The Sickest Kids, Sky Eats Airplane, The Devil Wears Prada, and tons more noone would even know of, and would still be playing local crappy shows in their respective towns if it wasn't for myspace. But each of these bands are, or have been embarking in full National tours, backed by their record labels(In the past year, The Devil Wears Prada has been on FOUR national tours, each completely payed for by their label) I realize to some of you that huge success equates to moving huges sums of album sales in one show, but that's idiotic. In this day and age how many albums you sell mean NOTHING. To me, going from being a crappy local band to touring non stop year round around the US is a big sucess.

 

 

ME AND YOU ARE EYE TO EYE LIKE NO ONES BUSINESS!!! THE MEDIC DROID IS GOING TO BE HUGE!! I have to include Breathe Carolina into that mix. Also, don't forget MILLIONAIRES.!!!! IN ONE AD ON MYSPACE MUSIC IN WHICH THEY PAID THEMSELVES, THEY HAVE 3 MILLION PLAYS IN LESS THAN 4 MONTHS! THAT'S INSANITY!

 

But i do understand the point of this thread which is basically people who have made it using only myspace alone. YES! Soulja definitely. He made EVERYTHING in FL STUDIO easily!

[Dean Roddey]

 

IN ONE AD ON MYSPACE MUSIC IN WHICH THEY PAID THEMSELVES, THEY HAVE 3 MILLION PLAYS IN LESS THAN 4 MONTHS! THAT'S INSANITY!

 

 

But how many people PAID, that's the question. You can't eat plays and you can't hire roadies and a manager and equipment techs and buy mixing boards and lighting systems with plays.

[BlueStrat]

 

And to the point that not many people know who they are, how old are you? I can guarantee you you will probably never hear of these bands, as they are not the kind of bands people 25+ will listen to, and that's not the market they're aiming for. Most of the bands I listed have huge status among trendy teenager and scene kids. If anyone of those bands play in a town, that show is going to be sold out and the venue will be packed with trendy kids from ages 14-25.

 

 

That's a good thing. My point is that the music business is so fractionalized and niche marketed that it is entirely possible to have an entire career and not be known by more than a relatively small number of people. I can name for you probably 10 people off the top of my head that have been around for 15 years or longer and have made a decent living, but you've probably never heard of, because they aren't in your preferred genre or demographic. And I'm sure you could, as well. That's one of the unintended consequences of the new media availability of music. Instead of making all these bands popular by huge exposure to the masses, it's really gave them smaller audiences than with previous distribution methods. It's now possible for a person to only listen to what they like and to never have to be exposed to anything they don't.

[BlueStrat]

 

But how many people PAID, that's the question. You can't eat plays and you can't hire roadies and a manager and equipment techs and buy mixing boards and lighting systems with plays.

 

 

Too bad that 3 million plays isn't on the radio, where the artists actually get paid.

 

It's hard for me to get excited about tons of plays when they're free. It means a lot of people like the songs, but do they like them enough to pay for them? That's the question.

[keithtoxic]

 

ME AND YOU ARE EYE TO EYE LIKE NO ONES BUSINESS!!! THE MEDIC DROID IS GOING TO BE HUGE!! I have to include Breathe Carolina into that mix. Also, don't forget MILLIONAIRES.!!!! IN ONE AD ON MYSPACE MUSIC IN WHICH THEY PAID THEMSELVES, THEY HAVE 3 MILLION PLAYS IN LESS THAN 4 MONTHS! THAT'S INSANITY! But i do understand the point of this thread which is basically people who have made it using only myspace alone. YES! Soulja definitely. He made EVERYTHING in FL STUDIO easily!

 

 

Breathe Carolina is an amazing band, I just didn't list them because I was mostly listing bands that tour and stuff, but BC is about to tour soon. If you haven't heard of them, Progress in Color is also another amazing band of a like genre :](I could list hundreds of amazing electronic/indie bands)

 

And I get what you're saying, I guess I did miss the point of using myspace to get money and not to get big. The way I see it, unless you get big within your genre, you wont be able to make money. And the only REAL way to get big within a genre these days is to sign to a label that has alot of bands in your genre.

 

Radio play does make money, but these days radio play really means nothing, just like cd sales. Kids these days have myspace, purevolume, ipods, and blank cd's for their music. None of my friends listen to the radio in the car, they all either have something to play their ipod on the radio, or they burn their own cd's.

 

And to point on that myspace plays, yah play count doesn't pay the bills itself, but when I worked a this huge venue for awhile, they used myspace to determine if they should book that band or not. If they had a big act like August Burns Red playing, they didn't want to book them with nobodies, they booked them with bands that had thousands of plays and a bunch of fans/friends with a decent fan base.

 

So while having alot of plays in itself doesn't make money, it could be the deal breaker between playing a show with a huge national act and sitting at home making absolutely no money that night.

[georg79]

 

If you don't believe myspace can create success for a band, you're an idiot, and I'm leaving it at that.

 

 

When I give a license to someone to use my music for profit, I get paid. Most of the times, the money is fantastic. Some other times, the money is just ok. But I always get paid and no one has ever asked me to give a license for free. And, as a side effect, I also get the exposure from the use of my music.

 

No one has ever told me "no, we are not going to pay you, although we are going to make 100,000 dollars from this ad, but guess what, 2 million people will hear your music! how cool is that".

 

I may be an idiot for you, but I make a living from my art and at least I know what a license actually means. It is not just a stupid disclaimer on the internet.

 

So, you can keep your MySpace exposure and try to exchange it for a new set of strings at the music store.

[mickeydean]

 

There aren't any such people really. No one has ever utilized the internet to become a nationally or internationally recognized artist, despite all the hype.

 

 

 

i was practically the MP3.COM poster child back when it mattered. when mp3.com was on the cover of newsweek. before , during, and after the IPO.

 

before P4P and thousands of dialup bots all over the world were auto downloading people's "music" to steal the money mp3.com had intended for legit artists. (the honor system doesn't work with "artists" on the internet).

 

i didn't get superstardom. i have never met Paris Hilton, but it opened lots and lots of doors and made a huge impact on my earnings. i got to make connections with "established" artists" who i never would have met otherwise.

 

like rod underhill used to say "we offer golden opportunities not deals on a silver platter." i think that most people just don't know how to exploit mole hills into mountains lol.

 

now if what you are saying is nobody has become Britanny Spears from scratch using just the internet, you are correct sir. the record companies still control how far you can get and they have erected a brick wall to stop it from happening for anyone who gets their momentum via the internet. it's a control issue, but that wall is now crumbling a little every day.

 

pretty soon we'll be dancing on the rubble. myspace is one more tool to that end.

 

i don't wanna sell CDs. i want to be in MOVIES.

[FireWithin]

if myspace sucks so bad...wy does every single major musician have an account?

 

btw, my myspace page attracted me a local radio station and got me on the air. No big deal. But, it would NOT have happened had I not made the page and put my music out there.

 

That said, heres my page, feel free to ad me

 

www.myspace.com/deathchantmusictracks

[keithtoxic]

 

When I give a license to someone to use my music for profit, I get paid. Most of the times, the money is fantastic. Some other times, the money is just ok. But I always get paid and no one has ever asked me to give a license for free. And, as a side effect, I also get the exposure from the use of my music. No one has ever told me "no, we are not going to pay you, although we are going to make 100,000 dollars from this ad, but guess what, 2 million people will hear your music! how cool is that". I may be an idiot for you, but I make a living from my art and at least I know what a license actually means. It is not just a stupid disclaimer on the internet. So, you can keep your MySpace exposure and try to exchange it for a new set of strings at the music store.

 

 

 

Can you please explain to me how excactly myspace makes money off of you putting your music on their page? Oh they get ad revenue when someone views your page. And? Myspace is THE biggest site for musician advertisement. Pretty much everyone has a myspace these days, pretty much everyone uses myspace to listen to music.

 

Just because you're too asinine to realize the opportunity that is placed in front of you, doesn't mean it's a bad thing. You're too hellbent on the idea that they're stealing your license and money, and not realizing how much money most musicians pay for a webpage, or adspace, and myspace offers you this for free of charge. And what is the small catch? They put a banner at the top of your page, OHNOES THEY'RE COLLECTING MONEY FOR OFFERING YOU A FREE SERVICE!

[mickeydean]

 

When I give a license to someone to use my music for profit, I get paid. Most of the times, the money is fantastic. Some other times, the money is just ok. But I always get paid and no one has ever asked me to give a license for free. And, as a side effect, I also get the exposure from the use of my music. No one has ever told me "no, we are not going to pay you, although we are going to make 100,000 dollars from this ad, but guess what, 2 million people will hear your music! how cool is that". I may be an idiot for you, but I make a living from my art and at least I know what a license actually means. It is not just a stupid disclaimer on the internet. So, you can keep your MySpace exposure and try to exchange it for a new set of strings at the music store.

 

 

my space is as good a way as any for somebody with no network to get their music licensed for the first time. to get noticed. to coax an opportunity out of free.

[BlueStrat]

 

btw, my myspace page attracted me a local radio station and got me on the air. No big deal. But, it would NOT have happened had I not made the page and put my music out there.

 

 

Myspace may have helped you get airplay, but it doesn't mean you wouldn't have gotten any without it. I don't have a myspace page, because I don't need one. I don't want to play out of town anymore, I 've quit trying to be anything, and I'm well known enough in my area that I don't have to promote anymore. But I have gotten airplay on various stations all over the country just by emailing PDs and sending CDs to their specialty programs (in my case, it's blues/roots, but tons of college, commercial and public stations have indie/alt/progressive rock shows.) In fact, if you were to get a musicians atlas, or even google indie rock radio programs, you'd be amazed at the opportunities that exist for airplay. And while it's true a good number of kids 14-25 don't listen to radio much, there is also a large number who do, and a larger number of 25-34 who do as well. I work construction during the day, and most of the guys are in the 20-40 age range, and they listen to radio all day long. (they also bitch about stations playing the same {censored} day in and day out. Some radio stations are missing a golden opportunity for daytime programming where they could feature unknowns part of the day, and keep the listener engaged, but that's another topic, I suppose)

[BlueStrat]

 

my space is as good a way as any for somebody with no network to get their music licensed for the first time. to get noticed. to coax an opportunity out of free.

 

 

Indeed.

[BlueStrat]

 

Can you please explain to me how excactly myspace makes money off of you putting your music on their page? Oh they get ad revenue when someone views your page. And? Myspace is THE biggest site for musician advertisement. Pretty much everyone has a myspace these days, pretty much everyone uses myspace to listen to music. Just because you're too asinine to realize the opportunity that is placed in front of you, doesn't mean it's a bad thing. You're too hellbent on the idea that they're stealing your license and money, and not realizing how much money most musicians pay for a webpage, or adspace, and myspace offers you this for free of charge. And what is the small catch? They put a banner at the top of your page, OHNOES THEY'RE COLLECTING MONEY FOR OFFERING YOU A FREE SERVICE!

 

 

You are correct again. No one is forced to put up a myspace page, and they don't owe anyone royalties because they are providing a service. You get free exposure, they get ad revenue. They are profiting off of your music indirectly, but so are radio stations that play your stuff on specialty programs and don't have to pay royalties. It's an arrangement that frankly I'm quite comfortable with.

 

I think that for most folks who don't like myspace, it's less about myspace itself and more about some of it's proponents and their tendency to overestimate myspace's capabilities. The OPs question was where are all the people who have "made it" ( by that, I assume he means parlaying their music into a comfortable living) solely on the basis of myspace alone, without the aid of a label. There just don't seem to be any, or if they are, they are as rare as white buffalo.

 

Lily Allen is close, but even she had the benefit of a label and a demo record that cost 25,000 pounds to make. It's not quite the same as starting from scratch, but she was able to take the buzz she already had in the UK and increase it enormously with myspace.

 

In short, only an idiot would discount the value of myspace in promoting a band and gaining a fanbase, if that's what they're after. But only a fool would discount the absolute necessity of a label's muscle and resources in taking it to the next level. In that regard, myspace is not the defacto "record label of the people" it is cracked up to be by anti-label types. And I don't think it was ever intended to be. It is what it is.

[sabriel9v]

 

You are correct again. No one is forced to put up a myspace page, and they don't owe anyone royalties because they are providing a service. You get free exposure, they get ad revenue. They are profiting off of your music indirectly, but so are radio stations that play your stuff on specialty programs and don't have to pay royalties. It's an arrangement that frankly I'm quite comfortable with. I think that for most folks who don't like myspace, it's less about myspace itself and more about some of it's proponents and their tendency to overestimate myspace's capabilities. The OPs question was where are all the people who have "made it" ( by that, I assume he means parlaying their music into a comfortable living) solely on the basis of myspace alone, without the aid of a label. There just don't seem to be any, or if they are, they are as rare as white buffalo. Lily Allen is close, but even she had the benefit of a label and a demo record that cost 25,000 pounds to make. It's not quite the same as starting from scratch, but she was able to take the buzz she already had in the UK and increase it enormously with myspace. In short, only an idiot would discount the value of myspace in promoting a band and gaining a fanbase, if that's what they're after. But only a fool would discount the absolute necessity of a label's muscle and resources in taking it to the next level. In that regard, myspace is not the defacto "record label of the people" it is cracked up to be by anti-label types. And I don't think it was ever intended to be. It is what it is.

 

 

 

If the original question was, who has made it SOLELY off of myspace...thats just plain misinformed. Nobody has ever "made it" solely off one factor. Several factors contribute to one's success. But you can't discount the power myspace has in helping to accelerate this success.

[soundwave106]

Bands such as The Medic Droid, Hollywood Undead, Forever The Sickest Kids, Sky Eats Airplane, The Devil Wears Prada, and tons more noone would even know of, and would still be playing local crappy shows in their respective towns if it wasn't for myspace.

 

Um, two of these bands don't even have an All Music Guide entry. Of the rest it looks like only The Devil Wears Prada is what I'd call a relatively big success (albeit in a somewhat limited genre, Christian metalcore).

 

Lily Allen -- she had industry connections by birth. Forget that. PlayRadioPlay! is in another limited genre, albeit indie electronica is one of the bigger limited genres around and it looks like he's done well enough. Then there's Soulja Boy -- looks like he *did* get a big hit fueled through the Internet. To me, that's a first.

 

Within a local band, I've played with plenty of "national touring acts" -- some from the MySpace-ambitious crowd -- that draw maybe 10 people or even less. Many local acts around here draw way more than that. Anyone can stage a national tour, whether anyone shows up is the question. That's why inherently I'm suspicious of the "Myspace is THE marketing tool" hype. I personally am aware of far more bands that worked up through the usual way -- from the local roots on up -- and indeed, the national bands we've played with that drew (even the national bands most people have never heard of) fall mostly into that category. Sure, they have a MySpace page, but that's not all they've got.

 

I'm not discounting the value of MySpace and the Internet, I think it can be very valuable to musicians, especially in certain genres. It can be good for marketing and connections. But I don't think you can *rely* on it. The odds aren't good for that path.

[Dean Roddey]

 

now if what you are saying is nobody has become Britanny Spears from scratch using just the internet, you are correct sir. the record companies still control how far you can get and they have erected a brick wall to stop it from happening for anyone who gets their momentum via the internet. it's a control issue, but that wall is now crumbling a little every day.

 

 

I continue to hear this bogus claim made. The record companies cannot control squat. They can control what they do, but they have no control beyond that. They aren't holding anyone back from making it outside of their particular method. They have no means to do so. They can't control who listens to whom on Myspace or who gets played on the radio or who gets booked in clubs and whatnot.

 

So it's a cheap out to try to blame them for any failure of the internet to live up to the constant claims that it's the way that artists will dump the need for labels or professional marketing organizations and whatnot, which is constantly claimed.

 

And how can you read this thread, where almost every artist mentioned who has gotten attention used it to sign with a label, and think that artists think that the labels are not still the way to really make it? They are dancing off of Myspace's remains (from their perspective) over to Label Land, not the other way around.

[Poker99]

 

I continue to hear this bogus claim made. The record companies cannot control squat. They can control what they do, but they have no control beyond that. They aren't holding anyone back from making it outside of their particular method. They have no means to do so. They can't control who listens to whom on Myspace or who gets played on the radio or who gets booked in clubs and whatnot.

 

Try to get your song on a major radio station without the support of a major label. They aren't controlling anyone, they just made it nearly impossible to do it without their help.

[mickeydean]

 

I continue to hear this bogus claim made. The record companies cannot control squat. They can control what they do, but they have no control beyond that. They aren't holding anyone back from making it outside of their particular method. They have no means to do so. They can't control who listens to whom on Myspace or who gets played on the radio or who gets booked in clubs and whatnot. So it's a cheap out to try to blame them for any failure of the internet to live up to the constant claims that it's the way that artists will dump the need for labels or professional marketing organizations and whatnot, which is constantly claimed. And how can you read this thread, where almost every artist mentioned who has gotten attention used it to sign with a label, and think that artists think that the labels are not still the way to really make it? They are dancing off of Myspace's remains (from their perspective) over to Label Land, not the other way around.

 

 

the labels are not worried about individual artists who gain an audience via the internet. they can buy those and maintain control of that product.

 

alternative ways of getting a record onto the radio is scary.

 

people going direct to artists to license music is scary.

 

they block anything that might make them obsolete. maybe you haven't heard. CDs don't sell like they used to.

[Dean Roddey]

 

Try to get your song on a major radio station without the support of a major label. They aren't controlling anyone, they just made it nearly impossible to do it without their help.

 

 

But you really have it backwards, don't you? You get on a major radio station by being majorly well known. You can't get majorly well known without being on a label, not because they control that process but because they provide a workable way to do it, whereas the internet, despite the claims, does not.

 

Do you really think that if you, independent of the labels, had a massively popular hit that the major radio stations wouldn't play it just because you aren't with a label? I have a hard time believing that. They are in business for themselves, not to pimp for the labels. But no one has had a massively popular hit outside of the labels, that I know of.

 

So you are blaming them for having a working system, not because they are preventing anyone else from having one.