The muzik biz is all about numbers. The higher the better. "FRIENDS", "TOTAL PLAYS" and "PROFILE VIEWS" can all chart a band in Myspace. How important is that? Well Myspace has revolutionized the muzik biz to the point where all major labels' A&R and Business Affairs personals, etc., top Managements, savvy Concert Promoters and Talent Buyers are up in Myspace combing the charts and muzik pages of interest. If a band makes Myspace charts, they have a good chance of being noticed by important muzik biz people from different areas of the industry.
Again, Myspace Music has revolutionized the muzik biz and will continue doing so for a very long minute. Myspace has given bedroom or novice artists from the Ukraine to El Paso, Texas, the ultimate tool to compete on a level playing field with the Majors -- to a certain extent. Almost any good artist on Myspace using one of several formulas, can make an impact if they know what they are doing. (Sorry D.I.A will not reveal trade secrets. Some of them we have created.) And the unveiling of the new Myspace Player is a huge signal of the ultimate direction of the muzik industry. CDs will continue to become less valuable than vinyl. Brick and mortars like Tower Records chain will continue dropping like Wall Street and Banking system. And the current reverse growth and hemorrhaging of the Majors will continue the downward slide for a while... at least until they fire all their obnoxious knowledge-less staffs and partner with kool indie peeps who are blazing trails with innovative ideas or concepts. Let's face it, Myspace (and the internet) 'longside rebelling artists like REM and Prince have reduced old Major Labels' standards and practices. At the moment the good hardworking artists are the shot-callers for their muzik. Now, will the Majors ketch up and dominate again? ABSOLUTELY! They have the resources to buy into a company like D.I.A for billions. Hehehehehehehe!
MYSPACE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE!
The "FRIENDS" pool is the most important number for a band or artist. Simply because "Friends" must be viewed as potential CDs, MP3s, ringtones, merch and concert tickets sales. And to add, generally bands with 30,000 or more Friends are usually signed to a label or a management company. Of course there are exceptions both sides of the 30,000 benchmark...
"TOTAL PLAYS" is the more important number for a band in Myspace. While plays (and views) could be ratcheted up by one person, the true value of a band lies within a relative ratio of the amount of "FRIENDS" vs "TOTAL PLAYS" (coupled with Profile Views). If a band is averaging 2 to 3 plays per Friend, those are good numbers showing friends/fans are listening to tracks. Premier bands with Total Plays in the millions mean their friends/fans aren't only repeaters to their pages, some of these friends/fans are also featuring tracks on their pages as background muzik which ultimately rack up spins or listens when other folks visit their pages.
"PROFILE VIEWS" is important from a branding and at least an artist awareness standpoint. This is a component of the familiarity factor that drives a consumer to listen (and ultimately buy). If visitors open a page and even if they do not befriend or listen to songs, they have seen the band's name and logo. SIGNAGE!! They may have read a couple lines of the bio also. Very important in the never ending artist development process. If Total Plays are on an even keel with Views, that is mundanely okay. When a band is averaging 2 plays and more per view that is good to excellent if the numbers are true.
"FRIENDS" and "TOTAL PLAYS" coupled with PROFILE VIEWS" give the value of the artist in regard to potential product and concert ticket sales. And to all the krews who are out there seeking "record deals" with 200 Friends, 2,000 Total Plays, and 700 Profile Views with a page that looks like **Homer Simpson's, don't play urself yo! And bands with 2000 Friends, 2,000,000 Total Plays and 1.5,000,000 Profile Views don't play urself either. Learn the game. Build your value before you go asking for record deals. You have the ultimate tool at your fingertips.
Furthermore, Record Labels have never picked up huge sums of money and just give it to a new artist out of the gate. If you heard of cases where established artists get multi-millions deals, those awards are based on established record sales and projected sales of the forthcoming release. Learn the muzik biz!!
Overall, don't sleep on Myspace Music. It is the muzik industry standard!! But definitely make sure you get all your "Total Plays" back after exterminating the bugs
from the new Myspace player. Bother Tom man... even though he may be anywhere between Redondo Beach - California and Negril - Jamaica or Cabo San Lucas - Mexico and Paradise Island - Bahamas chilling with the faint cry of seagulls and gentle waves lapping the powdered sand shore in the background. He is probably shirtless and barefooted flossing in
a yellow Street Ragz cap and matching board-shorts, sipping a fresh red-and-orange rum-coconut flavored cocktail poured over crushed ice, while watching thong-ed sun-drenched beauties who are ignoring him. That poor nerd. Hehehehehe.
Barry D.I.A
Global Rock In Effect!
PS: THE HOMER SIMPSON'S AWARD!!
**Home Simpson's Website: Homer once build a website that was not getting any visitors. He pondered long and hard why the site was dormant. Well the reason was he had too much shit on it. The site was bogged down with flash features similar to neon signs in Time Square, NYC. The handful of surfers who visited did not know where to focus cuz all contents were blinking. Words and images were moving right, left, up and down at the same time. This is the same with some of you Myspacers pages. You post images as big a friggin' billboard that whacked the page out of alignment to the point where you must scroll right for what seems to be miles to get to the player and content. Surfers do not have patience. If they can't get to contents in three clicks of the mouse they move on. Some also bog pages down with 200 videos and those marquee picture features. Do y'all think peeps have time to watch or look at all that crap. Listen, one needs internet service like the Armed Forces to open these pages. And remember in some parts of the world including the United States people are still using dial-up services.
TIPS:
Especially to bands/artists who have been nominated for the Homer Simpson's Award, fix your fucking pages. No excuses. Lot's of HTML help and templates online. Keep layout simple and clean. Make your page visually appealing and inviting. Put up one or two videos. Reduce the size of your images. Put up a few lines about yourself or band instead of a blank page with just the tracks up. Give peeps something to read while they listen to your tracks. Send messages with a SUBJECT. I do not open messages without subjects. Keep messages short and to the point. Exude confidence and even an ego but don't go over the top. Don't act like you came to save muzik and your trks are the best shit in the universe. Man every artist's trks sound great to them even if they drastically suck. And definitely get your page into alignment like your Myspace Home Page "across." This way peeps can see all contents across the page when opened. What is wrong with you fuckers. Don't let me go Michael Richards on your asses.