MySpace rocks, say musicians
Local band Quietdrive is among many acts using the site to promote their careers and connect with fans.
Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune
April 12, 2006

When Twin Cities pop-punk band Queidrive landed a major label deal with Sony’s Epic Records, it dint’ sit around waiting to get famous. It sat around using MySpace.com to get famous. “Talk about the world’s best promotion for a band,” gushed guitarist Matt Kirby.

MySpace is the rapidly growing website where Internet surfers – most in their teens and 20s – network with one another based on their interests. Recently, it has gotten mainstream attention as a haven for sexual predators. However, MySpace is earning positive notice in the music industry, from garage bands on up to big labels that use it to connect with potential listeners. “It empowers the fans more tan ever in boosting a band’s career,” said Cory Llewellyn, director of new media at Epic Records. In Quietdrive’s case, he said, MySpace is helping the five guys (all in their early 20s) fill up clubs on tour even before the release of their first album May 30.

”They were one of the first bands to really use MySpace right,” Llewellyn said. Quietdrive has been so successful that th eroup was featured Sunday in a “Dateline NBC” story about the site, which last week hired a former federal prosecutor as its first chief security officer to head off concerns about misuse. In late 2002, Quietdrive set up its own MySpace page, which features MySpace “friends” linked to its page, and its songs have purportedly been listened to a half-million times on the site. “We’re connecting directly with the people who really want to listen to us,” said the band’s guitarist. “I don’t know if getting on the radio even works that well anymore.”

How they did it

During much of the last year, Quietdrive would rehearse for a few hours at night, and then the bnad members would individually log onto MySpace for a few more hours, Kirby said. The would search for fans of bands they liked, such as Jimmy Eat World and the Foo Fighters, and invite them to becomes “friends.” “Basically, we’d say, ‘Hey, if you like this band, I think you’d like ours,’” he explained. Angie from San Antonio, a 23 year-old Quietdrive friend who regularly posts on their page, got one of these invites. “Quietdrive actually found me!” she told the Star Tribune via e-mail. “I listened and totally fell in love with their sound.”

Some regular MySpace users said they rely on the site more than any other outlet for discovering new music. “I think the bands on MySpace are way better than most of the stuff out there on the airwaves,” said Angie Dahlum, 27 of Albert Lea, another Quietdrive friend/fan.

MySpace, with more than 68 million members, is among the most-visited websites in the world. It has risen far since its creation in 2003, when it emerged along side other networking sites such as Friendster.com and Tribe.net. Last year, MySpace and its parent company, Intermix Media Inc., were sold for $580 million to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., the media conglomerate behind Fox TV. Many users were worried the site would lose its hip appeal, but so far that hasn’t happened.

Plenty of other musicians and music-industry professional in the Twin Cities are using MySpace to great effect. The biggest record label in the Twin Cities, hip-hop imprint Rhymesayers Entertainment, has MySpace pages for each of its artists in addition to its own company website. Rymesayers’ top act, Atmosphere, has 120,000 friends listed on its page.

”I can’t think of any act that I know that doesn’t have its own MySpace page,” said Rhymesayers president Brent (Diddiq) Sayers. “It’s a direct and immediate way to communicate with fans. And it’s pretty easy to use, too.” Like Quietdrive, another young local rock band called Dropping Daylight has built up a strong following (8,400 friends) on MySpace even before it’s debut release in June. “We get a lot of fans thanking us for adding them to our friends list,” mused Dropping Daylight frontman Sebastian Davin. “Of course were going to add you! We want you to buy our CD.”

Some of the biggest new rock bands on MTV right now relied on MySpace to help get there, including Ohio’s Hawthorne Heights and Chicago favorites Fall Out Boy. “MySpace is adding a million people a day,” marveled Fall Out Boy bassist and songwriter Pete Wentz, whose band is headlining a show with Hawthrone Heights on Friday. “Alternative media [such as MySpace] is there for people who feel disenfranchised by MTV and radio.”

Of course, the members of Quietdrive hope they’ll also land on the radio and MTV. But they’re happy not to be totally dependent on those outlets. “We’re really proud of our [MySpace] success,” Kirby said, “especially since it’s something we did ourselves.”