Category Archives: MySpace

The week the Internet got fast

Google goes Instant

The last several days have been interesting. Google went instant.

My first impression is that Google Instant favors whatever is most popular or whomever has paid money Google to be first on the list. Maybe this will spur consumer spending. If so, thanks Google. The economy could use the help.

Instant degrees of separation

Google Instant creates a new degrees of separation opportunity for those that figure it out (hat tip to David Holmes). It also places several degrees of separation and distraction between whatever is au courant and you. If you buy into the concept that the attention span of computer users is shrinking or that folks become more easily distracted, let me know in the comments section.

Google Instant spurs rapid innovation

Change came quickly to the Interwebs.

First there was YouTube Instant by Feross Aboukhadijeh. I think this may be the most disruptive of the sites because it works so seamlessly. (This site needs to offer a pause button on the main video window so that once you have committed to viewing a video that video can load appropriately on slower connections). Mr. Aboukhadijeh has received a job offer from YouTube’s CEO via Twitter for his efforts.

Next, Michael Hart created Google Maps Instant. I don’t bother to go to Google’s official site anymore if I just need a quick look up. I rate this as disruptive.

Today, a friend sent me iTunes Instant. iTunes Instant doesn’t play the music automatically. If it did, it could become a music discovery engine. I would like to see this concept fleshed out.

What I would like to see — Instant Music Discovery

I would like an Instant Music Discovery web page that scrubs a variety of sites like CDBaby, Bandcamp, MySpace, ReverbNation, TopSpin, Last.fm, etc. I’d also like to be able to like or dislike something (like Pandora) to refine my search. If programming is your passion and you develop something cool, let me know.

As always, thank you for stopping by. You’ve got a world of choices and I appreciate you spending time with me.


MySpace, Facebook, Twitter: Which is best for building your band fan base?

MySpace
If you have a band, the expectation is that you have a MySpace page (here’s mine). I started that page in a fit of patriotic fervor on July 4, 2006. My band’s MySpace profile has had 4,395 views and I’ve got 76 friends. The MySpace site feels really static to me and my friend count has remained basically the same since everyone switched over to Facebook.

Facebook
I set up my band’s Facebook page (here it is) and became a “fan” of myself to launch the page among my Facebook friends on December 11, 2009. I’ve got 97 fans as of January 10, 2010. The growth in my fan base on Facebook has been really fast with about half of my friends becoming fans. I’ve also had some friends of friends add me too, which has been great.

I am not crazy about the tab set up in Facebook. I really like the way MySpace has the music player and comments on the same page. I think it encourages plays and interaction with a focus on plays. In Facebook, you have to choose whether the “Wall” or “MyBand” tab is the start page for visitors to your band page. For now, I have opted for the “Wall” because it feels more social. I will keep an eye on how many people actually play the music on MyBand and may switch it up in the future.

Twitter
I’ve also got a Twitter account for my band (here it is). As of January 10, 2010, I’ve got 177 “followers.” Twitter has been an incremental way to build fans, but probably 10 percent of my “followers” are spammers (and that’s after culling “followers” who were clearly spammers).

To me, Twitter feels like I am shouting out into the wilderness. For example, I tried to give away a free copy of my album on both Twitter and Facebook. The copy I offered on Facebook was snapped up in minutes. The Twitter album has yet to be claimed (as of this writing).

Which is best?
Based on my personal experience, Facebook is the better of the three for building a fan base. I am experimenting with a variety of other sites and will write more about marketing in upcoming posts.