As sad as it is true, my nearly every waking hour is composed of feeding addictions. A buzzing alarm doesn't wake this girl. No, sir. Only whatever band I currently cannot hear enough of whispers, "Rise and shine." Or, in the present context, the fierceness of Sleater-Kinney demanding, "Get your ass out of bed."
After arising to the withdrawal-soothing tunes, the computer gets turned on, the teakettle filled and placed upon the burner, the S'more PopTart put in the toaster. Within minutes, sipping the day's first drops of caffeine, enjoying the first morsels of chocolate, I check my email for the first of nearly a hundred times. I browse through Isthmus' daily events, check my e-mail. I review club calendars, check my e-mail. I click through Paste, Pitchfork, Purevolume websites, check my e-mail.
If that all did not keep me busy enough, I have now become quite the MySpace fiend. And like cigarettes creating an odoriferous aura, coffee turning teeth a nice non-niveous tint, cabernet-sauvignon offering judgment as a lovely luxury, access to MySpace does something ugly to me.
Plain and simple, with no two ways around it, at some point in time you will become a stalker. Information about people you have never met, facts regarding individuals with whom you will never cross paths suddenly cover your screen and fill your mind. You begin by looking at the profile of a friend, a coworker, a relative. Click 'view my friends' to surprisingly discover your everywhere guy is friends with your friend. He is a Gemini, digs Kings of Leon, currently finds himself in a relationship. You discover his sister is the waitress you always avoided at the diner down the street, discover she is now hooking up with your ex. You discover he is now a promoter in Chicago, discover his coworker is afraid of broccoli, believes in ghosts, grew up with Kanye West. Six degrees of separation, people.
It is disconcerting. There really is no reason for my knowledge to encompass a majority of such information. While putting up profiles simultaneously makes one both the stalker and the stalked, the predator and the prey, rumor has it there are functional purposes to institutions such as MySpace. Consider the supportive music community, ever-developing and evolving since Tom Anderson took the website under his wing in 2003.
As Apparently Nothing's drummer Layne explained in an e-mail interview with the Badger Herald, "MySpace, simply put, is the best promotional tool out there for independent bands right now, with the exception to national television or radio coverage. You can post blogs, bulletins and also invite all your friends to big events you may have coming up. It allows the bands to stay personal with their fans, and keep that relationship very positive and involved. Let's face it, MySpace now revolves around music."
With the site offering access to the music of bands playing any genre, in any region of the world, that stalking can be healthily channeled into the discovery of new sounds. So this time you begin looking at the profile of a friend, a coworker, a relative. Click 'view my friends' to see Awesome Car Funmaker. They receive the praises of Butch Vig, find cover space on Rick's Café, prepare to tour this spring. You discover they played with Apparently Nothing. Their bulletin informs you of a show next Monday, leading you to Pink Spiders, the Vacation and Living Things — those taking the stage later the night of the 27th at the Annex.
Experiencing firsthand the powerful promotional tool of MySpace — when taking a break from one indulgence to entertain another — I was surprised to read the following from SarahSaturday.com creator Sarah asserts on her website that having a MySpace profile does constitute a group as a legitimate band. Instead, a legitimate band understands that a full website is needed, not just a small page on the larger MySpace network.
I had the question, the assertion. Why is a website essential if the profile ultimately garners the attention?
The answer came as a result of the notion of communication put forth by Polydream frontman Jonathan Knudson and guitarist Eric LeMieux. In an e-mail to the Badger Herald they said, "[MySpace offers] easy communication mediums between the artist and the fan such as commenting or sending messages," Eric explained. "You can find people yourself to look at your page and invite them to listen to your music. It's genius, and it can really increase fanbase."
The official website is to a MySpace profile what the recorded album is to the live show. One offers a sense of professionalism, the other an informal means of direct interaction. Music-lovers gain close contact with the music-makers they love. In an instant, Polydream can reach over 600 individuals eagerly awaiting word of their next show. With streamlined searching options, the boys can sieve out the bands with one fan, zero plays, 18 views, instantly networking with legitimate bands to set up shows across town or across the country. And if such serious musicians use the profile wisely, they can make serious gains in getting their music heard.
Sarah would be oh so proud of Apparently Nothing's "addendum to the official website" wisdom. "MySpace generates a lot of hits and flow to our official band website, which is something that is also very important to us," Layne offered. "We take pride in having a colorful, yet simplistic and easy to use official website, and also try our best to make the MySpace site an extension of that website, using similar color schemes and media."
Taking the time to set up www.apparently-nothing.com, investing the energy to maintain the MySpace profile makes clear Layne's bottom line.
"It's all about the fans and our relationship with them," he said. "We want them to stay a part of our music making, because they make it so much fun and exciting for us. When you lose that relationship and connection, you lose your motivation and ultimately your band."
If a half-assed MySpace profile is your singular promotional tactic for listeners, can you really expect a grand following? A whirlwind of media exposure? Who will take your musical endeavors seriously if you do not? Who will think you legitimate if you do not present yourself as such? Not the music afficionado, not the individual addicted to finding the next fresh sounds. Maybe the Internet stalker. Maybe.
