The Sound of Music: Indie Bands and the Internet

by Agata Waliczek

Less than three years ago, MySpace was an unadvertised, small social community. Now it’s the largest community on the Internet, with over 50 million users, according to the website, and a way for musicians to gain exposure

It all began in July 2003 when Tom Anderson and co-founder Chris DeWolfe started MySpace as a social networking website that offered an interactive network of photos, blogs, user profiles, and groups.  

In early 2004 the website began allowing musicians to create a profile and post MP3s of their songs. Musicians are now able to build a fan base as MySpacer’s visit their page. Friends use the website to socialize, and through word of mouth bands get exposure. Fans can add the artist to their “friends” list and also add the band’s song to their page, which allows anyone that views the page to hear it.

The Burnitdowns are an indie band based in Toronto that uses MySpace to showcase its unique sound: a combination of punk, country and rock.

“Myspace has created the perfect environment for not just us, but all indie bands trying to make a name for themselves,” says Chris Payne, the band’s vocalist. “It has given the indie music scene the perfect outlet to show everyone and anyone who wants to hear what is going on.”

Mandy Logan, vocalist of her self-titled indie/pop punk/alternative band, also uses MySpace to share music with fans.

“Think of MySpace as a huge room filled with people. You’re (the artist) standing in the middle of the room with a big sign over you head and the ones whose eye you catch will come over and start talking to you,” she says.

Artists don’t connect solely with fans, but interact with other artists.

“Other bands are getting to know about us. We’re being asked to play shows, and people in the industry are contacting us,” says Logan, who got her first live show by playing with other bands she met on the side.  

If it hadn’t been for MySpace, the 19-year-old broadcasting and film student at Centennial College wouldn’t have had a band. Afterall, it was through the website that she first met Chris Roper, who would go on to become the band’s guitar player.

“Chris and I met online and we clicked instantly,” she said. She sent him a message over MySpace and they quickly built a friendship, soon after they discovered their mutual love for music. They met at her house in Mississauga and started creating music together right away.
She doesn’t quite remember how she met Brandon Pasta, who would later become the drummer of the band. Logan says that she got a message from him on MySpace and “somehow the topic of him playing drums came up.” Brandon knew Leo Roche (bass player).

Logan says that things went really well at band practice and they had learned to play three songs in two hours.

In August, Logan made a music profile on MySpace using the acoustic songs they had recorded. They were an immediate hit and one of the songs, “Angel’s Obsession,” received 100 plays in 24 hours. Six months later, the band has over 4,000 friends and over 20,000 profile views. 

MySpace also allows music artists create an “event invite,” which lets the artist to invite all their fans to their shows. This also gives the band a general idea of how many people are expected to show up, or where their largest fan base is geographically.

Depending on how much the band advertises itself (by sending messages to other MySpacers), the size of the fan base can rise quite quickly.

Payne, vocalist of The Burnitdowns, says MySpace is unlike anything else.

“MySpace delivers the sense of community and allows all the fans to really become a part of the band,” he says. “This is such a unique way to communicate with a fan base that it makes MySpace indispensable to any artist that is starting up.

“It has definitely put us out into the open, whereas before it would have been next to impossible for a band that is still in its infancy stage to accomplish,” he said.

Artists can also use MySpace to help promote their albums. Everything At Once’s self-titled album is available to purchase on its page and Redmond says that a lot of its sales come from the site.

“We get a lot of comments on MySpace from people who have found us on here, telling us they just went out and bought our CD,” he says of the CD which can also be found in music stores.
Recently, Myspace has put out its own CD, MySpace Records Volume 1, a compilation featuring a variety of artists. It has also signed its first band, Hollywood Undead, which attributes its success to exposure on MySpace.

In January 2006, MySpace launched a UK version of the website in what they call a bid to “tap into the UK music scene.”