MySpace, already a powerful promotion tool for the 3 million musical
artists who have pages on the site, is setting itself up as a music
marketplace. Under a deal rolling out this month, artists that
previously could put only four promotional tracks on a MySpace page
will be able to set prices for songs and sell a library’s worth of mp3s
to fans directly through MySpace.
Independent artists and music industry watchers say new distribution
channels—from MySpace to online marketplaces such as iTunes and eMusic
that sell downloads, and companies such as CD Baby that sell and ship
independent artists’ CDs online—make it easier for musicians to get
their music heard.
Such technology allows musicians to bypass big distributors and sell
directly to their fans. But there can be a downside, those in the music
industry say. Go-it-alone acts don’t have nearly the marketing muscle
or publicity power of traditional hit-makers, so independent artists
must find ways to market themselves, book shows and sell their music in
a crowded field.
"There’s definitely a shift in the whole paradigm," said Chicagoan
Shawn Rios, who plays drums in an independent band called Slings and
Arrows. "But I still think there’s an advantage to being signed, with
distribution and booking. This risk of being independent is less
financial—the risk is you might not be heard, you might not get out
there, you might miss the boat, so to speak."
Slings and Arrows, which recently changed its name from Public Four,
released its first EP and is recording a longer album, Rios said. The
band’s manager is setting it up to sell songs through iTunes, and Rios
says the band is interested in selling songs on its MySpace page too.
Slings and Arrows doesn’t expect to get big just from online sales,
Rios said. He recognizes that making it is a combined effort of a good
publicist and manager, good albums, good shows and networking with fans
and other bands on MySpace.
David Kusek, a vice president at the Berklee College of Music in Boston
who co-wrote "The Future of Music," says selling music on MySpace will
be a great opportunity for independent artists and small labels to
potentially make some money, but he doesn’t think it will become a huge
source of revenue. Most artists likely will sell a song for $1 or less,
and MySpace and its partner Snocap will take a 45-cent cut.
MySpace’s biggest advantage for bands will continue to be exposure,
Kusek said. Finding those fans and establishing a relationship with
them are essential to artists’ success, and bands might want to keep
their music on MySpace free to get more people to listen to it.
Some bands on MySpace get a lucky break. Unsigned Chicago band Skybox,
which has started selling songs on MySpace for $1 per mp3, got a big
boost recently when celebrity blogger Perez Hilton plugged one of the
band’s songs on his Web site. The song was listened to more than 10,000
times that day, which attracted the attention of record labels, said
band manager Don Bartlett.
Geoff Mayfield, director of charts for Billboard magazine, says
examples of DIY acts finding commercial success and maintaining it are
the exception, not the rule. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah—a band many
artists and managers hold up as an example that you can do it
yourself—is the only unsigned band to make the Billboard album charts,
Mayfield said.
Ani DiFranco, who has her own record company, also has found commercial success with several of her albums.
"I would never say never, but I think it’s more difficult for new
artists to break through," Mayfield said. "You just about need to have
a home" on a label.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a major label. Depending on the
genre, a musical artist could find commercial success on one of the
several thousands of independent record labels that made up almost 20
percent of all album sales so far this year, Mayfield said.
Hip-hop and certain kinds of rock tend to do better on these labels,
but traditional Top 40 acts would still do better to sign with a label
owned by one of the major four recording companies, he said.
MySpace’s Amit Kapur says a benefit of MySpace’s music-selling model is
that it’s open to everyone. Artists who don’t have a label or a huge
fan base can make some money off their music by selling it to their
MySpace "friends."
"The barriers to entry are significantly lowered when you start
offering tools like this to artists," Kapur said. "I think the artist
community is going to go pretty nuts when we launch this."
Chicago singer-songwriter Dick Prall believes MySpace sales could be a
source of funds for independent artists. He already sells his songs
through iTunes and albums at CD Baby, but he expects to sell mp3s on
MySpace too.
"Any way you can peddle your wares is good to me," said Prall, who has
been recording for eight years and is finishing his fourth album. "The
more the revenue stream for individual artists, the more they can do
what they love."
Previously, Prall said independent artists who didn’t have the backing
of a major label had to "tour their ass off" and sell CDs after shows
to recoup the money they spent traveling and recording. Now, the reach
of MySpace allows Prall, who works a full-time job at the Chicago
Council on Foreign Relations to pay the bills, to grow a fan base
without having to tour all the time.
Prall acknowledges that it would take a lot of downloads on MySpace to
make a significant amount of money. The real benefit to selling your
own stuff is that the control is in your hands.
"I think it puts the wheel back in the hands of the artist," Prall
said. "You’re distributing your own music, and you’re distributing it
all over the world. That’s the crux of what labels provide you."
Chicago MC and hip-hop artist Ang13 already is selling albums directly
on her MySpace page using PayPal and delivering them by mail, and she
says she’s willing to try selling downloads from the new album she’s
getting ready to release.
"You cut through a whole lot of red tape if there’s no red tape at
all," Ang13 says. "Labels are sweating right now. More and more money
is coming out of their pockets."
Some artists aren’t giving up the label dream.
Chicagoan Chris Medina, a Columbia College student who plays in a band
called The Green Light Special, says MySpace has allowed the band to
attract more than 3,500 "friends" who are fans, a number that’s
inspired them to put out an album for sale.
But he doesn’t expect selling downloads on MySpace to make as much
money as touring and selling CDs after shows—or landing a deal with a
traditional music label—would.
"We definitely want to get to the top of the mountain and get the best
part of the cake," Medina said. "That means a major label—that’s the
dream of most bands."
