Myspace for musicians, facebook for musicians

This post is inspired by a recent post at the CNET blog in which they debate between Myspace and Facebook – the two social networking giants – and which will outperform the other in 2010.

Here are a few of my thoughts:

  • I believe Facebook will still be ahead of Myspace in 2010, just as it was this year. Facebook is aesthetically much better, and its clean interface allows users to navigate the website much better. Myspace, on the other hand, needs to clean up and look a bit better.
  • Facebook is a community. Myspace still hasn’t thought of itself as a real community; it’s not as easy to discuss, contact your members and communicate with friends as it is on Facebook.
  • Facebook opened up its API for developers to create applications. Myspace hasn’t yet, as far as I’m aware. I do believe, however, that Myspace will open up completely in 2010, allowing people to create applications that engage with the website and allow people more chance for interactivity.

Here are some questions to get you thinking:

  1. Which do you use more – Myspace or Facebook – and why?
  2. What do you think will happen to these two social giants in 2010?

Feel free to share your thoughts with me in the comments below…

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About the Author

Kavit Haria

adminKavit Haria is the founder of InsiderMusicBusiness.com. He writes and speaks on the topics of music promotion, music business strategy and music entrepreneurship. He's also a Tabla player.


23 Responses to “Myspace Versus Facebook – Which Is Best For Musicians?”

  1. I definitely think I’ve had more ‘connects’ through facebook to my music. Though I have more myspace friends, myspacers are mainly musicians trying to do the same as me – publicise their music – whereas just about everyone with an internet presence has a facebook account and is, therefore, a potential fan!

    It doesn’t make sense to abandon myspace, but I can’t see facebook being overtaken any time soon

  2. I rarely go on myspace for many of the reasons you have already mentioned. It’s not as streamlined or user friendly to connect with people. I doneelseel like I am part of a
    community whenever I frequent myspace. At this point I see it as an older way to promote music. With competitors like reverbnation that can do a lot for a musician it is losing out due to places like reverbnation because of all the things that are offered there. I still use myspace so they are doing somethng right but I still utilize Facebook a LOT more (daily basis most of the time)

  3. Although I barely go to my myspace site because I currently do not own a computer, I think they are two entirely different forms and neither are “better” than the other.

    You said that Facebook was ahead right now, but I think you need to define the word “ahead”. Myspace still has more users so until Facebook surpasses myspace in numbers, they are still the King.

    Although you can put music on Facebook, I never go to facebook to look for music from different artists. For me Myspace will always be THE site I go to for music and Facebook will be the site I use for chit-chat with friends.

    They both have their own defined purpose for me. If facebook really wants to make a dent in the music aspect of their site, then they need to adjust the page of each member so it shows what music they have instead of having to click on “my band”. On myspace you see from the get go that the person you are viewing is a musician where on facebook it is hidden.

    In 2010 I see no real change in the plucking order since Twitter is sort of like the Green Party in politics that are taking votes away from the Republicans and Democrats. Facebook is what it is and MySpace is what it is. My question would be, why does there need to be a winner? They both are making billions.

  4. I saw a scene in the movie “He’s Just Not That Into You” last night in which Drew Barrymore’s character deletes her MySpace account. Man was that an enticing thought. I look forward to the day I can delete mine.

  5. Kavit -I agree that Facebook is great for connecting directly with other people, especially people you already know. But I disagree that it’s even remotely close to being as useful for musicians as MySpace.

    The personal Facebook pages are way too personal while the public “pages” are too sterile and static. If a person becomes a fan of a band’s page, the musician’s updates tend to get buried in the endless stream of personal notes and game updates. Music is highly creative, and there’s virtually no room for creativity on a Facebook page. While MySpace could do a little better in the person-to-person interactivity, it certainly allows a lot of creative freedom for page creation and embedding media files. That clean Facebook look is the opposite of what a lot of music is about (especially dirty hard rock like ours!).

    I do see the importance of setting up a Facebook page to have a presence where many people are spending their online time these days but I find I’m getting much more mileage out of Twitter, Reverbnation, and MySpace than Facebook… at least as a musician.

    Thanks for all your great articles, keep em coming! Safe & happy holidays to you!

    Mojo

  6. it will never happen..because a couple of things…myspace doesnt appreciate or value its members …as various articles have provided proof that with myspace running its own label theirs a conflict of interest…also its not as user friendly…doesnt update its platform very regularly…i dont like using myspace ….Tom is a snob..

  7. I much prefer the freedom MySpace gives you as opposed to facebook. Myspace is more customizable esthetically. And I find it much easier to work with.

    Myspace does NOT place a limit on the number of friends one can have. Facebook has a limit of 5000…….if they lifted that I might consider using it more.

    As far as APPS go – I can’t stand the stuopid apps!!! They drive me nuts!!. There are so many useless apps out there and I am constantly inundated by them. You don’t even have to subscribe to an app to be pestered by it! And the only way to NOT see them is to take my (valuable) time and block them myself.

    In my opinion Facebook sucks!!

    The only reason I use it is to connect with relatives who have jumped on the bandwagon.

    Otherwise I would use MySpace exclusively to promote my music.

  8. Foremost I simply do not understand this type of ‘joy’ coming from some people when check that Facebook can beat MySpace, like if MySpace is something bad , causing some damage to those who have music there ( I am not saying that is the attitude of this blog ) . Some people put their music there, establish new business contacts , real friendships begin etc and in the end are ‘happy’ to see the Facebook ‘winning’ MySpace . We should just use the platforms to expose our work , and thanks for having places absolutely free to do it . Moreover if the subject is music, we need to mention a ‘third element’ : Reverbnation . This site provides absolutely everything for musicians .

    But the issue here is Facebook and MySpace :

    Kavit, you say the Facebook has a cleaner interface and really has . But do you know that I still can not navigate comfortably there ? I have many difficulties in the links and I can’t post all I’d like . I think Facebook should allow HTML and should also allow to upload videos . And the main: it should enable us to change the colors of our profiles ( I do not like that ‘blue-and-white ever’ ) , because turns the navigation is a little boring without all those shades of color that MySpace allows . Not one simple header is allowed there at Facebook !

    I think MySpace is better to spread music and in my case it works much better than the Facebook . Once MySpace has the image almost bound to MUSIC and Facebook does not and on the world there are more people who are not musicians than those who work with music so is obvious that the Facebook will have more users than MySpace . And I ask : how much musicians are on MySpace and how many musicians are on Facebook ? This is the number that should interest here .

    Each site has its unique feature and we should respect that . I think that using both and enjoying the best of what each one have to offer , we can create a great work of exposure . Just link your MySpace from your Facebook and vice-versa .

    What is coming from MySpace and Facebook in 2010 only God knows and let’s be sure that MySpace is not just watching . And the main is that musicians will have , on both sites , great places to work .

  9. MySpace is washed up.

    Facebook speaks to the people.

  10. They serve different purposes. Facebook is cool. However, it feels a bit overloaded with apps and stuff. Myspace could be better, and the player really degrades the sound quality of your music. Also it is kind of tedious to use. To me it isn’t “fun” like facebook therefore I don’t use it as much.

  11. Hi Kavit, thanks for your articles.

    Regarding MySpace vs Facebook, for me MySpace is better initially because the web address is cleaner, it’s open (facebook may be opening up now but it’s not the same yet), and it’s not “static,” as someone mentioned above.

    MySpace counts number of hits and music views each day, so it makes the musician/band want to work harder to market themselves.

    Thanks again!

    http://myspace.com/realjamminonbroadway

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Real-JOB/188361952449?v=app_16393714252

  12. A couple of weeks ago I read that Myspace cannot sustain the $20 million a month it is paying to stream music from its site. It was also announced that Myspace has aligned itself with several of the major labels, giving short shrift to indies.

    If Myspace were to start charging to stream your music, would this change the way you feel about Myspace?

    Add to these matters the fact that Myspace is losing millions of dollars as it cannot fill office space that it owns, equal, according to some sources, as 5 times that of the Pentagon–and Murdoch continues to buy up music startups such as Imeem and iLike, most recently it has been reported he is looking at Flixster, which it is said he is acquiring to turn Myspace into an entertainment portal–all of these at millions of dollars with no foreseeable payoff– and other problems make me believe Myspace’s time is short.

  13. I have used Facebook for the group’s events and it works better for me and have been adding my friends to my network due to the exposure and word of mouth. The MySpace Events application doesn’t work for me although I have found that MySpace is better for networking with radio shows, bands and related music contacts.

    Both networks has it pros and cons. I usually check Facebook a couple of times during the week whereas I used MySpace everyday. My only complaint with MySpace is its events application as I have mentioned before. Very good article at your page. Thanks for sharing.

    Here’s wishing you Happy Holidays!

  14. Two different animals. I have defined a purpose for each network of which I’m a part.

    I think that many venues and talent buyers will still ask if a musician has a “MySpace” because of the uniformity. They know where to click for the audio. Simple as that. As for my own purpose, I enjoy using MySpace to connect with other musicians around the world. Sometimes there will be folks who become my fans on MySpace, because they enjoyed listening to my music there. But the vast majority of time I find that new friend requests come from other artists/bands pimping themselves.

    MySpace has tried to improve categorization methods, but it remains awkward for community purposes.

    I use my Facebook Artist Page to communicate with non-musician fans and don’t think of it as a space where people come first to listen to music. The Wall is a great way to post what is happening and an opportunity to create community and interaction.

    Truth is, I think that Jango is going to rule. LOL ; ) A place where fans learn about you first because they listen to your music alongside that of Artists they love. A beautiful idea that benefits artists and fans alike. That’s a sign of a fantastic community.

    This business of community is one edge that I feel Facebook has over MySpace – I think fans there really enjoy being part of a community, whereas the value proposition for fans on MySpace is less clear in that regard.

    The value proposition for fans on MySpace is being able to listen at a moment’s notice to a band’s music…to know where to find it and stream it for free without having to search through some official website.

    Both have their limitations and strengths. Suggest improvements that are related to the core of each product, because there is no point in having two of the same thing. I feel the goal is to identify how each works in your scheme of things and make the best of each.

    Kavit, I think you should add a box here that enables user to checkmark if they’d like to receive follow-on comments.

  15. Hi,

    There are some very interesting comments here, but overall it seems a really mix bag of feelings between Myspace and Facebook. Ultimately, there is no winner, I know that, but when I read that post at CNET it got me to think about it a little more and so I shared with you here.

    Community vs music is where it’s at; and I think one has to understand how to use both best for those purposes and then create separate objectives with each one; rather than choosing this OR that.

    Manisha- thanks; I’ll add the comment follow-on feature.

    Kavit

  16. Follow up comment feature added!
    -Kavit

  17. Facebook wins by a long shot.

    But this is not to say that your band should *not* be on it as there are conversations going on there too.

    Facebook: I didn’t find the “tell your friends to invite other friends” tactic useful at all though. When I did it most of them didn’t invite anyone..perhaps I wasn’t persistent enough.

    Facebook Ads: Extremely useful, the ads were targeted and slowly now we are beginning to find *real* fans.

  18. Marcus Manderson
    December 22nd, 2009
    9:38 am
    Marcus Manderson

    I have definitely used Facebook more this year than Myspace. I might check Myspace once a week. For me, Facebook and Twitter are much more user friendly; it is easier to search for friends and family on Facebook. I created a Myspace page to allow people to check out my music and what I am working on. However, I got a comment a while back on my Myspace page where someone embedded their own music. So when I go to my page, their music automatically plays. As far as I know, Myspace does not allow you to delete comments someone else puts on your page. So if I tell someone to go to my myspace page, they will start hearing someone else’s music. Needless to say I stopped forwarding people to my Myspace page. I have music posted elsewhere online. I check myspace periodically to see what musicians or industry contacts have updated and also to check my mail messages. Facebook will definitely continue to lead in 2010. Myspace will NEVER reach the status of Facebook because of the fact that Myspace now is believed to be a musician’s website. Myspace does have the secret myspace music events and other things. It will still be around, but I get more use out of Facebook than Myspace. I will probably increase my usage of Facebook and Twitter in 2010!….

  19. I won’t use Facebook, unless I’m completely convinced its
    worthwhile of my time.

    However, myspace is more public and doesn’t lead a lot
    of roadblocks which is great for working musicians who
    can link those who are booking constantly.

  20. I may be one of the few who really do not like Facebook for musicians, I find it a nuisance. I like the setup for musicians on Myspace, I use both, but I prefer Myspace, as you open the artist page there is your music.

  21. I like Myspace because it’s easy to find people and it’s all one page with music, etc. and no apps. However, there are things like searching for friends and separating friends by area that they could make a little easier. Often the server is overloaded as well. But I’m finding that to happen more on Facebook too. But I have over 8500 friends on myspace and not quite 700 on FB…so I don’t know how much that affects things. Reverbnation is cool because you can sync updates on FB, MS, and twitter. Happy new year!

  22. I really can’t stand all the Apps on Facebook. It’s a nightmare to navigate!! To me it seems like a place for people who have waaaaaaaaaay too much time on their hands. I much prefer MySpace and I’ve had more positive results via it too.

  23. Basically and generally speaking:

    Facebook is the mainstream. For people who enjoys TV and TV-shows like the X-Factor, Idols etc. Lowest common denominator here.

    MySpace is for artists. Artists can show their art more or less how they want. So can fans, although fan pages are not always as well designed as artist pages. Less talk but more art (and spam too).

    Both can be annoying in their own way.

    Personally Facebook is not for me, MySpace is. It depends who you are though. I do talk with fans and blog on MySpace, but I don’t bleep and babble out everything on Facebook.

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