Is MySpace On The Way Out?
August 15th, 2008 by nayThis article on HotPress.com caught my eye:
HMV claim Slipknot deal shows bands moving away from MySpace
GetCloser.com is the new website from HMV aiming to revolutionise online music’s current MySpace-friendly status. Well, once it’s available to the world at large that is: currently only those based in the UK should click the “I’m From The UK!” site entry button or else monsters will pour from your screen.
To launch the beta version of the site they’ve enlisted the help of Slipknot, who oddly enough, have a new album All Hope Is Gone out next week. 90-second snippets will stream to users on the site, which bills itself “built by collectors for collectors”…HMV, collectors? Just a tad.
HMV claim getcloser.com is a “social discovery site,” with a ‘gap analyser’ tool to suggest new additions to complement users’ iTunes. Which Last.FM has been doing for ages and more recently, iLike. GetCloser also offers to compile film reccomendations though I’m curious also how it will read movie catalogues, unless users have to individually browse for their favourites. Which we’ve all been doing with Facebook fan pages anyway.
So, *yawn*, go away already. As a seasoned Spacer I think it’ll take something really special to affect its stronghold in the online music arena. Undeniably a major cog in the modern music industry, practically all bands operate from their online profile…heck, even my mum has Tom in her top friends!
What do you think? Is it time MySpace moved over? Are you a loyal user or fed up with phished accounts? Are social networking sites important to your online profile? Would you like to see new developments to keep the competition fresh? Is change inevitable or does MySpace need to secure its future as the number one website of the global music audience in order to counter this new contender to the throne?
I’ll be around my desk this weekend, getting my house in order while it’s quiet. Feel free to share your thoughts!



