This 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!

Ray Foley’s TodayFM show saw the launch of the DownloadMusic.ie USB compilation this morning. Designed to complement Ireland’s favourite unsigned download site, the album features fifteen top acts:

Codes
Dirty Epics
Driving By Night
Jo And The Flood
Justin Manville
Orphan Code
Ro Tierney
Roberta Howett
Saccade
Suddyn
The Flaws
The Kinetiks
The Radio
The Rumours
Vesta Varro

The album costs €12.99 and comes on a 1 gigabyte USB drive, available to purchase here.
Stream the DownloadMusic.ie compilation direct from their blog: www.downloadmusic.ie/wordpress/

Following on from my previous post highlighting the plans to lower closing hours across the country to 2:30am a peaceful public demonstration is planned outside Dail Eireann tomorrow afternoon from 1-2pm.

If you’re a FeckBook user you can join the activists’ group and post Semisonic/Leonard Cohen videos to your heart’s content while discussing the implications such legislation would have on our culture.
Otherwise, check out this statement on the decision to rally from GiveUsTheNight over on Bodytonic Music.

Irish Music Central has come to a standstill. The front page hasn’t refreshed since April and the last update was March. Has it folded? Does anyone know why?
I loved this little site and really notice its absence. Sure it needs a makeover via a shot of adrenaline but its heart’s in the right place.

Come back, IMC?