MySpace Music: Making Dreams Come True?

Possibly the largest internet phenomenon since Amazon.com and E-Bay, is the internet community, Xanga, MyCyberScene, LiveJournal and more specifically MySpace.  MySpace is one of, if not the fastest growing community on the internet, gaining membership faster than even AOL or MSN, in terms of hundreds of thousands of new members daily. 

One of the biggest lures to MySpace is the music aspect of the site.  MySpace administrators market it, primarily, as a place where aspiring musicians (and, more recently, filmmakers) can find the people in the industry who are looking for someone just like them.  The front page (sign in page) is littered with links to various “featured band” profiles and featured videos.  And, “regular” members can search through thousands of profiles belonging to musicians and bands to find new music that fits their tastes, music that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to because of distance. 

While there are many popular “mainstream” musicians and bands (including but definitely not limited to Garth Brooks, American Idols Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, and Paris Hilton) with profiles on MySpace, the majority of the artists are “local” bands; artists who at one point would have spent all of their time and energy playing in basements, garages and bars, and gaining a fan base of 50 - 100 followers.  MySpace allows these bands to not only connect with potential, would-be fans in their immediate area but from the other side of the world as well.