Myspace
I thought it important that I should talk about myspace here, as in one form or another it becoming unavoidable.
I’ve had a page up for a while (out of curiosity): and the dxu555 project has had one up for a while http://www.myspace.com/dxu555 which is maintained by VJ555.
Now that I’ve researched the extent of the network and it’s subsequent media penetration I have mixed thoughts about it. I feel pressured to conform and participate in it, perhaps vainly thinking that the myspace system will find a receptive audience for my work. On the other hand I really have problems with the restrictive layout, the inane comments, the slow load time, the advertisements, the emphasis on having the most ‘friends’ (what if, for example, I do not want to be friends with my audience?) and no doubt other aspects that have yet to irk me. In terms of web development it seems a backward step, but its high traffic is not be under estimated.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a ‘myspace hater’, I’ve already received warm feelings about European composer-acquaintances finding me through the network and downloading my songs as a result. On a simple level it may just simply serve as a network porthole for directing traffic to my main site – and that is innocent enough in of itself. However, I’d like to track the commercial, corporate and social aspects of the network to see how deeply it becomes central to artists’ online existence. Homogenisation of any sort is fraught with peril and has tendency to restrict consciousness development collectively.
Of course, watch this space.
