Classical music on MySpace

Classical music on MySpace

A quiet but important online revolution happened this summer. According to a research report by New York-based internet analyst firm Hitwise, the social networking portal MySpace topped Yahoo's email portal in page views for the first time.

Yahoo email had consistently been the most visited web page in the US. But the explosion of interest in MySpace - which offers members the opportunity to promote themselves and their work to an estimated current global audience of 100m users - is making it a serious contender for the world's most popular online destination.

What makes it all the more remarkable is MySpace's relative infancy. Created by Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe as a 'social networking' portal in 2003, two years later it was sold to media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation for a whopping $580m (£333m).

Paramount to the site's success is MySpace Music, a mecca for songwriters, bands, composers, and other musicians. Sandi Thom, Lily Allen and Sheffield rockers the Arctic Monkeys are among a growing number of pop acts who have developed their careers through the site.

But classical artists are also discovering the site: composer John Adams and soprano Renée Fleming both have a MySpace presence, as do crossover singers Hayley Westenra and Katherine Jenkins.

MySpace is revolutionary'

For American composer René Gruss, MySpace has been 'nothing short of dynamite, the breakthrough I have been waiting for'. 'MySpace is revolutionary,' he says. 'It's a whole new dynamic offering a new medium, new audiences and new opportunities. No longer is classical music pigeonholed and 'uncool'. As a living composer, I am considered something of a rarity and am widely appreciated by new online audiences.

'The key word is exposure,' Gruss continues. 'I've had 30,000 visitors to my profile, the music has been played 25,000 times and 10,000 listeners have signed up as a "friend/fan." This new dynamic allows me to build a relationship directly with the person who is buying.'

Such publicity has the potential to help sell albums, concert tickets and merchandise at minimal cost. With the site visited mainly by 18 to 30-year-olds, the result is an exciting marketing frontier, fertile with possibilities and one likely to evolve with its users.

Manchester-based producer and cross-genre composer Mark Pilkington has also focused on MySpace to distribute his music. 'Regardless of your musical forte, there's a danger that your work becomes tarnished the instant a label gets involved,' he argues. 'You are so often moulded into a preconceived stereotype at the expense of your ideas. MySpace and its online community eradicate that tendency entirely.'

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