Artists can stay on the cutting edge using MYSPACE MUSIC

Despite the current economic crisis, and the resulting chaos in the music industry, President of Myspace Music, Courtney Holt remains “cautiously optimistic” that they will remain successful in building an “innovative online business.”

In a recent interview, Holt told Billboard Mag that since he accepted the presidency at Myspace Music, they have:
– made tweaks to Myspace Music’s search engine
– added new playlist features
– improved the music player

These tweaks have contributed to:
– 40% spike in search engine traffic
– the creation of 105 million active playlists by Myspace Music users
– more than 5.3 billion average aggregate minutes spent listening to music in January alone
– new advertising partnerships with companies like, Toyota, Visa, McDonalds, Kmart and Adidas

WHAT HAVE THEY DONE FOR THE ARTIST?
Well in the beginning, Myspace was not a full service music outlet, rather it was more of an online media where music existed via artist pages, profile page playlists, search engine and the front page. Since Holt, Myspace Music has evolved into a full service music outlet.

In the interview, Holt states that:
“The album got lost in the digital eveolution of music. When the CD boom happened, it was all about repurchasing albums for portability and digital sound. In the current evolution of music, people didn’t need albums anymore. They started getting excited about tracks. The album has become a fairly unique format. The album’s more relevant than ever, it’s just in a different type of audience.”

Holt argued that collaboration is key in the business and outlined that Myspace Music operates along 4 planes – “major superstar artists, artists that are well-known but a bit more niche, key independent artists and unsigned artists.”
Obviously, Holt and his team are interested in having “bilateral” discussions and have not positioned themselves as puppets for the major labels.

Future plans for Myspace Music include:
– Broad based music video offering
– Ticketing
– Merchandise

Holt ended by adding that the team was most interested in tapping into the percentage of the market that is unsure of artist touring activities and will attend shows only if they know that their friends are going.

Holt and his team has expanded the service of Myspace Music while continuing to tap into the social networking model.

I think a Myspace Music page should be a #1 must have for all musicians…young or old.

What do you think?