Myspace Music Page: Truth on Earth

After reading Levinson’s segment “New New Media Provide Medicine for Cyberbullying,” I was very interested in listening to the Truth on Earth band mentioned in Chapter 6. Although Levinson includes the band’s Web page, I wanted to see if the video was accessible on YouTube and it wasn’t. I then searched the band on Myspace Music. It wasn’t any surprise to me that the band had an official myspace page. This is a clear example of Myspace’s “especially revolutionary” music pages (Levinson, 114). I’ve had more luck finding better sound quality music on Myspace than Youtube. Many obscure artists only have live videos on YouTube whereas Myspace music pages provide selected music, lyrics, tour information, pictures, etc. This is not to say that Myspace music pages are better than YouTube when listening to music. Both sites certainly have their advantages. In my opinion, Myspace music pages offer more information but YouTube is a quicker search.

The song “Shot with a Bulletless Gun” that Levinson mentions is available on the band’s Myspace page for anyone interested in listening to it. The song really addresses the issue on cyberbullying. My favorite line is: “Back in the day was a time - when life was simpler and - folks came face to face to deal with their differences. I'm told - by philosophers that change is a good thing except when that change hides out in a room brewing evil ideas that belong to a criminal mind.” There music is also a perfect example one of Levinson’s previous ideas that new new media can be used to change and better the world by addressing such issues like cyberbullying.

Myspace Music

Personally, when I joined Myspace, it was to keep up with all the news and events going on with my friends. At the time, Myspace seemed to be the easiest platform to communicate with my friends and set up social gatherings. Myspace always had a music section. I remember there was a search engine for music on myspace and a way to put music on your profile in the form of a song or a playlist. However, I did not realize how popular music became on Myspace.

As Levinson mentions, Myspace enabled recording artists to build an audience for their music before they contacted an agent or a record company. Although many of these amateur recording artists do not make it into mainstream, it still gives them a forum for their music to be heard. Levinson writes about Ebony Moore and James Harris who have not reached mainstream but their Myspace pages have recieved over 100,000 views, an impressive feat. Like Moore and Harris, the band Truth on Earth, also not mainstream, has a Myspace page and their music is available on Amazon and iTunes. Levinson also discusses Kate Nash and Lily Allen, popular musicians in the United Kingdom who have gone mainstream. Levinson finally mentions Sean Kingston who I've heard, but I never realized he started out on Myspace. Kingston has had some successful hits in the United States, setting an example that musicians who start out on Myspace can eventually hit the big time.