Is Myspace Killing Music?

I recently received a comment on my Yes, We Sign Boobs post from someone named Scelza that looks like this:

I wouldn’t be so quick to put MySpace up on this page. If anything, MySpace is killing the music industry as we once knew it. Any 12 year old kid and his friends can now create a band in 10 minutes on MySpace and put their half-assed 4-track (if they’re lucky enough to know what a 4-track is) up on their Band’s MySpace and invite every single friend on their own personal MySpace page to “Add as Friend”.
Then if you are to search for a specific music genre or band name, etc., on MySpace, you’ll most likely come up with 20+ hits on a bunch of sites that have less than 30 actual fans on the list of people who’ve actually sat through and listened to the song that pops up as soon as you click on said band’s profile.
A totally different thing can be said however on bands that actually take the time and effort to put up a personal ‘.com’ for their music and info. This means that the band is serious, committed and ready to do whatever it takes to make a name for themselves. They ACTUALLY believe in themselves and what they are REALLY capable of rather than being some pre-teens who made a little 3 minute song that they made when they were bored and were fooling around on their older siblings instruments and equipment.
MySpace is killing music.

I feel that this comment has so much potential for debate that I’m making a post out of it.
Here’s my response:
No, Myspace is not killing music. It has made it easier for anyone to promote their music, no matter how poorly done it is. But guess what – just because there’s more music to sift through, doesn’t mean that the good stuff won’t get noticed. The cream always rises to the top my friends, and quality and originality will shine through. Yes, having a dot.com makes you look more professional and serious, but it’s much harder to get people to go to your website than it is to get them to your Myspace. Why? Because most people are on Myspace. A lot of bands who are serious can’t afford to hire someone with the design skills to make a website look great, whereas a Myspace page can look professional with just a bit of basic HTML knowledge.
I went to a seminar this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio where one of the reps said something interesting. She stated that you can have 10k friends and 100k song plays, but if your music sucks, it sucks. The A&R people and scouts who look on Myspace for new bands to sign no longer pay attention to play counters or friend counters, because they know that those things can be falsified through the use of bots. What they look for is quality music, and interaction with fans, and an attractive gig calendar. Yes, it’s annoying when shitty bands keep trying to add you, but that annoyance is not killing music. Good bands get attention by word of mouth. If you want to go out actively seeking new music, Myspace is not the place to do it, because Myspace won’t tell you what’s good, it’ll only tell you what’s popular. Everyone is on an equal level there, and I feel that that’s a good thing. I’ve also seen many bands with websites who weren’t serious and only got a dot.com because they felt they had to in order to look serious.
And here’s another question: what about the pre-teens who made a shitty 3-song demo on a 4-track who do believe in themselves and have dreams and want to make it as musicians. Should we criticize them and outcast them because they’re too young and inexperienced and can’t afford a good recording? When people put bad music on Myspace, it really doesn’t hurt the music industry, because the music industry doesn’t notice.
PLEASE: Leave comments about your opinions. Feel free to disagree with me and call me stupid if you like. Make your voice heard!!
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