MySpace has recently made an update to their events system that may have musicians scrambling to update their profiles. The new events page is a complete overhaul of the simple and pretty much useless events system of old. It also adds a bunch of features which make it much more useful to artists, profitable for MySpace, and helpful to users and fans.
Many have lamented the alleged demise of MySpace as the top social network, which is odd because you would be hard pressed to find someone who was a MySpace fan in the first place. Although Facebook has since taken the crown of #1 social networking site, MySpace has not simple accepted defeat and laid down to die quietly. Despite their setbacks, they have made some pretty smart decisions and done a good job of playing to their strengths.
Primary among these are it’s use for musicians and artists. Facebook might be the top social network, with Twitter running close behind, but it’s a major pain to try and promote your music on either. MySpace has already been doing this for years. MySpace has also rolled things out slowly, bit by bit. This keep people paying attention and avoids them doing some major redesign that everyone soon forgets.
With the new events page, people can easily promote their upcoming events in a visually pleasing interface (especially when compared to what was available before). You can see the Who, What, When, and Where about the event as well as a detailed description. You can RSVP, share the event on your other social networks, and see who else is going. There is also an integrated map that shows the event’s location.
When a user RSVP’s, they have the option to promote the event to their friends. You can buy tickets directly through MySpace for the event, which earns them a little revenue. Advertisers looking to promote their own events can purchase add space in the social calendar.
MySpace might be down, but is definitely not out. They are playing to their strength in media events and slowly rolling out features so people know they are still alive. They have even integrated directly with Facebook using Facebook Connect. They plan to roll out additional features around mobile access, concert notifications, movies, and DVD releases in the near future.
When is the last time you logged into MySpace?
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