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INTRODUCING ... Tomorrow's Stars on MySpace today
Emerging artists gain exposure and find new fans through MySpace program
Since launching in 2003, MySpace has established itself as a hub for musicians and the fans who want to connect with them. It's a portal for new, unknown and unsigned bands to build a following they can leverage for greater success.
Since October 2009, MySpace's breaking artist music program "Introducing ..." has been selecting a handful of emerging musicians to champion by helping them reach new audiences.
MySpace was already a powerful, influential tool for raising the profile of up-and-coming artists, but once selected for the "Introducing ..." program, musicians receive a flood of new resources during an eight week promotional period (early case studies for the program lasted 12 weeks). For example, MySpace prominently places the artists on the site and also promotes them through a joint press release, single premieres, video premieres and daily status updates on the musicians' activity on MySpace and Twitter.
Artists are also exposed through behind-the-scenes "making of" videos, full-featured playlists, streaming album premieres, e-mail promotions and retail discounts. If musicians are on tour during the "Introducing ..." period, MySpace promotes that throughout the site.
Working in tandem with other promotional efforts by record companies, "Introducing ..." artists have seen significant increases in exposure as evidenced by a recent study by Big Champagne, a media tracking and technology company.
New Discoveries
Jason Derulo, one of the emerging artists featured between Dec. 12, 2009 and March 6, 2010, is widely described as having been "discovered" on MySpace. His songs, "In My Head" and "Whatcha Say," remain in the site's top 15 songs, with the first hitting number one video and the second hitting number one song. The Miami-born R&B singer is second on iTunes, and MySpace promotion directly drove 28,000 people to iTunes for his music.
His YouTube view count gradually increased from about 2.5 million before the program, peaking at more than 4 million. By the end of the cycle he had about 3.4 million views.
Other indicators show an upswing during that period, including his Twitter followers, YouTube views and iTunes sales.
His Twitter followers rose from less than 14,000 before the MySpace program to 47,444 as the promotion period came to a close.
His YouTube views went from 2.3 million the week before the program started to 3.5 million at the end of that cycle. Derulo's iTunes sales of his second single rose during his time in the "Introducing ..." program, from a rank of 288 in the U.S., to top ten rankings four weeks in a row during the promotional period.
While the "Introducing ..." promotion overlapped with additional label promotion and the single release cycle, MySpace significantly contributed to the momentum driving Derulo's career.
Self Promotion
Other artists have seen similar successes after being featured in the MySpace program. We The Kings, a pop-rock quartet from Florida, was named an MTV artist to watch in 2010. MySpace has exposed We The Kings to more than 885 million views since they created their band page.
We The Kings saw a tremendous and sustained increase in AOL Broadcast Streaming of MySpace Tracks; spiking from about 10,000 when the program started to nearly 110,000 by the program's end.
MySpace's "Introducing ..." program encourages artist participation and self evangelism, which is part of the momentum driving bands like We The Kings. The group is one example of the many who have used all platforms - MySpace, blogs, Twitter, and others - to maximize exposure.
Getting into Stores
One of the desired results of greater exposure through "Introducing ..." is new music becoming available in more places. Lights, a female solo synth-pop musician from Canada, was in the first round of program artists. Her label, Warner Brothers Records, attributes MySpace with getting her album into Target stores.
In the 12-week period she was promoted through "Introducing ...", the traffic to her MySpace page increased more than 400 percent. Her merchandise sales climbed 200 percent.
Lights' music video was played 550,000 times as a featured artist, and her single received a high of 312,000 plays in one day during that promotional period. Her iTunes EP debut landed at number eight for pop albums and at number 35 on the overall top 100.
Bringing Underground Stars Above Ground
The MySpace "Introducing ..." program extends major support behind artists who wouldn't otherwise have big exposure and gives fans an early peek at artists on their way to the top.
NeverShoutNever! is the alias for one-man acoustic indie pop artist Christofer Drew Ingle, who got his start posting garage band recordings on MySpace. His 2008 self-released first EP sold more than 30,000 copies. Before he even signed with a label, NeverShoutNever! became one of MySpace's top artists, averaging more than 100,000 plays a day.
Once he became an "Introducing ..." artist, NeverShoutNever! saw interest in his MySpace page increase. For example, song plays increased by 400,000, and daily friend requests increased by more than 400.
His Twitter followers rose from about 70,000 to more than 95,000 by the end of the promotional period, and his Napster subscription plays and downloads spiked considerably
MySpace is often the first place fans turn to learn more about music they love. The "Introducing ..." program is the latest extension of that. It leverages the breadth of the MySpace platform by presenting exclusive content premieres to connect emerging artists with the most engaged music audience on the web.
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