Within hours of uploading their songs to MySpace.com, unknown indie band Hollywood Undead became, well, known. Their music hit the top of MySpace charts winning them not only new-found fame, but now a record deal with MySpace Records, a merger of the social networking website and Interscope Records.
With 36 million registered members, MySpace.com has rocketed to one of the most visited domains on the Internet. This was sufficient enough success for News Corp. to swallow up the site for $580 million. It’s also sufficient enough to propel new bands out of obscurity.
The new record label, which launched yesterday, represents a new and innovative model for the future of the music business. The partnership will help connect the website’s 550,000 bands that use MySpace to post tour dates and interact with fans, with labels and new fans in an unprecedented way.
“MySpace is redefining today’s culture and transforming the music business with its innovative way of connecting musicians to their fans,” said Chris DeWolfe, CEO of MySpace.
Designed to capitalize on the existing structure, MySpace Records will operate as an independent label with its own marketing, publicity and A&R business units. Indie artists will enjoy the backing of MySpace for investment in their development. Bands expected to hit the big time, will receive the appropriate promotional and distributional support from Interscope.
The first act to sign onto MySpace Records is the band, Hollywood Undead, who has collected over 65,000 fans in three months.
“Word-of-mouth is the way people find about new music and MySpace enables this interaction on a massive scale. I found Hollywood Undead’s profile the day they put it on MySpace, because of how fast they reached the top of the charts. It only took a few hours to realize this was the band that could launch MySpace Records,” said Tom Anderson, president of MySpace.
