In the nine months since I wrote this article, my emphasis has shifted from MySpace to Facebook and Twitter. Still, I’ve noticed that other sites, blogs, or media outlets link to my MySpace page instead of my web site by default, so I suppose I should maintain it. Currently I log in once per week, on Friday.

1- Based on previous activity the number of active things you do may get you flagged (i.e. buletins, friend requests sent, messeging, commenting)
2- If 400 people flag any of your posts as spam in a short period of time(24 hrs I think though could be longer) you get flagged.

With that in mind think about your combined activity reduce it as much as possible, try to stay under 400 posts of anytype in a 24 hr period of time.

I like to think of letting people know about your music and give them the option to send you a friend request. Also to attempt to only send to people who are truly interested I would shoot for only those who leave comments on artists profiles that have a similar sound to yours.

Great article though and good investigative reporting, I myself am still investigating the whole idea of things like friend adders before actually suggesting the use to any musician.

-Todd

I have always poo poo’d the friend adder idea, I basically looked down on it for not collecting ‘authentic’ friends.

Your post gave me another insight to the technology though.

My issues were similar to yours, I didn’t want to be a pushy spammer. (I dislike sub for sub posts too). I like that you approached people with respect and were not, ‘in your face’. I can see that used correctly, it is merely a tool to do more of what you are already doing.

So thats progress I guess. I still don’t think I’m in the market for the program though, but I do appreciate the insight. It looks to be a great thing, so long as people use it with respect.

Myself, I use You Tube not mySpace. I get 3-5 new subscribers a week, unbidden, they just show up in my mailbox. Thats because I socialize on You Tube. (My recording format is a video camera not a recording studio, I call it my virtual scrapbook).

When I get online, I watch a couple of videos and comment on them if I like them (if I can’t say something nice, I don’t). A viewer may notice my comment and comes to look at my channel, some of them subscribe. Occassionally, someone even posts or features a video of mine that they like, which then introduces me to all of their freinds.

It pays to meet and make friendly with You Tubers who are good collaborators or promoters.

Of course like My Space, on You Tube, what MOSTLY matters is if you have good content. The categories and styles are vast, but so is the audience.

I am mildly successful at it because I have some cute or funny videos. They are not pro, they are home movies, but I have managed to capture some cool moments on film and people seem to like them. (try: Fancy Tail on You Tube, and use my name if you need more search terms )

I also post my rough drafts of songs, which is perplexing to ‘industry’ friends that only put out polished diamonds. But not everyone has a desire to be a recording artist, not everyone needs a stadium, someone has to sit around the campfire and just sing songs.
(however, a great background vox gig on a theatre or festival tour, would be be AWESOME)

I stick to friend requests at the moment as I think it is the least obtrusive way to get listeners. I hate being bothered by someone with subpar music myself, and that is all too often. I guess I still believe in the adage of “let the music speak for itself” so that’s what I try to do.

Some people use friend adders as their sole means of marketing success. I use it as a tool to aid in my grand picture of things. It helps me add only users who share my music influences or are fans of the same people i’m a fan of. Just like how you targeted a couple people that were fans of the band you had covers for, I target only people I think would genuinely like my music, and the response is much better than any shotgun blast marketing i’ve heard of.