digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover and share the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

Fake Band Hyped on Myspace.

arts.guardian.co.uk — Spoof indie band "with no talent whatsoever" invented by Q magazine in order to prove that the Rupert Murdoch-owned site is now just another cog in the older industry phenomenon of hype lands huge gigs!

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • damonk, on 10/12/2007, -17/+75Myspace what a waste of digital space
    • kramit, on 10/12/2007, -40/+11i whole hartetly concur
    • elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -36/+8Heartedly? Please tell me that was sarcasm. PLEASE GOD!
    • ArcaneDevice, on 10/12/2007, -11/+72MySpace is where everything annoying about the Web since 1995 is collected on single pages.

      From music you hate, that jumps in your face at 500 decibels, background images that make everything illegible, neon fonts you can't read, pointless blogs, personality profiles that are completely made up like bad resumes ... trying to score the highest number of "friends" like trying to be the most popular person in your class - back when you were 15 ...

      Dugg for mockery.
    • Klisk, on 10/12/2007, -16/+60It's trendy to hate myspace.
    • tlogank, on 10/12/2007, -23/+14@Klist, I completely agree...it is a trend to hate MySpace. Just like AOL, just like M$ at times, just like other names. Some people here just jump on any bandwagon they think is cool.
      You people need to quit bashing things just because they are popular in pop culture.
      You don't have to go to anyone's MySpace page if you have a problem with it...
    • Tiabin, on 10/12/2007, -24/+14@Klisk: Yeah, I get the feeling that anyone who hates myspace that vehemently must have used it to try to find some lovin' and failed.
    • ArcaneDevice, on 10/12/2007, -9/+34you don't have to be "trendy" to hate MySpace in the same way you don't have to be "trendy" to hate AOL.

      However you do have to be "trendy" to have a MySpace page. The only reason to have a personal MySpace page is because everyone else has. Unless of course people are so insecure that they need to have the validation of having lots of fake friends.
    • JViz, on 10/12/2007, -24/+8You hate MySpace? OMG, You're such an E-Rebel.
      MySpace is so ugly! We need a prettier Web 2.o community portal for E-Rebels like you.
      rebelr.com
    • Tiabin, on 10/12/2007, -14/+13@ArcaneDevice: ... or they're intelligent enough to know it's a much easier method to keep subtle contact with people over the summer until you see them the next semester at school, thus keeping an active social network. But I know social networking isn't on the top of the todo list for *coughs* EVERYONE.
    • ArcaneDevice, on 10/12/2007, -9/+27an easier method? Than what? Typing on a keyboard to send an email or using that thing called ... dammit I forget the name .. a phone! That's it.

      No matter how much you want to try and spin it, MySpace is the Paris Hilton of the internet.

    • dext3r, on 10/12/2007, -6/+13i'm old-school hating myspace.
    • Pyfco, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0Why Myspace is bad for the music industry....

      http://www.emptycans.co.uk/1012.php?subaction=showfull&id=1141322315&archive=&start_from=&ucat=8&
    • afpunk, on 10/12/2007, -8/+18Or, you know, you use it to keep in touch with friends who are overseas in the military and with only a set amount of time each access they get prefer to use one service for quick contact. God, blind myspace hatred is really getting old. Microsoft hatred is normal since most everybody has had a bad experience with a Microsoft product. Same with AOL. However, most people that hate myspace have never used or, or have used it for 5 minutes and never go back. They just look at some stupid emo kids myspace and go OMG MySpace SUXXORS. Get a life.
    • nikkesen, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Amen...
    • nocode, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Doesn't Q Magazine see this as bad publicity? I mean, lying to a bunch of readers and possibly creating real fans. Then these "real" fans finding out that it was a shame?

      Thanks Q Magazine for crushing my hopes that Myspace would help promote my band... :(
  • CiXeL, on 10/12/2007, -3/+43its most people's "my first webpage"
    • KrocCamen, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2'all under one roof!'
    • olegk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15bad place to lose web virginity
    • wvdavis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Where the NSA can start building YOUR profile when you're young, rebellious and haven't a clue! I can't believe I actually took the time to comment to a MySpace post.
    • abiding99, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2yeah one should be married to it first
  • Agret, on 10/12/2007, -23/+3Made to FP with 36 diggs and 4 comments, no kevinrose either o.O
  • YURiLOVER, on 10/12/2007, -19/+4Their comment on Vanilla Ice is tottally true: Pushed as the first great white rapper. He wasn't.


    YURiLOVER
    • elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -32/+26There's such thing as a good rapper?
    • Lumiras, on 10/12/2007, -17/+19oh, elnerdo, go back under the rock from which you came. Come on, rap has been around for a long time, and there are some truly great rappers out there. They don't just rap about getting the girls and getting their grills.

      Give these a listen: The Streets, Kanye West, MF Doom, The Grey Album
    • YURiLOVER, on 10/12/2007, -29/+1Insane Clown Posse. Most def.
    • scottauth, on 10/12/2007, -10/+11@ Elnerdo:

      See also: Talib Kweli, Cee-Lo, Goodie Mob, Outkast, Dungeon Family, Danger Mouse, Mos Def, and Common.
    • wthnow, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3Abdominal, Kurtis Blow, Rob Swift, DJ Format, k-os, Cut Chemist, Aesop Rock, Though some of these are turntablists more then rappers but awesome none the less.
    • dreamkatcha, on 10/12/2007, -16/+4The Streets? Reading monosyllabic words out loud very slowly now counts as rap? That must have been what I was doing when I shared my 'what I did last summer' assignment with my 1st year junior school class then. I wish I'd known at the time - I could have got to no. 1 in the charts!
    • piggy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5Why is dreamkatcha being modded down? I've never heard anything profound or witty come out of Mike Skinner's mouth. Sure he might be mildly entertaining but there are a million brit hop acts like that.

      Mike Skinner even used the "I'm a poet bet you didn't know it" w/o any hint of tongue 'n cheek or irony. That right there validates dreamkatcha's statement.
    • otherland, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3Yeah, all those (c)rappers using the same beat and talking over it with mostly samples of other rappers talking. ***** brilliant for people who need to be trendy and hip but lack the attention span required to appreciate real music.
    • theprodigy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@elnerdo

      Surely you realize how ignorant and staid that comment makes you seem.
    • dreamkatcha, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'm coding my own Mike Skinner song generator. It will ask you to choose a setting, several gaze directions and hand gestures and then weave it all together to create something akin to Shakespeare for the illiterate.

      Here's an early example of its output: I sat at a table in a coffee shop, looked at my cup and then to the left a bit and back down. Someone came through the door and I twiddled my thumbs and looked to the right and blinked a couple of times.

      Admit it, you wouldn't know it wasn't the genuine article.
    • astroid0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Aesop Rock, Atmosphee, Sage Francis, Eyedea, P.O.S., Sole, Why?, Odd Nosdam, Dose One, Busdriver, Mcenroe, Birdapres, Blueprint, Brother Ali, Murs .... That was a lot of good rappers off the top of my head.

      Of course, if you only hear rap from ClearChannel, you certainly won't find anything good.

      http://www.anticon.com
      http://www.rhymesayers.com
      http://www.hieroglyphics.com
      http://www.peanutsandcorn.com
  • sokz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19This is awesome.

    MYSPACE.COM: A PLACE FOR DATAMINING AND MARKET RESEARCH (brought to you by Rupert Murdoch).
    • deucer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Still not sure why Murdoch hasn't made it look and run a little bit better.
    • mtinaro, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0It is a bit sad, but I guess after being up for over a year and a half some people are still just discovering that myspace.com is was created for the purpose of data mining and market research. I might have left out constant shameless product and brand promotion. In this day and age where I read blogs every day, and they are all brought to me by the magic of Google adsense. So I guess in the end I can not fault myspace.com at all, because all of you are advertising for "the corporation" on your web pages.
    • rodball, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2FTA: "...invented by Q magazine in order to prove that the Rupert Murdoch-owned site is now just another cog in the older industry phenomenon of hype..."

      How does this *prove* anything like that? So, *now* it's a cog, since it's owned by Murdoch.
    • redivider, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1So what? You don't want your data mined? Don't use it.

      You could say the same thing about TiVo. It also happens to be a pretty useful service, so who cares if they have information about what shows you watch? It's actually a useful way of knowing what people (like you) want to see. The more they know about what you want, the more you'll get what you want.

      In the case of MySpace, it's pretty easy to use without giving up any sensitive information. Oh no! Fox knows how old I am and what bands I listen to! All that data is boiled down to market research statistics. No one cares about your specific info. They care about the demographic you fall into and what trends they can find by comparing the millions of other people in the same demographic.

      I really don't see what the big deal is. So they make money selling some generic information. If you put something on there specific enough to raise a red flag and pique the interest of some government agency or other authorities, it's your own fault. Once you post your information there it's public. T
  • deucer, on 10/12/2007, -19/+3Myspace does suck, that's why I switched to Buddytown.org.
    • heymark, on 10/12/2007, -13/+2You have to be invited! But, i want to be elite!
  • Zaviticus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17Did Spinal Tap have anything to say about this?
    • ccanni1028, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Speaking of spinal taps, I would rather get one than make myself a mySpace page.
    • Subcranium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Hey, Spinal Tap was manufactured for the film, but the actors played their own instruments.

      "Workin' on a Sex Farm..."
    • Kazrog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Spinal Tap pwns. Stonehenge is a favorite of mine.
  • afx237vi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25A ridiculously hyped indie band with no talent whatsoever? Are you sure they're not still talking about the Arctic Monkeys?
  • id34, on 10/12/2007, -17/+1hahaha such a cool idea!

    also, what is wrong with the Arctic Monkeys.. they are quality

    http://www.playstationteam.com
  • Klisk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Am I supposed to care? Myspace is just a corner of the internet, while the music industry is nearly universal outside of the truly underground music scene, henceforth making it obvious that most music which is popular, and the way it is marketed are unethical works in cut-throat shadiness and scams. In other words, it's entirely a controlled media, and not at all something the public truly takes part in.

    Hell, even the artists barely benefit from any of it. So yes, Myspace is just another way to manipulate the music listening public, that's something we could have figured out without an article, but I guess there's at least some more blunt examples of it out there now.

    Yep, you don't even NEED music to be a rock star. Just the "right" publicity/hype.
  • pepsibum24, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3I cant stand the myspace.com webspace
  • nonokiaboy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9If i hear one more frigging myspace song...
  • thewebguy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4with no link to the profile in the article... what is this garbage
  • diluuk, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3Why is there a period in the title?
    • Subcranium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Because the submitter was on the rag.
  • DisposableRob, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13I don't see what is so wrong. A non-existant band landing decent gigs through Myspace demonstrates to me that quality indie bands with an actual real fan base could do so much better. It seems like this means that indie and unsigned bands now have the power to more easily promote themselves like the mainstream without having to "sell out".
  • beargins, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1umm who cares? dont you guys hate myspace anyways
  • lazlonger, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2It is trendy to hate myspace....it's also trendy to hate Al Queda,,,,,and it's trendy to hate GWB.....I hate all three and feel really really good about it. I can't however, say which I hate more.....myspace sucks pretttty hard.....
  • bsinclair2006, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Myspace will loose its market once they get rid of the kids. That is what they are working on now...
    • lofidan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Myspace will loose its market once they get rid of the kids."

      As opposed to *tight* its market? Oh, I see, you meant the word "lose" !
  • stimuli, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I can't believe that FOX news corp spent that much money on a crappy site. Apparently critical mass isn't everything.

    Just hearing myspace makes me cringe more then hearing the words 'Web 2.0'.
  • Coffeedemon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Spoof indie band "with no talent whatsoever"

    Doens't have to be a spoof... there are lots of real ones that fit the bill.
  • crad14, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Who's not trendy in some way or another? It's also trendy to try not to be trendy.
  • ggudggid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Seems perfectly appropriate for all the fake lives we mostly lead.
  • btswrkng, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0MySpace is only a small part of this story. Give it a rest.

    What I can't understand is how this article could be written/published in the UK with absolutely no mention of Trevor Horn, Paul Morley and the ZTT hype machine vis-a-vis Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It's a glaring omission, as they totally paved the way for Sigue Sigue Sputnik's (more baldfaced) media manipulation, and yet somehow SSS does rate a mention. Maybe it's the whole selling advertisements on their album thing.
  • dodgingcars, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I understand some of the dislike for Myspace (mostly it's freedom in allowing people to edit their pages -- which unfortunately usually turns out ugly), but some seem to hate it for the wrong reasons: The people who use it. I have a profile, but I use it to keep up with friends I don't see much: Pictures, blogs, etc. I have family living overseas, friends on the otherside of the country, etc. It's an easy way to keep in touch.

    With that said, I think Myspace is the worst designed social networking site out there. So far, I like Multiply best, but no one uses it. Yahoo's 360 is pretty nice, but I still think Multiply wins.

  • btfh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1what is Q if not a cog in the hype-machine itself? pot calling the kettle black...
  • Toupee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1A band with no talent whatsoever created by a company ... - hey - wait a second - those bastards are copying N*Sync!!!
  • drshabazz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I feel the need to weigh on this Myspace debate. MySpace serves a purpose, and it serves that purpose very well. Failure to at least recognize this point (even if you hate MySpace with a passion) is ignorance. MySpace can be (and in my case is) a really great way to keep up-to-date with 'core' friends at times when a phone call, e-mail, or actual visit just isn't warranted or sometimes even possible. Myspace doesn't exist to replace actual contact with friends, but there are systems in place that let me know what my friends are doing, or will be doing, or what cool pictures they want to share, or whatever it may be. These things can be hard to keep up with, and my memory personally isn't that great, but with a single "bulletin" I can get some information from a friend that he or she felt was important enough to post and that I actually CARE to read.

    I'm not really into Myspace for the whole "meet new people thing", but when I was I did meet some people who are still good friends today so I really can't complain about that. I can understand peoples criticism, but failing to realize that MySpace does some things well is just being ignorant. You might say that I don't NEED MySpace to gather the information regarding my friends that I do, but let's look at the alternatives:

    A.) I can call each friend every day after work to check in, say hi, and ask what's up, how is the fam, have any new baby pictures, etc... Is that realistic? Hell no, especially not with my schedule. Plus it would just be plain weird with some people... I have some friends where I could do that regularly... but at the same time I have some friends that I'm just not that close with. I still consider them friends, however, and want to know what they're up to or where they may be on the weekend. These include friends whose phone numbers I don't even have.

    B.) I can CC all my friends regularly to let them know whatever detail of my life I feel like posting to them, with links to pictures or whatever it may be. This option doesn't really work either because, strangely, I don't even know a good portion of my friends' e-mail addresses. And even if they did, there is so much junk mail to deal with these days it might get lost in the mix. I still reserve this option for CLOSE friends, but not all friends. I wouldn't want to receive e-mails like this either... at least with MySpace I can choose when I log-in and get the information I'm seeking, not the other way around.

    C.) I can just go visit these friends in question. Well... while I do do that often, it's just not possible with all my friends. I live in California, I have friends all over the country... and I don't own my own private jet.

    D.) Use a different service that accomplishes the same goal like Google or Yahoo groups so you don't have to put up with all the spam/ads/horrible pages. This doesn't work either because my friends don't use those other services, and it would be impossible for one of us to orchestrate such a massive shift. It's just not possible. MySpace is the service that they use to keep in touch, therefore it's the service I use to keep in touch with them.

    I have no personal loyalty or love for MySpace... it just happens to be the site that can accomplish all these things. Before MySpace, a place simply didn't exist for my friends and I to have the types of interchanges that we do now, and those interchanges are very valuable to me. Sure there's some horrible pages that fail to load or outright crash my browser... however I am fortunate to have friends that generally don't make pages like that. There is a lot of annoying potential for spam and or junk, however I've limited my friends list to only people I actually know.

    Well that's it... I just wanted to throw in my $.02 about how MySpace isn't this great horrible evil that only exists to make the web ugly and unenjoyable. I've never heard a decent argument laid forth as to why MySpace is either good or bad, it's usually just a flame or a brash defense. If you choose to hate MySpace still, that's fine by me, but hopefully you will at least UNDERSTAND why some people, like myself, actually find it invaluable.
  • aplusplus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3http://www.myspace.com/hopeagainsthoperock
  • apexified, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Good read - luckily it actually has little to do with MySpace and quickly moves to more interesting information.
  • Veamon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"However you do have to be "trendy" to have a MySpace page. The only reason to have a personal MySpace page is because everyone else has. Unless of course people are so insecure that they need to have the validation of having lots of fake friends."

    While I can't stand MySpace, I finally gave in, and was surprised to find a lot of old classmates on there. It's good to use to find people you can't get a hold of otherwise, other than that, it's along the lines of Blogger. Which is crap.
  • RegisteredUser, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0"thanks for the add"
  • firelion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I dont get this article how exactly is it related to myspace. It claims it is in the headline and brief description but other then a blurb in the actual article nothing is really said.
    • paulypopex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1it's related to myspace in that it shows up myspace and the people who use it - 99% of people adding themselves as friends and fans have no interest in being friends or listening to music they just want more links to their own page. When everyone's linked to everyone else, myspace will die.

      BTW I don't think there was any "buzz" outside of myspace itself, I don't know anyone who heard any buzz.
  • Vagari, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've _almost_ come to terms with my Myspace hatred. ;) But I've been noticing something lately. I turned off the ability of bands to request me as a friend, who the hell wants 10 requests a day? But now I'm getting requests from "fans." A random person who "loves" the band and has their music and pictures and stuff all over their profile. Hooray more spam! Ugh... Anyone else noticing this?
    • crweaks23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You must have added yourself as a friend of this band, in which case it's your own fault. If you add yourself to a profile with 20,000 other "friends," you're going to have high exposure.
  • Metman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Reason #293 to never type my & space + .com together.
  • KoZo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Guys and gurls, got newly updated photos on my site! Please leave me a comment!"

    - copy and pasted for 10 times and posted in bulletin board.....
  • popsumer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1this article barely has any information.
  • jmz635, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Myspace isn't that bad.. Just use the script that disables custom profiles!
  • Demagogue, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I like my myspace.... it lets me keep in touch with a bunch of my REAL friends that I dont see too often
  • theprincess, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What's wrong with MySpace? Yeah, there are a few things that make it a "bad" place. It would be a lot better without all the perverts getting young girls to meet with them, and talking dirty. But lets face it, pretty much anywhere you go on the web, there are going to be people like that. You have to look at the good sides of MySpace. I think its a great place to keep in touch with people. I met up with a friend that i hadn't heard from in 4 years! it also gives you a space to write and decorate like you want to without people judging you.
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.