It was never a phase!
Ah Myspace, back when toxic social media was just a sparkle in Zuckerberg’s eye. Being a music fan during the Myspace era was incredible. New bands could be found in an instance.
Before social internet, the only way to find music was on the radio, TV, or zines. You could also turn up to shows early to catch the support acts but let’s face it not everyone does that.
Myspace, Purevolume, and SoundCloud blew the doors of music discovery wide open. No longer was fame and fortune decided by A&R scouts. Bands were crowdsourced and fans took their rightful place at the top of the pyramid.
Labels were falling over themselves to sign new acts and it became the best era for getting noticed. The Myspace bubble saw touring and being a band a viable option. But like all bubbles, it burst and many acts disbanded and were forgotten.
Let’s take a look at some of your favorite Myspace bands you definitely want to remember!
Hollywood Undead
Hollywood Undead wrote rap music for emos long before Lil Peep or Nothing,Nowhere. They leveraged their Myspace fame into a movement that changed music promotion forever.
It took them one week to go from total unknown to the number 1 band on Myspace beating all the mainstream competition like Coldplay, Nine Inch Nails, and System of a Down. The masked rappers attracted controversy from the get-go as they sang about thuggery, sex, and knife crime.
Over the course of a year, they released new music such as №5, Black Dahlia, and Knife Called Lust. The anticipation for their debut album was insane and Swan Songs rocketed to 22 on the Billboard 200.
Despite Tha’ Producer (now known as Duece) leaving the group before the second album, the band’s popularity continued to grow. Their third album Notes From the Underground rose to number 2 on the charts. Unlike many artists of this era, Hollywood Undead continues to tour and release new music.
Amy Can Flyy
Pioneers of Emotronic, Amy Can Flyy made infectious, boarding on disgusting, powerpop music. The mission statement was to create cute lyrics and earworms people won’t be able to get rid of until they die. Similar to the Owl City strategy.
“No I don’t break bones just hearts.” still rattles around my head.
Have you ever wondered why scene kids were obsessed with the term RAWR! Well, maybe Amy Can Flyy’s song Dinosaur’s Go Rawr! has the answer. While American scene kids were obsessing over metalcore kids in the United Kingdom’s had Amy Can Flyy.
Amy Can Flyy enjoyed enough success in the U.K. to tour the country and Myspace was how they reached and connected with their audience. The band wrapped things up in 2012 but their influence on the scene can’t be disputed.
The Medic Droid
Emos have sex too and the Medic Droid was the sexually charged electropop band we chose to listen to. While everyone else was listening to Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On to get in the mood, emos loaded up iTunes and blasted Fer Sure.
Fer Sure quickly racked up over 2 million streams on Myspace and the band was scouted by and signed to Epic Records. The band became known for their energetic live shows.
In late 2008 the band embarked on possibly the greatest emo tour of all time. Alongside From First to Last and We Are the Ocean they supported the Blackout on a UK tour. Touring proved to be the breaking point for the band as they disbanded due to the strain from being on the road.
There have been attempts to revive the band over the years. Chris Donathon, the frontman, brought the band back in 2012. They sold some t-shirts and played a single show at South By So What?! before going back on hiatus.
The latest attempt in 2016 saw the release of two new songs, Closer, and Disco Queen. The band embarked on an Australian tour but nothing has been heard from them since. Whether the band fully reform or not, the world was forever changed with the release of Fer Sure.
Sherwood
Did you know Myspace started a record label to capitalize on the success of its music section? The first-ever band signed was Hollywood Undead, and why not? They were the most successful independent act on the web.
The guys in Hollywood Undead walked away from the deal when Myspace Records tried to censor their first album.
A much less controversial signing was the band Sherwood who released their second album A Different Light with the record label. The band toured heavily in support of this album including 4 separate tours of the U.K. in one year.
They supported Hellogoodbye, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Zebrahead, and Go:Audio respectively. Despite supporting some of the fastest-growing bands in the scene Sherwood was unable to reach the same heights.
Myspace records released their next album QA before the band left the label in 2012. The label was run by Myspace founder Tom Anderson but he stepped down after selling the company to News Corps in 2009.
Mercy Mercedes
Mercy Mercedes was one of the many pop-punk bands that used Myspace to increase their reach. Like many of the pop-punk bands in the mid-2000s, their sound could be described as ‘neon pop-punk.’ Although they didn’t become as well known as acts like Forever the Sickest kids or Every Avenue.
The short-lived act had plenty of wins to brag about that set them apart from their peers. They won a competition hosted by MTV to have a music video made. The Perfect Scene is a reference heavy video to 80s teen comedies. References are made to films like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Back to the Future.
After receiving a lot of hype on Myspace they were signed to legendary record label the Militia Group. TMG was also home to Cartel, Quietdrive, and the Rocket Summer.
In 2012 the band played their last show supporting Framing Hanley. The band teased a return on their Facebook page in 2018 but nothing came from it. Does the band have plans for a reunion at some point in the future? We can only hope.
Conclusion
Myspace introduced tonnes of new music to the scene. The bubble saw the rapid rise of local bands and brought on a signing frenzy for record labels. It was easy to get noticed, tours were abundant, but careers often stopped early.
After the decline of Myspace, it became harder to get noticed and connect with new fans. Although Facebook replaced the platform in almost every way, its music section was never as popular.
We’re seeing a second bubble start to form now that TikTok has become the most popular platform. Going viral on TikTok is easy thanks to its algorithm that rewards good content. Bands are using this to push their music out to new listeners and engage with fans.
I for one am excited to see how bands use this space to grow. Although it is a bubble, this one might have longer legs than Myspace ever did.
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