Music is what people do when they're away from computers.
If you're in the business of music, you need to concentrate on social networking applications that work on devices which fit in your pocket, not on your desk. As more and more people start to access email from handheld devices, which operate regardless of where they are, we're going to see sites such as MySpace sink deeper and deeper into the cyber graveyard.
Just like mp3.com. Just like Friendster. Just like so many before it.
Bottom line... Social technologies succeed only when they fit into the lives of people.
MySpace was fun for a while, but the novelty has worn off. And the same concept has moved on to better technology. People no longer have to be hardwired to a desktop computer in order to connect with people online.
Can MySpace add mobile technology? Sure. They already have. But that's like trying to retrofit a Ford Pinto with a racing engine. There is only so far you can go with it.
You want something that is built for how people use the Internet now. Something like Twitter.
Sure, there are still people on MySpace. But the hipsters who listen to music are sick of it and have moved on. Just look at International Delete Your Myspace Account Day and you'll see plenty of reasons why.
There is a window of opportunity now, before services like Twitter have peaked, for you to get in early and dominate.
Had you been one of the first people on mp3.com, you could have easily been at the top of their download charts. When they started paying money for downloads, the guys on top were making $10,000/month or more.
Had you been one of the first people on MySpace, you could have easily had 500,000 friends (or more). Jeffree Star joined MySpace on 10/1/2003, has over 800,000 friends, a management deal with the Firm, a #1 album on the iTunes dance chart, a TV show in development, and his own line of clothing, which is distributed via Hot Topic.
Somebody is going to do this on the next social networking site to take off. I'm betting that site is going to be Twitter, for exactly the reasons I've listed above. If you want to get on Twitter and completely dominate it, read this book.
