Before I dig too deep, I've got to say I appreciate that MySpace has been a boon for independent musicians-- it's still the default to find smaller bands, hear what the lineup for a show on any given night sounds like, etc. Even now, ubik.s booking is done as much through MySpace messaging as it is through email or phone. Yes, all the music on the MySpace players sound terrible, and yes it is an amazingly ugly system, but it's the default-- the first place people look when they want to find a band.
But... as they take their role as music disseminators to heart, the MySpace music front is actually the antithesis of a grass-roots, independent music system. Down here on the ground floor, we all use it the same way, but MySpace has big plans for itself, and it falls more along the lines of the corporate starfucking of mTv and Clear Channel radio.
Any time you sign in, someone's being promoted in the box on the left: "Today on MySpace," which, when it comes to music, is always used to promote people who don't need promoting: Disney sponsored, non threatening, emo bands... millionaire diva-tastic gangsta guys (seriously: extravagant furs and flamboyant jewelry? Elizabeth Taylor'd tell these dudes to take it down a notch). My last login displayed an invitation to Paris Hilton's birthday bash ("If you're in Vegas this weekend..."), which would be an awesome way to get the Stupid Spoiled Whore Playset autographed.
Similarly, the new MySpace music player allows MP3 sales through Amazon.com, which is fine for what it is... but that only works if you're in bed with the Corporations. For example, our digital aggregator has our album on Amazon.com (I prefer physical manifestations of albums, cover art and whatnot, but that's just me), but you will not find the Amazon "sale" button popping up on our MySpace music player... it's just not something they're giving us.
I find these things slightly frustrating because I know that the record industry is a vile, incestuous, corrupt system... but the internet has given musicians of all stripes a competitive edge and a DIY tool for personal success. That MySpace is acting more like the former than the latter is disappointing.
But I say "slightly frustrating," because after all: it's MySpace. All the little bands like us still use it not because of its quality, but because it'd be idiotic not use it. You can't be too frustrated by the site that was whoreish years ago becoming more whoreish over time, just sort of disappointed, and hopeful that, like Geocities before it, a change in standards will make it obsolete.