A conversation with MySpace Music President Courtney Holt
has long been THE place on the web for established and emerging artists. For many musicians, MySpace has become their primary website, as it offers a free platform for publishing music and connecting with fans.
There are more than five million artists with MySpace music pages, and each year about 250 of those are exposed. MySpace Music President Courtney Holt describes it as "obscurity chasing opportunity to be noticed." Numerous top artists have emerged from platforms like MySpace into record deals, such as Sean Kingston, Taylor Swift, Drake and Lily Allen. Arguably, even the Jonas Brothers got their start on MySpace. And even more importantly, they come back. Katy Perry used the site to release unsigned music before she won her EMI deal. And now she's using MySpace with her second record launch to reignite her fanbase.
We spoke with Holt at the New Music Seminar to learn more about how MySpace is helping to bridge the gap between new media and the old music industry. Holt, throughout his career in the music industry, has been instrumental in embracing technology and innovating new ways for labels to promote artists. So it was only natural he ended up taking the reigns at MySpace Music, to build new tools, launch new artists, and analyze data to help the suffering music industry find some solutions to their woes. Helping the music industry understand how new media is the key to unlocking the future of the biz is a big job, and Holt is just the man to do it. Read on to learn his game plan.
