Remember When: MySpace’s Record Label and the Artists Who Defined the Era

MySpace Records launched in 2005 to sign and promote artists who were finding success with their music on the OG social network platform. The label boosted the careers of a handful of bands and artists, while MySpace itself helped define the era of pop, alternative, and indie in the early 2000s.

So, it’s 2006 and you want to start a band. Where are you going to start your platform? Where are you going to interact with fans, post your music, and share gigs? The best place for that was MySpace, and if you’re anything like me there was a page for your middle school post-punk band floating around with nothing on it except a name and a group photo because no one could actually play an instrument.

Still, the fact remains—MySpace was the place to be for emerging artists in a way that we haven’t seen online in a while. Now, music is milled down to 15 or 30-second clips on TikTok, everything is called “content,” and music discovery has taken a sharp turn down memory lane. As in, it’s become a blissful memory of simpler times. Algorithms rule music now, whereas before it was much more fun to put out music and to discover it as a listener. Streaming has changed the way we interact with music, as producer Rick Rubin said recently. While Rubin is okay with that so far, there’s something to be said for going to the record store, buying a new CD, and listening to an entire album all the way through until the CD falls apart.

MySpace Helped Bring Emerging Artists into the Mainstream

In the age of MySpace, music discovery was not yet experienced in a complete vacuum. There were still gigs and bands still made physical media and distributed it. MySpace made finding bands you liked and introducing them to your friends much easier, though. If you liked a new song that was floating around, you could put it on your MySpace homepage. Instagram is doing something similar now, but it’s still just a clip. MySpace allowed you to have a full song blaring from your homepage for everyone to hear.

MySpace Records started in 2005 and lasted until December 2016. During that time, it released records from bands like Pennywise, Hollywood Undead, Kate Voegele, Christina Milian, Mickey Avalon, Sherwood, and Simon Rex AKA Dirt Nasty.

In 2007, the label released MySpace Records 1, a compilation album featuring work from AFI, Fall Out Boy, Say Anything, Dashboard Confessional, Weezer, Against Me!, The All-American Rejects, Plain White T’s, and others. While the inclusion of the number one implies there were supposed to be more compilations, there never were.

However, the bands on that compilation were at the top of their game in the MySpace era. They helped define that time with help from the social network platform and ushered in an iconic couple of decades for music.

Who Else Defined This Era of Music?

Bands like Arctic Monkeys, Panic! at the Disco, and Bring Me The Horizon found success through MySpace. Panic! at the Disco sent their demos to Pete Wentz through the platform which led to them being the first band signed to Wentz Decaydance label. In 2010 Bring Me The Horizon was the most popular band on MySpace.

Arctic Monkeys, however, weren’t totally active on the platform themselves—the Sheffield band was focused on organic experiences like gigging and distributing physical media. Their friends actually set up the MySpace page for them, and fans uploaded bootlegs and used it for Monkeys-related forums. When the band signed to indie label Domino in 2005, they already had a wild fanbase thanks to the platform, which has since sent six of their seven albums to No. 1 on the U.K. charts.

Other artists who got a start on MySpace include Lily Allen, Adele, Katy Perry, Kate Nash, Owl City, and Skrillex. The site was also great for hardcore bands as well. Attack! Attack!, Black Veil Brides, Bullet For My Valentine, Ghost, Ice Nine Kills, and Job For a Cowboy all found success after beefing up their MySpace presence. For example, Job For a Cowboy started posting in 2004, and when they released their first album in 2007, they already had a loyal fanbase that put them on the Billboard Top 200.

Featured Image by Amy Graves/WireImage