For those critical of MySpace there are an estimated 300 or more alternatives. Friendster, hi5, Facebook, Bebo, orkut and even smaller specialty sites like HolyPal are all vying for a similar audience that uses these community sites to make new friends and communicate.
But nothing comes close to MySpace’s reach. Using the Alexa web rankings here is a look at the average daily visitors for some of the most popular community sites:
MySpace 35 million - Friendster 8 million
- Orkut 6.8 million
- Hi5 6.2 million
- Facebook 4.2 million
- Tribe 3.8 million
- Bebo 1.2 million
- HolyPal – 800,000
Most of these sites have their own niches and thus offer some potential for music marketers. Only Hi5 so far seems to be trying to add a strong music discovery component. Tribe is arranged by location and therefore offers some potential for touring acts trying to attract a crowd in a particular city.
Traffic on sites that cater more directly to indie music and it’s fans is even smaller:
Mp3.com 700,000- PitchforkMedia 350,000
- PureVolume 450,000
- Soundclick 400,000
- Garageband 75,000
- iSound 70,000
- Audiolunchbox 40,000
- AudioStreet 20,000
Up against MySpace’s 35 million daily visitors these site pale in comparison. But marketing is not just about big numbers and many of the sites above reach a targeted audience receptive to new music.
Read the rest of Hypebot’s exclsuive MySpace series here.
NEXT:MySpace and the adult music community.
