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Band Mobile Gets MySpace URL Back With Apology

Myspacecrap OUTCRY ON THE WEB SCORES ONE FOR THE LITTLE GUY AND INDIE MUSIC

MySpace has given Montreal idie band Mobile back the MySpace URL it took from them last week. Hypeot’s request for a response from MySpace to last week’s post After Two Years, MySpace Hijacks A Band’s URL netted this official statement:

"MySpace has reinstated the registered URL www.myspace.com/mobile to the band–this was an error on our part and we apologize for any inconvenience caused. The band’s profile has not been altered in any way."

MySpace had taken the URL http://www.myspace.com/mobile which Mobile had used for two years and redirected it to its new mobile offering.  But Hypebot readers and others across the net expressed their displeasure and MySpace listened. Score one for the little guy and the power of the web.

More on the story here.

Bruce Houghton on 12/02/2008 in Uncategorized | Permalink | Comments (4)
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  2. Bruce, I’m with the bands management – thanks for getting the word about this out. Everyone here is glad we got our myspace URL back!

  3. Just thought I’d post this here as well.
    —
    Thanks for your help with this Bruce! I work with the bands management everyone here is very happy about having the URL back. It wouldn’t have happened without this discussion. Here are a few of my thoughts about the whole situation:
    – As Bruce mentioned the band has their own CMS web site that we’re slowly developing. I believe strongly that an Artist should AT SOME POINT in their growth build their own site BUT this doesn’t need to be done right off the bat. What you should do is buy the domain name and then either redirect it a site like myspace OR have a landing page that allows people to see different places they can interact with you. Initially, with so few resources, a band should be focused on building up a community – wherever it happens. Trying to build and maintain a website with the right feature set (commenting, content management system, feeds, etcs) takes a lot of work – effort that could be more helpful elsewhere.
    – We’re on Myspace to take part in its community AND because Myspace has one of our biggest and most active (those two aren’t always the same) communities. And we advertise the fact that you can find us on myspace.
    – We made the choice, and perhaps this was a mistake, of putting the myspace URL with the website URL on a lot our products. Our CD has it, posters have it, stickers have it. In the future I might just mention that we are on myspace, facebook, lastFM, etc. just in case. I’m not sure how the rest of you deal with this.
    – Most people I know – in the industry or not – will search myspace for a band they want to know more about. I will usually visit a myspace page for a band I want to know more about before their website – because, and I think this is key, with myspace I know what I’m getting. If I want to find out about a band – I don’t want to have to wander around a website trying to figure out where there music player is, if they have one. With myspace its right there – and so are their tourdates, recent news items, photos, videos. Everything is accessible (the site doesn’t always serve the best code – but it usually works) and its all something I am now used to doing. Habit formed. This applies to other sites as well – facebook, youtube, etc.
    – As a lot of you have said, this was ‘bad form’ on myspace’s part, but something they’re technically allowed to do. So we were all completely surprised when the URL was returned yesterday especially since we didn’t get an email or update about it. It just happened – our new URL stopped working – and after a moments panic – we checked the old URL and everything was back. We owe it to you – thanks for you’re support/help/views! You all raised enough noise. And a thanks to whoever at myspace heard – they didn’t have to listen! Its good to see first hand that people can bring about change.

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