Social Network Your Way to Tunes

Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are good ways to find people who have the same musical interests as you do.  There are several kinds of pages, applications, and music players that can help promote bands or just to make a place for fans to interact.  There are several advantages to this, as long as you don’t get into a never ending music debate.  The one advantage that I have come across is the introduction of similar artists.

I have a very deep musical collection, and by that I mean that I have a wide array of bands and artists that reach all sorts of genres, styles, and era’s.  Unless I know of a band who is locally signed or they are not very well known, more than likely, the band or artist you like is on either Facebook or MySpace.  I can be a fan of the well known groups like Alice In Chains, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.  However, I can also be a fan of Kenny Garrett and Michael Brecker.  I can even be a fan of bands that come around this area like Caroline’s Spine, or even Shoeless Revolution.  Within all of these fan sites, you can listen to their music, see news and upcoming concerts, or write a note on their page to tell them how much you like their music.  All you have to do to find these pages is search for them.  Either go on Google and search for “(band) MySpace” or “(band) Facebook” or go to the band’s website, they most likely will have links to their social networking pages.

So back to how this helps music fans like me, these pages can also open up discussions for recommendations of other bands.  I have been introduced to many worth while artists just by surfing through Facebook, MySpace and YouTube, where otherwise I would never have heard of them and my music collection would be pretty bleak.  So next time you find yourself needing new music, don’t be afraid to search for your favorite bands through social networking and see what their related artists have to offer.  You really have nothing to lose, unless you come across a really awful band which then wastes your time.  But besides that, you have nothing to lose.

One last note, if you are on Facebook or MySpace, you’ll see little interactive discussions floating around on your friend’s profiles.  Some of which are not very interesting, but I will usually participate with the music themed ones.  This one reached me yesterday, in care of NewsChannel 8’s very own Chief News Director, Emily Hintzman!  Feel free to send me your list as a comment to this post.

Think of 15 albums that had such a profound effect on you that they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world.

The challenge: Do this in fifteen minutes; as if nobody is judging your answers…

1. Alter Bridge “Blackbird” 2007
2. Cold “A Different Kind of Pain” 2005
3. Cold “Year of the Spider” 2003
4. Epidemic “Epidemic” 2001
5. From Zero “One Nation Under”  2001
6. Iced Earth “Horror Show” 2001
7. Iron Maiden “Brave New World” 2000
8. Kamelot “The Black Halo” 2005
9. Lifehouse “No Name Face” 2000
10. Nightwish “Once” 2004
11. Nightwish “Dark Passion Play” 2007
12. A Perfect Circle “Mer De Noms” 2000
13. Shinedown “Leave A Whisper” 2003
14. Tantric “Tantric” 2001
15. 3 Doors Down “The Better Life” 2000

Bonus: Transformers: The Movie Soundtrack 1986

Just to mention again, I’ll be playing at Ed’s no name bar (252 E 3rd St) in Winona, Minnesota tonight for Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday.  I’ll be sitting in with my former band, the Dixie Midnight Runners, starting at 10:00.  Hope to see you there!

Cheers, BC