TRENDS MySpace
releasesof the week
THE UNIVERSITY STAR
music
Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I Am Not —Arctic Monkeys With Strings: Live at Town Hall — Eels
Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - Page 4
dvd
Other People’s Lives —Ray Davies Leaders of the Free World – Elbow
Rent — (PG-13) Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs North Country — (R) Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand
The Weather Man — (R) Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine Domino — (R) Keira Knightly, Mickey Rourke
Trends Contact — Kyle Bradshaw, starentertainment@txstate.edu
links bands to fans By Maira Garcia The University Star MySpace isn’t just for friends anymore. The increasingly popular Web site is leading the revolution of do-it-yourself band promotion. MySpace, which touts more than 57 million users, has become a favorite promotional tool for musicians, from rising stars to award-winning acts. The consensus among local artists for its popularity is its easy use, free cost and power to connect to a wide audience. “MySpace has allowed us to spread our music throughout the U.S. with just a click of a button. It allows a band to put a whole Web site and electronic press kit into one HTML page,” said Ricky Restrepo, vocalist and guitarist for Austin band The Apse Affinity and Texas State alumnus. Not only is it easy for bands to use, it provides a way for fans to keep connected with their favorite artists. Unlike other music promotion Web sites, such as PureVolume, which only allows band profiles, MySpace allows anyone with a name and an email address to add a profile. Convenience plays a big fac-
ySpace has allowed us “M to spread our music throughout the U.S. with just a click
of a button. It allows a band to put a whole Web site and electronic press kit into one HTML page.”
— Ricky Restrepo vocalist and guitarist for The Apse Affinity and Texas State alumnus
tor for fans, according to John Mcgee, member of San Marcos band Kallisti Gold. “MySpace has such a huge network that almost everyone is on it nowadays. So unlike other Web sites, people already go to this one every day,” Mcgee said. MySpace’s rapid popularity gained more strength when media mogul Rupert Murdoch purchased it in July of 2005. Murdoch saw it as a way for his News Corporation to “engage with the online world,” according to a statement given at the American Society of Newspaper Editors in Washington, D.C last year. With MySpace being backed by the power and money of News Corporation, it has poured more resources into the music
sector of MySpace with features like the ability to download or stream songs, upload pictures, post blogs and upcoming tour dates and more. The front page of the Web site also features a different MySpace Music Pick every day. This Web site is capable of reinforcing promotion for superstar artists who can obtain it from various media, but it is a powerful tool for those who cannot. “We book 98 percent of our shows through MySpace. The site has completely revolutionized the way bands operate,” said Joshua Mills, applied sociology senior and member of Clap!Clap!. Mills said even though it sounds silly to him, his band
would not be where it is without MySpace. “I bet local bands from Texas never got random e-mails from people in Australia begging for you to play Down Under,” Mills said. MySpace has found a way for people to discover music they would otherwise never hear. Users can search for music by genre, band name and zip code, making the search for local artists even easier. In addition to providing free music, MySpace has even collaborated with Interscope Records to create a record label, MySpace Records. The label currently has a compilation
Matt Rael/Star photo illustration disc with artists like AFI, Fall Out Boy and Dashboard Confessional, but has begun signing bands found to be successful on MySpace, according to Universal Music Group reports. The MySpace music revolution has even changed the standard medium of a band Web site. Although seen as essential for promotion, band Web sites require someone with knowledge of HTML code and regular upkeep to be effective. MySpace has simplified the process and may even result in the phase out of standard band Web sites. “I really have neglected our
traditional Web site, plinkomusic.com, since we got on MySpace. I’m not sure if I’m completely ready to stop paying the monthly bill to leave it up, but I’m tempted,” said Jordan Berry, lead singer and guitarist of Plinko and a Texas State alumnus. Whether or not MySpace may turn out to be a fad spurred by teens and college students is left to the future. Right now, MySpace appears to be one of the makeovers the music industry has been hoping for in terms of transitioning to a technological age.
The Shape of Things evolves into creative, funny play By Katie Reed The University Star Hyde Park Theatre in Austin is curhosting ✯✯✯✯ rently the producThe Shape of tion of Neil Things LaBute’s Hyde Park TheThe Shape of atre Things, a very A Chick & A Dude entertaining, Productions witty and somewhat surprising and twisted play. LaBute’s The Shape of Things gained popularity when it was released as a movie starring Paul Rudd, Rachel Weisz, Gretchen Mol and Frederick Weller in 2003. It is a story about Adam,
theater review
an awkward English student who meets and falls in love with Evelyn, a confident graduate student with an extreme view on art and life. Adam’s friend and former roommate, Phillip, and Phillip’s fiancé, Jenny, are skeptical of all the radical changes that Adam has made since dating Evelyn. The twists in the story come to life when old feelings are stirred up between Jenny and Adam. Feelings are hurt, revenge is sought, and true colors are shown. Throughout the play, controversial issues regarding art are brought to light. The story makes you think about the subjectivity of art and the boundaries of art, if there are any at all.
THEATER STARS: Kelsey Kling and Ben Wolfe star as Evelyn and Adam in the production of The Shape of Things at Hyde Park Theatre in Austin.
The story ends with a twist that will surprise you and leave you stunned and emotional. Hyde Park Theatre is a small theater with an intimate feel. The stage
Where the good meat is.
Courtesy of A Chick & A Dude Productions is close to and almost as big as the seating area that curves around it, giving the theater a very personal See SHAPE, page 5