Network. Get your art heard. Promote yourself. Make your name known. The advice for singers trying to get ahead in this competitive world is oft-repeated, but sometimes hard to follow. Many singers, composers, opera companies, and other industry professionals are discovering MySpace as a tool for networking and self-promotion. Others shy away from the site, frowning upon its “fadiness” and informality. Three singers, one contractor, and one opera discuss with Classical Singer the ins and outs, ups and downs, and the how-tos and how-not-tos of this networking phenomenon.
How has your career benefited from MySpace? What have you gained from it? What has it made easier?
Shira Renee Thomas (www.myspace.com/shirareneethomassoprano): MySpace has been very helpful in terms of networking. Because of MySpace, I have connections with singers and other opera professionals all over the country and indeed, the world. I am also able to follow what my colleagues are doing, and show my support for them in an easy and convenient way. This is such a hectic life, and MySpace has created a way for us all to keep in touch and communicate with each other in one convenient place.
Molly Jacobs (www.myspace.com/dramaticmezzo): Primarily, your recordings get heard by numerous people and that can be one of the largest challenges for a young singer today, simply being heard. Also, the larger opera companies are on MySpace and you can add them at the click of a mouse, companies such as Los Angeles Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, and so many more. One of the most helpful aspects to having a MySpace page is the ability to add opera companies that I will be auditioning for in the future. This way I am kept current as to their performance schedules and other musical events—and some even send out bulletins about auditions.
Bianca Showalter (www.myspace.com/biancashowaltersoprano): I know that opera companies have looked at my profile, because I have that handy dandy tracker. Then they’ve subsequently added me to their network, so that’s good! I’ve made some great contacts. The best contacts I’ve made through MySpace have been other singers. The network of composers on MySpace is wonderful as well. It’s always nice to hear from composers, and I have had a couple express interest in writing for my voice. Another advantage is the vastness of the community itself. We have exposure to people all over the world.
Turkish Delight the Opera (www.myspace.com/turkishdelighttheopera): We have had roughly 5,000 site views, most of which are from people who have never seen the show. People have visited our site from all over the world, as far flung as Africa, Australia, Japan, and even the Faroe Islands. I have managed to make contact with many artists who have been important in my life—including Marcella Detroit, The Sparks, John Adams, Yma Sumac, and Peter Jöback—who I doubt I would otherwise be able to converse with on such a casual level. To contact them otherwise I would have to go through their agents, I should imagine. It’s great to be able to just drop a quick message thanking them for their work and offering them [an opportunity] to listen to our sound recordings and . . . give feedback informally if they wish to.
Do you have a website, or do you use MySpace instead of a website? What are the differences? Do you prefer one over the other?
Thomas: I have a personal website, in addition to my MySpace page. I can’t say that I prefer one over the other, simply because they have different strengths and weaknesses.
I like MySpace because I can keep track of the people who are viewing my profile, listening to my sound files, etc. It’s also extremely gratifying to get supportive and encouraging comments from people I don’t even know. In this industry of constant rejection, the MySpace comments can really pick you up. However, I’m not too fond of the constant advertisements on MySpace, or how often the site is not working properly. I don’t like being limited as to how many songs I can upload onto my profile, either.
I like my personal website because I can include as many songs as I like, include a résumé in regular résumé format, and I don’t have to deal with advertisements or formatting woes. However, I can’t keep track of who is looking at my website, and I don’t get the nice feedback from colleagues and fans that I get on MySpace.
Jacobs: I do have a classicalsinger.net website on top of the MySpace page. In my opinion, the Classical Singer websites are more professional than MySpace profiles. They were created with the intention that prospective opera companies and clients would be viewing them. [It is] the website I list on my résumé and refer companies to, rather than my MySpace account.
The Classical Singer site is easy to navigate and has the most important information listed up front, information such as a biography, résumé, sound clips, and photographs. On the MySpace page there are more distractions, such as advertisements, a friends list, and comments.
Showalter: Yes, I do have a website as well. In fact, it’s a Classical Singer website, but I’ve purchased my own domain name and have visitors link to the CS website through the dot com bearing my name.
I’d say my website isn’t as “hip” I guess. It’s more what I consider to be my formal spot on the net. Kind of like formal and casual headshots, I guess. I use my dot com address on all of my materials that I send out. My website links to my MySpace music and vice versa. MySpace is a fun and informative first look at me, and my website is my professional face, with more detailed information on my career.
Turkish Delight: I am quite literally as we speak creating an official website for Turkish Delight the Opera. Although MySpace has been a fantastic tool for exposure, I do think that it could be further complimented by an official website. The two websites would have two different target audiences; the MySpace site is less formal and would target a younger audience.
How did you become a part of the MySpace community? What was it like, making your profile and building your network?
Thomas: A friend introduced me to MySpace. At first, I was skeptical—I tend to not like trendy things—but it looked useful and possibly fun, so I gave it a try. Now I really love it.Building my network was not that difficult, because I had tons of friends who were already members. Through their MySpace “friendship,” I found other opera professionals and appreciators, and my network kind of blossomed from there. The MySpace Groups also provide a nice, easy way to find others with your same interests.
Jacobs: I knew other singers who took advantage of the free site and recommended that I do the same. It was very simple to create my own page and since it was free I realized that I had nothing to lose. When creating a profile there are endless possibilities on MySpace, I decided that I wanted something professional but also creative and reflective of who I was as an artist. I was careful about what I included in my biography section and chose pictures [that are] performance related.
Building the network is very exciting because during the process, you have access to so many fantastic voices and instrumentalists on MySpace.
Showalter: One of my dearest friends practically forced me to make a personal profile when [MySpace] first started getting popular. I didn’t pay much attention to it for a long time, until old friends started to find me. Then I checked it more often and caught the bug.
The profile was very easy to set up. MySpace is very user friendly. Plus, there are so many other websites out there dedicated to creating HTML language geared toward MySpace specifically that you don’t have to be a designer to design your page.
I tweak my profile often. The network grows all the time. At first I was lucky because I’d already spent two years building a personal profile network. Once I had my music profile I just forced all of my personal friends to join my new profile. I added singers I knew from a certain forum we all know and love, then I searched for opera companies with a MySpace presence and added them. From there it has grown on its own. I get new requests often and I haven’t had to do much.
When I get the requests I leave comments of introduction, thereby leaving my profile imprint to be discovered by other people. There are some listeners out there who really do love classical singing, and they find me! That’s always nice. Composers are great at networking as well. It will grow on its own, and if you need a push it’s very easy to browse the music profiles by genre and find interesting individuals to add to your network.
Turkish Delight: After months of peer pressure, I joined MySpace with my own personal site. After countless “friend requests” from bands eager to promote themselves, I thought, “If you can’t beat them, join them” and began to create the Turkish Delight MySpace site. Popularity on MySpace is perpetual. The more friends you have the more friend requests you will receive, as people often find new friends by browsing through their existing friends’ networks.
It is imperative when you start your MySpace page that you whore yourself around the site shamelessly and mercilessly, adding as many people you can from as many different social networks. This will maximize your exposure.
So many diverse artists also have MySpace pages, it is worth seeking out your favorite artists’ pages and adding them as friends, at best to extend your circles and make new contacts within the industry, but also for exposure . . . at the end of the day exposure is the main purpose of a MySpace music profile.
What advice would you give to classical singers or industry professionals considering creating a MySpace music profile? What warnings?
Thomas: I think having a MySpace music profile is such an easy way for someone to have a website, especially if they are unable to have their own personal website. It’s an easy way to keep friends, family, and colleagues updated on what you are doing, and also provides you a way to keep track of others. It’s also free, and that’s a big plus.
Any warning I would have for those using MySpace is to realize that anyone can and does look at these profiles. Be careful what you include on your page. I have spoken with opera company administrators who have stated that they look some singers up on the Internet and learn some very interesting things about those singers via their MySpace pages. It may seem like we’re all friends on MySpace, but some people are looking for dirt and are looking to see if there is any reason they might not want to hire you.
Jacobs: You have absolutely nothing to lose by putting up a MySpace music page. Be professional about it. Censor your comments and be cautious not to put up too much unnecessary personal information. Keep everything performance or education related. Conduct yourself in a professional way through this page. MySpace seems very informal but if you have fellow singers or opera companies as friends, then you will want to be careful about bulletins you post or comments you put out.
Showalter: I would say join the party! Watch out for hacker schemes and use a password that is not the same as you use for any other type of Internet account. Don’t approve everyone who sends you a friend request. Visit their profile and make sure that they are legitimate. Some spammers and phishers will slap up a MySpace profile as a front and then try to get you to click links that will take you away from MySpace. If anyone, even your own mother, sends you a message or bulletin containing a link for you to check out, right click it first and see what the properties are. Don’t just click blindly to unknown websites. Don’t post personal contact information or anything you’re not comfortable sharing with the world.
Turkish Delight: My advice to anybody, especially classical singers creating a MySpace page, is that you must devote a good chunk of your time to creating a chic or snazzy site. HTML programming is not, at a basic level, as complex as it may seem. It is worthwhile finding out the basics of adding images, and animations, and extra bits and pieces to make your [page] stand out. Most important, though, are good quality sound files. You can upload your music to a site such as www.jamendo.com and then insert a player, which will give you the opportunity to include more tracks than you would be allowed to include if you just used the MySpace music player.
Have some good pictures of yourself up, and maybe even some videos. Make sure you have a particularly stunning profile picture, as that is the first thing that anyone will see. Keep a clean comments section, nothing too personal, no advertising for other people’s projects (unless you really support their work sincerely), and no inappropriate or redundant content.
