Music Ally

Listening Post has an interesting article on MySpace play-count boosters, which artists or labels can pay to artificially inflate the play-counts of their profiles. Companies in the space include TuneBoom Pro, MySpacePlays, MyUnlimitedPlays and GetMySpacePlays. MySpace itself isn’t keen on them, saying that it deletes the profiles of any artist caught using them, blocks the technology when possible, and pursues legal action against the companies behind it. However, several artists interviewed express dissatisfaction with the performance of the play-count boosters, especially those that take their money without, er, inflating their play-count.

Remember how Pennywise decided to give their new album away via a promotion on MySpace. Well, some figures are in: 400,000 people downloaded the album, with Pennywise being paid for taking part by mobile firm Textango, which sponsored the promotion. Has it boosted their revenues in other areas though? MySpace Records exec J. Scavo says it has, citing a boost in ticket sales, tour guarantees and merchandise sales for the band, as well as a high-profile slot on the upcoming Vans Warped Tour in the US.  Not bad going for a niche band  eh?