Social networking has democratized music, survey says
The 2007 Digital Media Survey, carried out by Entertainment Media Research, indicates that social networking sites have democratized the way many people listen to music. This is great news for independent artists. Why? Because if people are choosing their music via social networking - by nature a social process - then big corporations are not picking and choosing the music people can or cannot listen to.
Undoubtedly, the likes of MySpace, which is owned by Murdoch and friends, rigs the system to promote the musicians and labels they have commercial relationships with - but it’s still an improvement for independent artists, going from no exposure on big media platforms (that is what MySpace has become, after all) to some exposure.
The internet as a whole has really opened the world up for artists, and social networking is just one part of that. There are plenty of ways to get exposure online that don’t even involve MySpace and other corporate properties, but it can still help. Every listener counts.

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