Although it’s only been in operation for a little over two years, MySpace has become an overnight Internet phenomenon. Officially launched in 2004, the website holds more cultural weight than Madonna and Britney Spears combined, and Toronto musical artists are beginning to realize this.

“It is rare that you find someone from this generation who does not know the website,” says Dana Bissett, Creative Director for Bandspaces, an Internet company that offers to design unique MySpace accounts, specifically for bands. “Everyone knows what MySpace is because it is so global.”

MySpace has finally bridged the gap between the advertiser and the buyer, the promoter and musician, and most importantly, the artists and the fans. There is no question that the growth of MySpace’s music division is largely due to the ease with which users can create a profile. For the non-html savvy, the site offers pre-constructed band profile pages that include a music player, performance schedule, a blog, band details and even the chance to be one of the featured bands.

This is a form of marketing and promotion that Bissett says no band would want to pass up.“I was speaking with a MySpace employee the other day, who mentioned that a featured profile on their website reaches more people than an ad on TV,” she tells me. Boasting more than 25 million unique visitors per day, there is much credibility in this claim.

But for local musical artists, the site has more to offer than merely a chance to sell records and make money. “It’s something that I haven’t seen before, in terms of a medium for communicating within the scene,” says Charles Tilden, a solo musician, who recently signed up for the service. He believes that MySpace allows for a unique three-tiered system of communication where start-up artists can make connections not only with fans, but also with musical artists who have already established their careers. (Feist and the Constantines are just some of the bigger Canadian artists that are featured on bands’ “friend” lists.)

Tilden says that this is not possible with a traditional website. “A regular website, as much as it might have the links section or something is not directly geared towards interaction.”

While this new form of branding and music distribution is a far cry from yesterday’s method of coating city lamposts with flyers, some critics say that it still might not be the most effective.

“You’re going into a field and environment where no one has any knowledge of you and there’s thousands of other bands out there. There’s nothing to distinguish you,” says Mark Homer, a self-proclaimed music 'snob' and MySpace user.

Homer notes that this is not the only problem for bands eager to jump on the literal bandwagon for advertising and marketing their music. “I find it annoying and sometimes futile when un-established bands and unknown bands try to use MySpace to reach out to potential new listeners,” he says.

“Really, the grassroots formula that most bands have been using to build a fan base for years is the most effective. Playing shows, and getting a following in a local scene and then expanding through word of mouth, tape-trading, and even file swapping,” he adds.