The Worst Music Story You’ll Read All Week

Brian Raftery | November 13, 2006 11:03 am

To be honest, it’s been years since we bothered to pick up a copy of the New York Press, a barely existent alt-weekly staffed by a bunch of claptrappy contrarian cranks. But we were urged over the weekend to check out their recent cover story on MySpace and the so-called “corporate takeover of online independent music,” and so we did. And now our brain hurts, as this is one of the worst pieces of speculative, ill-informed writing we can remember. Among its many crimes:

– Arguing (we think) that a band member who plugs his or her MySpace page has somehow signed a pact with the devil. – Positing the theory that Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of MySpace–which is hardly a secret–is somehow a “stealth” takeover that’s unwittingly duping the site’s users. – Making the claim that “MySpace has also made single releases and CDs practically irrelevant,” and then citing M.I.A.’s recent posting of her “XR2” track as an example. Whosit what irrelevant now? – Basing this absurd premise on interviews with a publicist for Friendster, the guy who runs FreeMySpace.com, and someone from Takka Takka. – Somehow tying the Dixie Chicks into this. – Actually printing the following sentence: “It then becomes clear that this beautifully independent music world is about as untouched as a Friday night hooker.”

The list goes on and on. We don’t usually harp on one story like this, but this is a stinker of otherworldly proportions. We know they give this rag away for free, but we still want our money back.

TheirSpace [NY Press]

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