The media recently gave a small local band the power to stand up to one of the nation’s biggest broadcast companies.
MySpace.com gave the FOX television show “Bones” rights to local indie rock band Bones’ MySpace page without warning the band that its page was being given away.
FOX bought MySpace for $580 million in 2005, making it easy for the multi-million dollar site to overlook a small-time local band trying to make it big. But the band fought back by issuing a press release. The PR stunt gained an immediate response from MySpace. MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson sent an e-mail to the group, saying the decision had been a bad one and one that had escaped his notice because MySpace had grown so large. The band gained access to the URL once again. But the reassigned URL hurt the band because the switch occurred during the same month its new album was released. It could have been an even bigger problem if the return had not been made, as the band had already printed its MySpace URL on its merchandise. Bones prevailed because it used a tool made to watch over acts of big corporations – the media. It is invigorating to see a local band utilizing the power of the press to call attention to a classless move by MySpace. FOX had the power to give away a custom MySpace page because it was a hassle to promote anything other than a simple URL with one of its television show’s names. What else does it have the power to do? The company could go so far as to edit content on users’ profiles if it is deemed unappealing or is detrimental to its image. As Facebook.com and MySpace are bought by major companies, free speech is being restricted to further those corporations. Bones, however, gave us an example of how to keep the Internet a free and open forum.
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