Dear Bands: Please Stop Hosting Your Music on Myspace

I completely agree with this recent tweet by @Neo_Noir_Tumblr:

Bands, please stop hosting your music on myspace music. The music player consistently does not work. Here’s a hint: http://bandcamp.com

Let’s be honest: Myspace has always been pretty crappy. But for a long time, it was the only way to easily post your music online. However, those days are long gone now. Thanks to the rise of sites like SoundCloud and the aforementioned Bandcamp, it’s easier than ever to post music online, and to do so in a manner that doesn’t hurt listeners’ eyes.

What’s more, Bandcamp et al. don’t give listeners a lackluster listening experience, something at which the Myspace player excels. Not only does Myspace’s player stop in the middle of songs to display an ad — which is particularly annoying if you have Myspace open in a minimized/hidden window — but it begins playing 30-second snippets instead of full-length songs should a user choose not to log into Myspace when prompted to do so (for whatever reason). Compared to the simple, straightforward interfaces offered by Bandcamp and SoundCloud, Myspace’s player come off as tacky and more concerned with driving traffic and ad revenue than, you know, playing music.

So please, please, please… for the sake of people who really do want to listen to your music online, stop using Myspace.