AUTHOR: Pamela Parker TITLE: I'm sure this is useful somehow DATE: 1/26/2007 11:05:00 AM ----- BODY:

MySpace is still a bit of a mystery to me. I continue to slowly stumble around and figure out what can be done with it. This morning I discovered something that I haven't seen talked about, although I'm sure there are people out there who know this. My musical specialty area is what I am increasingly calling "country that's not really country" because a consistent name for the genre seems to be quite elusive. Various terms include americana, alt-country, and roots rock - among others. This morning I was searching on myspace for profiles that enjoy that type of music. I searched all three terms and discovered an interesting bit of trivia. The term of choice in Texas and North Carolina seems to be americana. The term of choice in the rest of the south is alt-country. And roots rock is the term of choice outside the US and in Hawaii. Keep in mind these are probably statistically unreliable studies, but it was striking to me that the regional differences stood out so clearly. So if you work in a type of music that is not clearly categorized, keep in mind there may be regional differences in how people will recognize what you play - when you need to describe your music it is invaluable to reference similar artists as well as type of music.

-------- AUTHOR: Pamela Parker TITLE: I'm sure this is useful somehow DATE: 1/26/2007 11:05:00 AM ----- BODY:

MySpace is still a bit of a mystery to me. I continue to slowly stumble around and figure out what can be done with it. This morning I discovered something that I haven't seen talked about, although I'm sure there are people out there who know this. My musical specialty area is what I am increasingly calling "country that's not really country" because a consistent name for the genre seems to be quite elusive. Various terms include americana, alt-country, and roots rock - among others. This morning I was searching on myspace for profiles that enjoy that type of music. I searched all three terms and discovered an interesting bit of trivia. The term of choice in Texas and North Carolina seems to be americana. The term of choice in the rest of the south is alt-country. And roots rock is the term of choice outside the US and in Hawaii. Keep in mind these are probably statistically unreliable studies, but it was striking to me that the regional differences stood out so clearly. So if you work in a type of music that is not clearly categorized, keep in mind there may be regional differences in how people will recognize what you play - when you need to describe your music it is invaluable to reference similar artists as well as type of music.

----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ryan Michael Galloway DATE:5/27/2007 10:03:00 PM There are other terms: Texana, Red Dirt Music, and probably a billion others. Another challenge is the fact that many of us songwriters are very eclectic and may write in multiple genres. The indie approach allows that, but--just like the record companies--if you can't categorize it, it's hard for people to find it, and it's hard to sell it. ----- --------