Well, everyone seems to require a Myspace post at the moment.
Anyway, it does seem as if things are moving up a gear. Amateur hour for disgruntled teenagers may be on the verge of turning into something much more akin to a fully fledged mass, broadcast media.
An example: the new Morrissey album streaming in full, two weeks before launch.
Mainstream advertisers and agencies still seem unsure about this brave new world tho. But I think that's because most are viewing sites such as Myspace as advertising mediums: places for their ads to appear...which may be next to something a touch dubious...so we won't bother.
Instead tho, maybe we should be viewing this as a completely different model. This isn't about a new advertising medium, it's about you being in complete control of your environment and your message. Think branded content living up to all the hype, and you start to get the picture. You are freed from the old-fashioned, dinosaur-like media owners who have to be 'persuaded' (read paid) to take your content, and empowered to truly do your own thing.
In this new community-based world of Web 2.0, the brand is both the content provider and media owner.
Possibly scary for those with vested interested in old media models. And maybe some way off reaching critical mass. But this IS the future.
