MySpace Marketing Makeover With Pearl Jam Takeover?

Pearl Jam has taken over MySpace Music today, debuting the band’s latest album Backspacer. This isn’t really anything new–plenty of bands have run similar promotions on the MySpace Music homepage in order to raise awareness for new releases. But given the changes that have been taking place at MySpace headquarters for the past few months, the Pearl Jam promo reminds us that the company has a need and desire to stick to its core competencies. You know, things like music.

Pearl Jam’s promo was a tiered strategy towards releasing Backspacer, with a single released on MySpace prior to today, and a documentary that was also played on the social network. There is also a deal Pearl Jam has with Target for the album release, along with some iTunes marketing as Backspacer will be among the first albums to be available in the new iTunes LP format.

MySpace isn’t the only social network that is being used for major music releases. Facebook is another major online social network that has attracted artists, music companies and advertisers for the purpose of reaching out to listeners and consumers.

Some would wonder at a brand’s decision to choose Facebook for certain exclusive releases or marketing deals. It has a lot to do with the communication options that can be integrated with a particular marketing campaign. How well can the message be conveyed to the users, and how can those convert into sales?

Looking at the complete campaign Pearl Jam ran on MySpace, including the homepage-takeover and the pre-release documentary, it’s clear that MySpace is hoping to ensure its platform as the best choice for integrated marketing campaigns. This is where the innovation goals of MySpace’s revamped ideals could come into play and revive the dying monolith.