I randomly found out that when MySpace Records launched in 2005 with Interscope, they were literally planning to use data from MySpace users to find artists to sign... which is kinda insane considering that's basically how labels scout TikTok/Spotify now..

They even had a real-time chart for unsigned artists that A&R people would check, and apparently MySpace employees could see rankings going down to like the top 1,000 artists. So instead of somebody going to a random club and "discovering" you, labels could basically just look at who was suddenly getting a bunch of attention online.

Obviously it wasn't an algorithm feeding everybody songs the way TikTok does now, but isn't this basically an early version of data-driven A&R? Like watching streams/followers/engagement suddenly spike and going "oh we need to sign them before somebody else does."

Edited August 28Aug 28 by chicbitch

Yes, this is also how recording acts started to fund their own projects independently on a larger scale using purevolume, myspace, etc.

Tila Tequila was highkey at the forefront of this AND created her own onlyfans type site before even signing on for her MTV show.