The majority of musicians/bands have whole tracks playing, Irene.

The whole point of Myspace, for musicians that is, is that it is a shop window. It is a window which millions of people may well pass by, at some time or another. If the window is not well lit, then people won't see what you are selling.

And then, of course, there are the 'franchise' windows, spread the length and breadth of the entire world, not just your local High Street. In the franchise windows there are opportunities galore for even more millions to pass by, or stumble upon accidentally. These windows ARE very brightly lit and they display the wares in their entirity, rather than keeping them low lit and covered in soft blankets.

What seems so very odd to me is that Show of Hands have ALWAYS encouraged people to share their music, copy their CDs, pass them around, pass the songs around, yet when it comes to their Myspace page, they do the exact opposite.

The tracks did start off full length, when first they went into Myspace, but when Billy Bragg highlighted the dangers of the Myspace contracts, they put the snipettysnappety bits on. Billy went on to change the way Myspace works, thus ensuring the safety of the artist's songs...Show of Hands stayed behind, and didn't put their full tracks back...

The tiny snippets that are on there now give no sense of the music, in fact, they're more than a bit irritating, to be honest, in my opinion..

But, there ya go....

Who am I to understand how Myspace works, huh? I mean, I've only had countless people come to me saying "Thanks for playing that wonderful track of ??????, Lizzie! I bought the CD!"

Still, it's up to Show of Hands *new* fans to point this out to them, not to me...

I've had The Duncan McFarlane Band on my page today playing 'Lord Franklin' (That reminds me...WHY weren't Duncan and his Band amongst the Folk Award Winners, let alone the Nominees???)

AND, of course, when you put someone's music on to play, it shows up on the pages of ALL your 'friends', which is another way of bringing in yet another window for your wares....

I think someone should write to Steve and Phil and point out that there new fans are pretty slow on the uptake about their songs, their music, their myspace page, their missed opportunities, their........etc..etc..etc......

;0)