WebProNews

When searching for information about an artist online the first three results users see are the artist's official Web site, Wikipedia entry and MySpace page.

Wikipedia Logo
(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

Most artists focus on their official Web site and their MySpace profile while paying little attention to Wikipedia. According to data from Yahoo provided to Billboard, Wikipedia is the second most popular place to search for artist information after Google. Users search an artists Wikipedia entry by more than 2-to-1 over their MySpace page.

"The interest that people had to go to MySpace to find out more about their favorite band is waning in favor of going to Wikipedia," Yahoo head of programming and label relations John Lenac told Reuters. "In the last six months, it's surpassed it."

MySpace says it has 3 million artist profiles, while Wikipedia estimates that it has "tens of thousands," according to Wikipedia Foundation head of communications Jay Walsh. The problem that remains is most managers and artists are unaware of Wikipedia and its resources.

"There's been many people I've talked to that didn't even know they could upload a Wikipedia page," Lenac says. "There's been some managers that didn't even know what it was."

Wikipedia remains attractive to searchers because it lacks the hype of artists MySpace profiles.  "It's so clear, so concise, and it's standardized. That's something I think is a draw over MySpace, where you never quite know the experience you're going to get," said Jason Feinberg, owner/president of On Target Media Group, a Web promotions consultancy. 

"It's not promotional. Especially these days when the Internet is full of artists trying to essentially ram their message down your throat, I think a fan is a lot more receptive to a simple, no-hype approach."