MySpace Gets Some Love From The Former Kings Of Grunge

l_76a38c042e884e4b812b9e652f0e1a0fAlright, I’ll admit upfront that I’m a little biased here. Pearl Jam was my favorite band growing up and retains a place in my heart. I like them so much, that they got me to visit the new social networking whipping boy, MySpace, today. Why? Because the band’s new single, “The Fixer” premiered exclusively on MySpace Music.

Now, I know Pearl Jam was one of the most popular bands on the planet during its heyday in the grunge-stricken 90s, but these days, they’re no match for the likes of Daughtry, and whatever else American Idol throws at us. So that’s why it’s fairly surprising to see that Pearl Jam’s new single has just about 100,000 plays in just a couple hours.

Pearl Jam, long a fighter against the establishment (see: the band’s testimony before Congress against Ticketmaster), went with MySpace Music to debut the single rather than iTunes or Amazon (where you’d have to pay to buy it) or other streaming sites like Imeem. Not sure why, but hey, it’s free and I’m back on MySpace listening to it.

If MySpace wants to slow its descent in the traffic race with Facebook, it seems like exclusive single releases like this are a solid way to go. Just tweet them out and watch the traffic roll in. Not sure that they’re making much money off it, but it’s pageviews and people on the site, clicking around.