JupiterResearch analyst David Card on the MySpace vs. Facebook debate. In terms of music, it's not much of a race.

As of this minute, Coldplay has 392,819 friends on MySpace and 43,156 fans on Facebook. MySpace's Coldplay page has four songs on it; Facebook's one. MySpace's are embeddable on your page; Facebook's are not, yet. MySpace supports for-pay downloads (they're priced absurdly high, but that's not MySpace's fault); Facebook does not.

One main reason I visit so many bands' MySpace pages is because it always turns up at or near the top of a Google search. For Coldplay, the band's MySpace page is the third result in a Google search (after the band's own page and its Wikipedia page). The band's Facebook page isn't on the first five pages of search results.

A few weeks ago I wanted to see a band's -- any band's -- Facebook page, so I looked at that of Death Cab For Cutie. Today it has 21,104 fans. I like that it has fan photos, but there's not much else there. Very bland. Death Cab's MySpace page has 511,840 friends, tour dates and a stream of the band's new single (that plays as soon as the page is loaded). And tons of other stuff. The various pictures and banners make up a pretty ugly collage, but it's very effective.

Any time I read about a new band, I go first to its MySpace page. Everything I want is right there: The band's hometown, streams of its songs, upcoming tour dates and what, if any, label it's on. I don't have a MySpace page. I do have a Facebook page, but I don't want to befriend bands (I'm friends with about two or three) and have their mail clog my inbox and their messages fill my feed.

Want to know if you should show up for the opening band? Listen to some songs at its MySpace page. Need to look up some tour dates? Go to the band's MySpace page. There are no annoying flash intros, no additional clicks needed to get what you want to go. Easy is good.