The night before he is scheduled to play at a South Carolina college, singer/songwriter Jesse Free is sending messages to people he’s never met before.

Through MySpace.com, the social networking site that boasts more than 70 million members, Free posts messages about his concert to Converse College students’ profiles.

The site, which college students and young people across the country use to post pictures and intimate details about themselves, has quickly become a home for many up-and-coming musicians such as Free. Madonna, Fall Out Boy and other established artists also have profiles.

Musicians say the free site allows them to promote their music, find gigs and, most importantly, interact with their fans. Messages like “Ur music rocks!!” and “loved the show” can be found proudly posted on the musicians’ profiles.

Free joined the site in November 2004 and has scored gigs in bars up and down the East Coast, including Santa Fe Cafe in College Park. Without MySpace.com, “I’d probably be nowhere,” he says.

Waking Ashland, a California-based piano-influenced rock band, also joined the site in 2004 was one of 17 bands contacted to put together the album MySpace Records, Vol.1, released last year. This was MySpace’s first album release and was open only to bands registered with the site. Artists who contributed include Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy and The All-American Rejects.

Waking Ashland has four songs, the maximum allowed, posted on their profile (www.myspace.com/wakingashland). As of press time, their songs have been played more than 901,492 times since 2004.

The band’s lead vocalist/keyboardist Jonathan Jones says having a profile and getting on MySpace Records, Vol.1, definitely helped the band sell more records and gain a larger fan base.

Jones says several years ago MySpace profiles were a luxury.

“It’s not a luxury anymore. It’s a necessity,” he says.

On its profile, Waking Ashland posts a lengthy list of about 28 nationwide gigs through the beginning of July, including a performance at Sonar in Baltimore this Friday. Its profile even features links to where people can buy tickets to their shows.

However, some musicians caution relying on MySpace alone is a mistake.

Jones says when Waking Ashland released its first album, the band members put a lot of work into performing and passing out CDs at malls or anywhere they could find people willing to give their music a chance.

Soul’d Out, a funk band composed of university students that will open at this year’s Art Attack, has been toying with the idea of joining MySpace for more than a year, says lead singer Nick Hitchens.

He and other band members were talking last week about some new songs they recorded; the band thought putting them online would be a great way to get them out for fans to hear.

Hitchens remembers saying: “What is wrong with us? This is so stupid. We should have a MySpace account.”

Being a part of the MySpace world is not just a boost for the musicians but also helpful for booking agents. Agents say MySpace.com provides them with details about a band or musician they may not have found otherwise.

Stinson Ferguson, chairwoman of Converse College’s student activities committee, checked Free’s profile before deciding to contact him about playing at the school. Converse College is a women’s Christian school, and Ferguson says they look for artists who fit the school’s morals.

“We’re not going to have any rap artists or heavy metal people coming anytime soon,” Ferguson says. “It’s pretty conservative.”

When Ferguson heard about Free, she searched MySpace site, found his profile, listened to his music and decided he would be a hit among the students.

MySpace has been a window of opportunity for Free. After listening to his song “Troubles Ahead,” a small record label decided to put him on an album featuring a collection of other well-known artists such as Dishwalla.

And the fan base keeps growing. Several months after joining MySpace, Free began noticing fresh faces at his shows.

“I saw a bunch of people who I didn’t know and I said, ‘Oh God,'” Free says. “I realized it worked.”

Contact reporter Jared A. Favole at jared.favole@gmail.com.