If you were trying to make a career in music, would you participate in a popularity contest that forced you to stop using your own personal Facebook, Twitter and MySpace accounts? Seems a bit defeating, doesn’t it?

Evidently, this season’s round of American Idol contestants have been forced to give up their use of social media, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The WSJ reports:

As of roughly 6 p.m. ET on March 3, all Twitter, Facebook and MySpace followers of individual “American Idol” contestants were sent the same message: “Thanks so much for following me/joining my Fan Page! All my updates from now on will be on our Official American Idol 9 Contestant Page, please become a fan there to read all my updates throughout the season!”

The show’s producers have also created consolidated Twitter, Facebook and MySpace accounts.

I’m not sure what American Idol thinks its going to accomplish by trying to control all conversation. Hoard traffic? Stifle unsanctioned campaigns? Keep contestants from tweeting from behind the scenes? It’s almost as if the producers are frightened of how social media could disrupt their model.

Well, if any of this year’s contestants do become hot, rest assured the fans will start their own campaigns. In fact, if that doesn’t happen, then Fox will have real reason to worry. In the meantime, the fact that Fox is shutting down massive channels of free and even somewhat controlled marketing is baffling.

Benefits of becoming President Obama’s official social networks manager: (1) you’ll have over 3 million followers on Twitter, 7.5 million fans on Facebook and just under 2 million MySpace friends; (2) when people converse with the President, they’ll actually be conversing with you; (3) you can officially call yourself the “Commander-in-Tweet.”

That Barack Obama’s agenda promoters at Organization for America are looking to hire a new social networks manager is no joke, however. After all, mobilizing millions through use of social media was the secret behind Obama’s ability to raise record amounts of money during his presidential campaign.

The job listing lays out a tall order, calling for someone to manage the Democratic Party’s and Organizing for America’s accounts on all social networks.

The candidate must “craft messages that move people to act” and knows “what actions will achieve the right impact at the right time.”

As Gawker notes, the previous person to hold the job was a young woman named Mia Cambronero, who announced via a listserv email that though she enjoyed her time at the job, she would be resigning from her “infamous role as ‘Barack Obama’s twitterer.” Why that word, infamous?

And why doesn’t the President do his own tweeting? The Wall Street Journal notes that Obama has said he’s “too clumsy” for Twitter.

All in all, it’s the portrait of a nation — or, rather, a government — still struggling to figure out what this social media stuff is all about.

Though Facebook has enjoyed dominance over MySpace in terms of traffic and number of users for over a year now, there’s one area in which MySpace still reigns supreme: music.

On Facebook, thanks to applications such as iLike and Last.fm, it’s possible to add songs to your profile, or, if you’re a musician, to your band’s fan page (though not many lower-level bands seem to know how to do this). And users typically share music by posting links to songs on other sites (especially in the form of YouTube videos) in their Facebook status updates.

But while millions of former everyday MySpacers have migrated to Facebook for their networking kicks, MySpace Music is still the go-to place for people to connect with bands big and small, allowing it to remain a true listening destination. While big graphics and sound may be unwelcome when it comes to bouncing around on your friends’ pages, flashy presentation is still an asset for artists. And, most important of all, as far as the industry is concerned, numbers of MySpace plays are still relevant as ever in determining a band’s popularity.

Take Kid Cudi. The refreshing and innovative, major-label-signed hip-hop artist from Cleveland has both a Facebook Fan Page (with a non-jibberish URL, no less!) and, of course, a MySpace page. Which page would you go to first to hear a Cudi cut? After scanning his page on Facebook for an indefinite period of time, your eyes may land on his Music tab, leading you to his five featured iLike songs. His nearly 80 million total plays on MySpace, however, show where the listening is done.

So what does that silent giant Facebook do? Earlier this week, it announced that it will be adding MP3s (courtesy of Lala, natch) to its gift store. Does anyone still give gifts? Too little. But it’s not too late.

Until Facebook allows bands to have integrated, immediate, embedded players on their sites — instead of relying on meager, bell-and-whistle players from outside music-streaming sites — MySpace will likely retain its musical advantage.

Or are we way off? What would you prescribe to Facebook to boost its music profile?