CAUGHT IN THEIR WEB FOR MICKEY AVALON AND JEFFREE STAR, FAME BEGINS WITH ROCKING MYSPACE PAGES.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

Jeffree Star dresses better than many girls, spends as much time on his makeup as Gwen Stefani and is more popular among some local teens than Elton John.

The model, makeup artist, rapper and self-proclaimed ``Queen of the Beautiful'' has one of the most-added pages on MySpace -- his profile has been viewed and music listened to about 10 million times in the past year alone. He's being flown around the country for one-nighters at trendy clubs and is about to go on tour with electro-punk phenom Peaches.

Yet few past drinking age have heard of him, proving that even as record companies and movie studios are busy scouring the Internet for the next David Bowie and Napoleon Dynamite, increasing numbers of kids are way ahead, creating their own Web stars in a frenzy of text-messaging and sound files.

YouTube and MySpace -- among the most popular Web sites on the planet -- are minting pop stars, including local rockers Star and Mickey Avalon and singer/cover girl Tila Tequila -- as fast as the old record business is rusting and falling apart.

Who needs a major label when you've got a pretty face and cyberspace?

``I've used the Internet since I was in high school -- it was my tool for self-promotion,'' said Star, who says he's 20 and was raised in Orange County. ``While older people were still passing out fliers for their shows, I was setting up e-mail lists. Pretty soon, I was getting recognized and asked for autographs more than bands that were supposedly more well-known than me.''

Star, who hasn't had a hit album, is one of many colorful personalities thriving below the radar of the old guard, carving out a career through appearances and travel.

Hard-living Avalon is another. The Hollywood glam-rapper, who has been building a loyal following around the country for years, just hit a pop culture milestone -- his debut album was the very first release on MySpace Records (the disc was instantly snapped up by industry giant Interscope).

Avalon's lyrics, dealing with a life on the fringes of Hollywood, combined with his anything-goes stage act, reminds some observers of '70s-era Bowie. One major difference is that Avalon didn't have to be marketed by a conglomerate.

``We were always about playing shows, but when MySpace started, we couldn't ignore the possibilities,'' Avalon said. ``Then when we put the music on the site, we started getting hits from all these different places. We didn't try and create some kind of fake celebrity -- we used it to expose our music and let people know where they could see us. A lot of these so-called Internet superstars are getting flown all over the country just to show up at a club and get wasted for one night. We're out there playing.''

Some say that while social networking sites like MySpace can expose an artist to a huge potential audience within minutes, the jury is out on whether cyber-fame can equal a healthy bottom line.

Actually, some industry insiders say major-label distribution and marketing muscle is still an essential component for a successful music career.

Good vs. bad

``When the floodgates have opened, people still have to separate the good from the bad,'' said Keith Berman, radio editor at the trade weekly Radio & Records, who examined the MySpace phenomenon in the current issue. ``I know that radio stations are looking at MySpace to find artists, and if it's good and fits the format, they'll play it. It hinges on the music and the distribution. It's great that people can put up songs on MySpace for others to listen to, but you need an album people can buy, or an iTunes download.''

A strong Web presence, adds Michael Laskow, CEO of Taxi.com, the world's leading independent talent-spotting company, is ``one more arrow in your quiver.''

And so far, there's been scant evidence that millions of page hits can lead to money in the bank or longevity.

``It hasn't supplanted the marketing that the major labels do,'' Laskow said. ``The combination of building a fan base online and marketing the product through a major label might be a great combination. While the old model is clearly broken, the new model doesn't seem to be screaming that it works better -- or even as well.''

For their part, Avalon (who headlines New Year's Eve at the Roxy in West Hollywood) and Star have developed a strong fan base of teens apparently tired of being force-fed the latest studio creation.

``Most of my fans are really young, and they feel like they've discovered me,'' Star says. ``If you click on MTV, it's the same 10 bands and the same 10 songs and it gets so old. Kids are looking for something besides what they get on the radio.''

Star says self-promotion is a full-time job. To keep the clicks coming on a daily -- sometimes hourly -- basis, the most successful Internet superstars update their sites constantly. ``You can't ever stop,'' Star says.

Tila Tequila

Star and Avalon's millions of Web hits are impressive and have led to busy touring schedules and various offers, but nothing comes close to Tila Tequila's story. The Vietnamese singer (and her string bikinis) have sparked more than 30 million views, and some say she's the most successful personality ever to surface from MySpace's broadly defined unsigned-artists category.

These days, Tequila, who appeared on the covers of Maxim and Stuff wearing hardly more than a couple of Post-it notes, reportedly has a clothing line, a cell-phone endorsement contract and is far too busy to return a reporter's calls.

But she did make news on the Hollywood gossip sites over the weekend when she tried to stop by a Hollywood hot spot, dropping actor Jared Leto's name as her boyfriend in the process. TMZ.com reported that the model-singer wasn't on the list for the after-show party for Leto's band, 30 Seconds to Mars.

Finally, Leto got the Web star (who will be featured this weekend in a segment on E! Entertainment Television) in the door as the paparazzi pounced.

That was nothing compared to Tequila's last big newsmaking event. A few weeks ago, she announced her decision to attempt at least six months of self-imposed celibacy, promising monthly updates.

More than 20,000 MySpace users immediately weighed in on the announcement.

The question remains how many of them have heard -- or would be willing to hear -- a note of her music.

Fred Shuster, [phone]

[e-mail]

MICKEY AVALON

Where: Roxy, 9009 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood.

When: 9 p.m. Dec. 31.

Tickets: $31. [phone]; www.mickeyavalon.com.

JEFFREE STAR

Where: Avalon, 1735 N. Vine St., Hollywood.

When: 9 p.m. Dec. 13 and 14.

Tickets: $23.50. [phone]; www.myspace.com/jeffreestar.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) WHO NEEDS A RECORD LABEL!

Musicians are hitting it big with spots on MySpace, YouTube

(2) Rocker Mickey Avalon built his loyal following using the Web, and his debut album was the very first release on MySpace Records.

(3) Jeffree Star says the key to getting and keeping fans on MySpace is constant site updates.