Public event listings on Facebook have been used to influence politics and organize protests. But now events organized through Facebook–and their chaotic aftermath–may just lead to…a modeling contract?

Two weeks ago, British teen Georgina Hobday posted a Facebook event to announce her birthday party, one worthy of MTV’s reality series “My Super Sweet Sixteen” (where spoiled rich teens throw lavish themed tantrums to celebrate their coming-of-age, often with ponies and Range Rovers). She invited 100 guests online, but kept the event public. I would have immediately regretted that decision.

What ensued was over 400 gatecrashers stampeding Hobday’s family mansion in Brighton, U.K. A gang dubbing itself the “Facebook Republican Army,” which scours the Internet and Facebook for parties to crash, trampled the lawn, burnt carpets and smashed anything breakable in sight.

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Some political pollsters appear to be undercounting the support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama by not including people who have only wireless phones, Bernstein Research analysts Craig Moffett and Patricia Pan in a research piece today.

The Bernstein analysts note that according to a December 2007 survey conducted by the Center for Disease Control, about 16 percent of Americans now have only wireless phones, and no landlines. That group tends to skew young: The CDC found that a third of the population 18-29 years old have only wireless devices. The analysts note as well that “there is compelling evidence that younger voters”–those most likely to have only wireless phones–strongly favor Obama. They note a USA Today/MTV/Gallup poll that found 18-29 year old voters support Obama over Republican John McCain by 61 percent to 32 percent.

A Pew Research Center study on the topic of wireless bias, they add, found that the cellphone-only population preferred Obama over McCain by 55-36 percent.

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A decade and a half after releasing its previous album, Guns N’ Roses plans to put out a new song in September–on the video game Rock Band 2. MTV expects to announce on Monday that the sequel to its popular Rock Band game will include “Shackler’s Revenge,” a track from the Guns N’ Roses album that has been in the works for more than a decade, said people familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because the arrangement has yet to be announced.

The inclusion of the song on a game suggests that the Guns N’ Roses album “Chinese Democracy” will come out this fall, after years of delays. Axl Rose, who has selected replacements for the other original members, has said that the album is finished, but a release date has not been announced.

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Viacom’s MTV kicks off 2008 by announcing that it streamed 1.2 billion videos from its music-oriented Web sites last year, and that those Web sites attracted an average of 30 million uniques per month. Viacom has worked mightily in the last year to explain how committed it is to the Web, and frequently trumpets stats like these to make its case (other favorites: 300 Web sites, 90 million uniques across all of its sites, $500 million earmarked for video-game investment, etc.).

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What do I do now?

In 1991, I released my first record on MCA (or MCI, as my mom always mistakenly told her friends, hoping to impress them). I was bummed, as I had just missed the opportunity to have my face big on an album cover. But vinyl was over, and the CD format (with the long cardboard box–remember that?) was the wave of the future.

Since then, I have been dropped by two major labels and languished on two indies that both went bankrupt.

Well, no one in my world (the music industry) seems to really know what to do. That’s why I am asking you D geeks if you have any ideas.

Right now I have plenty of what I think are really swell songs. Here’s one:

None of my musician friends are mourning the demise of the record industry. Most of us got crummy deals anyway and never saw a penny of royalties. My nephews expect really expensive birthday gifts from me, as they think that I must be rolling in dough, having been on MTV a few times. I always acquiesce, not wanting to tell them the truth.

For us, in this YouTube, long-tail, Kara-and-Walt world, it’s an exciting time. But it’s also confusing. How do I release my next recordings? Do I still put out a CD in the traditional way, or just go digital? Do I send demos one last time to the remaining majors or go indie (this time with a company that lasts longer than a year) and get a, say, 50/50 deal? Do I just finance the whole thing myself–musicians, studio, marketing, publicist, radio, promo, video, etc.? And where do I get the money? How do I pay the rent? How do I support my gambling and morphine habits?

One thing I am doing is working with the guys at QiGO (who presented their invention, a key-shaped USB device that launches a predetermined Web site when connected to a computer, this year at D5). One of my strong points is my live performance (I have heard). I sell my CDs at the concerts, but people who are fans already have them. Plus, some feel that the recordings do not, and cannot have, the fun and spontaneity of a live show. Some artists drag a bunch of CD burners to tape their shows. People will stand in line for hours to get a copy of the concert they just saw. I had this idea with Dan Klitsner (co-founder of QiGO) that we could sell his little USB keys, people could go home and the next day they could download the show. We gave away keys at my last New York show, and everyone seemed to really like it. (We are still working out the kinks.)

Now to the question of how to finance a new album (I still like saying “album”). I once had this idea of asking my fans to chip in and become “stockholders,” sort of like investors in Broadway shows. So one fan could give maybe $100, and a wealthier one could give a grand or more. Once the record breaks even, they would get their money back and subsequently a cut of the profits–if any. And they would all feel part of the success of a smash-hit record–fun! My manager and lawyer were so not into it and discouraged me. They said it would be a nightmare on all fronts. I still do kind of like the idea. Plus, these days, to make a record does not cost as much as it once did. Everybody and everybody’s brother has Pro Tools or GarageBand in their computers. The big-time studios have had to cut down their rates substantially.

Thoughts? Ideas? Comments?

Help.

By the way, I don’t have a morphine or gambling problem…yet.