MySpace To Announce New Music Service

[Jitway]

News Corp. has announced the long-anticipated MySpace Music, a music portal that will let users stream and download music in addition to allowing them to buy concert tickets and merchandise. Three major music labels—Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner Music—have stakes in the venture, allowing them to yank some money out of MySpace's thriving music community, one that has long been known as a gathering place for bands, artists, and their fans online.

 

The three major music labels will represent both content owners and equity holders in MySpace Music, with the last of the Big Four (EMI) apparently sitting out this round. During a conference call this morning announcing the venture, MySpace refused to talk about why EMI was not included, saying that it was up to EMI to explain. MySpace COO Amit Kapur added, however, that MySpace Music won't just be limited to major labels—the companies plan to offer ways for independent and unsigned artists to participate as well.

 

Downloads through MySpace Music will be DRM-free; video content and streaming music will be ad-supported. The company said that users will be able to choose from the full catalog as streaming options and will be able to share playlists with one another. MySpace also plans to offer a mobile storefront and allow users to buy ringtones, and new features will continue to be added to MySpace Music over time. MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe said that the venture will provide "new revenue models for both MySpace and the music companies," although he declined to offer further financial details.

 

MySpace originally announced its intentions to get into the music business almost two years ago—so why did it take so long to launch? One reason was because of Universal's 2006 copyright infringement lawsuit against MySpace. The record label accused MySpace of complicity in its users' infringement by reformatting the videos for playback once they are uploaded; MySpace called the suit "meritless." MySpace did not acknowledge the lawsuit during its announcement or conference call, but it has been widely speculated that the lawsuit has been quietly settled.

 

Although it can be difficult for new music stores to break into the already crowded market, MySpace Music could give giants like iTunes and Amazon MP3 a run for their money. MySpace, still the leader in social network ing despite Facebook's recent popularity explosion, claims that it has 30 million users in the "music community" and 5 million bands. Unlike other music stores, MySpace offers users the ability to actually interact with many of the bands they're interested in (particularly smaller, independent artists). Combine that with direct integration of MySpace Music with the rest of MySpace, and the company has a strong start.

 

One major downside, however, is that MySpace Music is currently limited to US users only. The company said that it fully intends to roll the site out internationally over time, but licensing issues make the situation "complicated."

 

 

 

Even though the streaming will be ad supported I still look forward to it. The more companies that get into this the better it will become in time. They are offering free non DRM music right out of the gate which is good as well. They will also be selling merchandise from artists as well from what I hear.

 

 

Source HERE

[Lucandrake]

more steps for the music industry in going on the right track