Since its
conception in April, the MySpace Music joint venture has endured criticism from many independent labels and their supporters, who feel that the social network built its name on the backs of unsigned and independent musicians only to forge a deal with major labels that left indies without equity. Although the service
launched last month with The Orchard Enterprises Inc. [
ORCD] on board alongside the four majors, the question persisted whether indies would ever be properly represented in the joint venture.
Now, key digital distributor
IODA has
signed on as MySpace Music's newest distribution partner -- but apparently not an equity shareholder. IODA will supply the contents of its million-plus-song library to the service, representing more than 50,000 artists.
Merlin, an organization that represents numerous independents, is still negotiating with MySpace to obtain equity for its labels. IODA's Kevin Arnold
told me in April that Merlin would probably be "the best-positioned body" to negotiate equity stakes for indies on MySpace's service, with its importance increasing as indies capture a larger share of the online music market.
Details of the IODA/MySpace agreement remain fairly scant, although
this report suggests that it is "short- to medium-term," includes shared advertising revenues, and does not include equity.
UPDATE: A few sentences in this post were ambiguous as originally published, and I've edited them. To clarify, Merlin isn't a distributor, but rather a
negotiator of new media deals and legal settlements on behalf of many independents. I didn't mean to imply that Merlin's negotiations for equity in MySpace Music were somehow at odds with, or even directly comparable to, IODA's separate negotiations to distribute music on the service. (IODA's Kevin Arnold has a
board seat at Merlin as well.)
-- Paul BonanosFor more, see LA Times tech blog
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Paul - Good to meet you at the SanFran MusicTech Summit.
I read in PaidContent thatMySpacce Music is scrapping the equity play. Is there a distinction that could give IODA an equity position?