The
grapevine suggests that MySpace Music is preparing to name MTV Networks Inc. digital music exec
Courtney Holt as its new CEO, an announcement that could come as early as today. MySpace chief executive Chris DeWolfe is appearing at the Web 2.0 conference on a
panel, along with Warner Music Group Corp. [
WMG] chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman and moderator John Battelle of
Federated Media Inc.Later this evening, MySpace is throwing a launch party at the Old Mint in San Francisco. If there's no announcement beforehand, it wouldn't be the first time MySpace Music
conducted a launch event
without a leader -- but we suspect something's up today. I've heard that Holt is "perfect for this job," according to one source. Perhaps, although fronting the joint venture will be no easy task. It's a highly political gig that will require pleasing many masters, including stakeholding label heads, MySpace's own management and News Corp. [
NWS] ownership.
In April, MySpace
announced its venture with the major music labels -- originally just three, but now all four.
Introduced in late September, the new site offers free streaming content from the full digital catalogs of the major labels and
some indies, with personalized playlisting functionality and a DRM-free store. It poses fierce
competition for a variety of startups as well as Apple Inc.'s [
AAPL] iTunes, although it's not yet clear how popular the ad-heavy site will be with consumers.
I'll be attending both the conference and the launch party, and will post an update if MySpace makes any announcements. Meantime, I'll try to raise the roof and have some
fun -- Lionel Richie's playing at the party.
-- Paul BonanosSee
Aug. 11 and
Oct. 27 posts about MySpace Music's CEO search from Tech Confidential
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