The
MySpace Music joint venture intends to go live tomorrow with a new Web site that will give users free access to a massive catalog of songs from all four major labels as well as independents. The last holdout, EMI Group plc, has agreed to be part of the service, and has received equity in the joint venture alongside Warner Music Group Corp. [
WMG], Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group, and
MySpace Inc. itself, a division of News Corp. [
NWS] Independent content will be supplied by key distributor The Orchard Enterprises Inc. [
ORCD], and Sony/ATV Music Publishing has also agreed to be part of the venture.
I've witnessed a demo of the new
service, which permits anyone with a MySpace profile to create playlists that allow streaming of any song digitally available in any major-label catalog or among the Orchard's indie partners, according to MySpace senior vice president of product strategy Steve Pearman. Artist pages and individual user pages are closely integrated, so that a user who visits a band's Web site can add the artist's songs to his or her own page. That user's pop-out music player is "tethered to the cloud, not to your machine," according to Pearman, meaning that those unique playlists are accessible anywhere with an Internet connection. Playlists can be up to 100 songs long, but users can have as many playlists as they want; users can also highlight ten "top songs" on their profiles. What's more, a given user can receive updates from both their friends' music pages and from their favorite artists' MySpace sites.
The site will be largely ad-supported, although it won't contain audio advertising, Pearman said. He declined to discuss the cost of display advertising, although one report today indicates that MySpace is
planning to raise its rates significantly. Initial sponsors include McDonald's Corp. [
MCD], Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., State Farm Insurance Co., and Toyota Motor Corp. [
TM]. A screenshot of the ad-heavy player is below.
In addition, users will have the opportunity to buy DRM-free songs from MySpace's storefront, which will run on Amazon.com Inc.'s back end, and require the installation of the Amazon downloader software application. MySpace also expects to sell ringtones, merchandise and concert tickets in the future.
I asked whether MySpace Music will include a mobile component, conceivably allowing anyone with an iPhone or similar device to enjoy streaming music anywhere and anytime. Pearman said that while mobile streaming isn't happening just yet, he said "everything's on the table" and that "you'll see us do more" in the future. Asked whether that could include a paid version, Pearman said the company has no plans to institute any paid model.
Watch this space for more news regarding MySpace Music. An official statement is expected soon, and the site ought to go live overnight.
-- Paul Bonanos
For more see
TechCrunch,
ReadWriteWeb and
Coolfer
Continue reading below
