MySpace Music Takes on iTunes

MySpace Music can be reached through MySpace's home page, or in windows embedded in individual artist's pages. Searching for songs from the main site — and then dragging them onto iTunes-like playlists on the left side of the page — is fairly easy, and the playlists hold up to 100 songs each.

"It's not groundbreaking," says Jeremy Welt, vice president of new media at Warner Bros. Records, "but in new media today, it's the functional execution stuff that's the most important." A certain amount of standard MySpace chaos still ensues, though. On Neil Young's page, a seemingly random assortment of albums appear: Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere shows up, but Harvest and Rust Never Sleeps don't. ("You'll see everything soon," promises a MySpace spokesman.)

As much as the labels hope MySpace Music will help recoup diminished sales, the site is also a way to help MySpace recoup some of its diminished status. Although MySpace boasts 70 million monthly users, that is down 10 million from a year ago, as buzz has shifted to Facebook and sites such as iLike and imeem. "They have to go to their advertisers and sponsors and figure out a way to give them a more exciting offering," says RCA's Corson.

Not everyone is on board yet. Major digital holdouts such as the Beatles, AC/DC and Kid Rock haven't changed their position. And the focus on securing major-label rights (and the conglomerates' partnership in the venture) has also left indie labels wary. At press time, top indies such as Merge and the Beggars Group said they had not been contacted by MySpace. As a result, fans won't be able to stream or buy music from the likes of Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire or New Pornographers. "It's disappointing given how important independent music was for MySpace," says Simon Wheeler, who handles digital rights for the Beggars Group. "I have to question the priorities there." (A MySpace rep says the company is offering "equal opportunities" to indie labels.)

Yet the launch reveals how much everyone in the music business is willing to bend in order to eke out a profit. "We've seen sites like this before, and the technology and the presentation aren't completely novel," says Jim Guerinot, manager of Nine Inch Nails and Gwen Stefani. "But presenting it to a large user base makes it interesting. I look forward to seeing it when it's a bit more fleshed out."

[From Issue 1063 — October 16, 2008]

Related Stories:

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• MySpace Music Launches After EMI Signs On
• MySpace Music Already Facing Anti-Trust Allegations