RUMOUR: MySpace Music to launch next week
Remember MySpace? For a long time now, they’ve been on life support. The crowds have deserted it for Facebook, and one of the big things keeping it afloat has been their music section. Bands can upload songs, photos, videos, tour dates, etc. It’s the perfect no-effort-needed minisite for unsigned bands to use, and a great way for music fans to sample a new band.
MySpace execs know this, and so they’re trying to leverage that to increase revenue to the social networking site. One of their big plans is a download store, much like the ones that everyone else has already launched. The difference with MySpace, and what might actually make their store work, is that they have a vast library of songs already uploaded by bands, and great relationships with the labels.
MySpace Music is rumoured to be a mainly ad-funded service, powered by Amazon’s MP3 store. As that’s not available in the UK yet, it’d be great if MySpace included Britain in their rollout, and it’s a big market for them, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. Universal, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner are already signed up, though negotiations are still ongoing with EMI and Merlin (who represent independent labels in the digital music arena).
The rumours state that the site will be launched on the 15th September, which is Monday, if my sundial’s right. My gut feeling says that until all the deals are in place, it’s unlikely that a new service would go live, so they’re either in the final stages of negotiations, or this rumour is a load of rubbish. I guess we’ll find out on Monday.
MySpace Music – in its current incarnation (via CMU Daily)
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