MySpace mulling own online music service

[AppleInsider]

MySpace is looking to distinguish itself from encroaching competitors such as Facebook by launching an online music service that would offer both streaming and iPod-compatible downloads, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The News Corp.-owned social networking super-site, which maintains over 300 million user accounts, has held talks with all four of the major record labels in recent weeks, the financial paper said.

The service, tentatively dubbed MySpace Music, would reportedly offer both a free ad-supported streaming music model and paid MP3 downloads, which could be played on any digital music player, including Apple's iPod.

In its report, the Journal speculates that MySpace's recent partnership with online video service Hulu, a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp.'s Fox unit, could serve as an example of how the networking site would implement a music service.

However, the paper notes that Universal Music and MySpace are locked in a copyright-infringement lawsuit that would most likely need to be settled before any agreement could be reached on a new service.

[wbrasington]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

MySpace is looking to distinguish itself from encroaching competitors such as Facebook by launching an online music service that would offer both streaming and iPod-compatible downloads, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The News Corp.-owned social networking super-site, which maintains over 300 million user accounts, has held talks with all four of the major record labels in recent weeks, the financial paper said.

The service, tentatively dubbed MySpace Music, would reportedly offer both a free ad-supported streaming music model and paid MP3 downloads, which could be played on any digital music player, including Apple's iPod.

In its report, the Journal speculates that MySpace's recent partnership with online video service Hulu, a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp.'s Fox unit, could serve as an example of how the networking site would implement a music service.

However, the paper notes that Universal Music and MySpace are locked in a copyright-infringement lawsuit that would most likely need to be settled before any agreement could be reached on a new service.

Thanks for the repost of what's in the jounal.
Now get us some NEW information please.....

[deanbar]

Originally Posted by wbrasington

Thanks for the repost of what's in the jounal.
Now get us some NEW information please.....

Well not everyone buys or reads the Journal!!!! Thanks AI, still interesting to know.

[kresh]

Originally Posted by wbrasington

Thanks for the repost of what's in the jounal.
Now get us some NEW information please.....

I on the other hand thank you AI.

I had not heard this yet and I appreciate you bringing it to my attention through one RSS feed that covers almost all my Mac and related interests without having to check in 40 different places.

[aresee]

Forget Universal, this would be great for independents. Many small bands and musicians already use MySpace to communicate with their fans. It would be great if they could also sell their music at the same time.

[initiator]

Another music service? Is that what we really need? I don't think so.

Non-issue. Nothing to see here. Move along.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by wbrasington

Thanks for the repost of what's in the jounal.
Now get us some NEW information please.....

And thank you for quoting the entire article that is now directly above your post twice.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by initiator

Another music service? Is that what we really need? I don't think so.

Non-issue. Nothing to see here. Move along.

I really don't see what your issue is. Most of the music on MySpace so far isn't even necessarily stuff that's on other services anyway. If they add big labels, that would dilute the character of what's there but more competition is usually good.

[ravelgrane]

True, music download sites are many, but if they do it in a unique way, like the audio version of Youtube, it could be interesting. Offer local artists a way to market themselves, build a community, open a small paypal-like store front, etc. I'm not a big fan of MySpace though. I think it's always been a pretty low-quality, crappy service compared to others like Facebook.

[4metta]

I would not bother with anything Myspace does that would require more interaction with my mac than browsing their pages. They simply ignore coding for macs in everything they do. The instant messenger and blog editor has never worked on macs and they have been "working on it" since forever. I'm not giving a company that ignores my computing preferences any money.

[winterspan]

Originally Posted by ravelgrane

True, music download sites are many, but if they do it in a unique way, like the audio version of Youtube, it could be interesting. Offer local artists a way to market themselves, build a community, open a small paypal-like store front, etc. I'm not a big fan of MySpace though. I think it's always been a pretty low-quality, crappy service compared to others like Facebook.

I agree, I've always though it would be a great idea for the smaller independent artists since Myspace has become the defacto outlet for those people...

On another note, Myspace kicked arse when it first started and was a MUCH smaller group and mostly young adults in and around LA and the Bay Area. I ended up meeting a bunch of people, mostly friends of friends, when I lived in LA from that site.
I agree, unfortunately, that as it has grown it has completely lost it's initial character and has turned into a nightmare of emo 13 yr olds, slutty chicks, and blingin' wannabe rappers. I honestly didn't know that CSS and Javascript could be so abused on one page...