News Corp.'s social networking site, MySpace, has partnered with the three top music labels to form MySpace Music, which is intended to boost music sales and compete better against Apple's dominant iTunes.
The new merger will result in a joint venture between MySpace, Sony BMG Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.
The smallest of the four leading record labels, EMI, is in talks with MySpace according to an EMI spokeswoman.
MySpace Music is slated to debut later this month. The financial provisions of the merger were not released, though the record companies will provide their content for free and present members with access to a comprehensive library of music.
Users will be able to create online playlists and share music through their pages. To transfer music for personal listening, listeners will have to purchase songs through Amazon.com, the second largest digital music outlet. The merger will perhaps allow Amazon to compete with iTunes.
With the ability to stream audio and video content, MySpace Music will bridge the gap between artists and fans - something other music sites don't do.
"I think it's a good idea for MySpace users," said sophomore chemistry major Peter Claver. "Whenever I want to hear a new song [on MySpace], it's always a demo. So if they're trying to revamp it and get an in-depth music collection, that's great. If you upgrade a site, it's always a good look."
MySpace now has over 120 million users around the globe, dominating the social networking world primarily with its music.
"Millions of die hard music fans and artists already call MySpace Music home," Chris DeWolfe, CEO and Co-Founder of MySpace, stated in a press release.
"By partnering with these industry leaders, our vision for MySpace Music as the definitive platform for unlimited artistic expression and unrestricted user experience is finally being realized."
With more than 5 million artist pages, MySpace has already become a catalyst for propelling new music forward, including that of independent labels and unsigned artists. But in the past, it has failed to submit monetary support for the dying record industry, and, prior to the merger, engaged in legal conflicts with labels.
MySpace Music will be supported by ad revenue, with McDonald's, State Farm, Toyota and Sony Pictures among the first to sponsor the site.
CD sales have declined 10 to 20 percent annually since the introduction of digital music and overwhelming numbers of downloads.
Apple's extensive digital catalog has garnered an approximate 85 percent of the market share for music downloads, according to estimates this year by Gene Munster, senior research analyst at Piper Jaffrey.
Although Amazon is runner up to Apple, it would only count for 5 percent of the market in sales, Munster said.
"Competition's always good; it makes companies strive to be the best," sophomore marketing major Vance Lewis said. "I'm not sure if it'll bring enough money, though. It won't be significant enough to help the record industry or take away from iTunes' market share. People are still going to download music [illegally]."
Be the first to comment on this article!