Bad news for Apple’s iTunes! Rumor has it that social networking giant MySpace is courting major record companies to develop an ad-supported music service which enable its users to listen to music free of charge.
According to FT, people familiar with this deal confirmed the talks with Universal Music, Sony BMG, Warner Music and EMI. Whether the negotiations are just preliminary or already in the advanced stage remain a big mystery.
Under the agreement, MySpace users can stream music for free. As for the record companies, it will give them massive exposure to millions of users and provide easier way to discover music.
A possible deal breaker here is the ongoing copyright lawsuit between MySpace and Universal Music. According to some rumors, a possible settlement is in the works.
Other online stores such as Wal-Mart and Amazon.com are already offering this free music service. If this plan will push thru, MySpace will compete with other Web 2.0 sites like Spiral Frog, LastFM, Qtrax and Imeem in developing ad-supported service. Then again, it has an unfair advantage given its massive subscriber base and strong association with music.
Originally posted on February 20, 2008 @ 9:32 am
Lets be clear about one thing… these companies are not offering free music. They’re offering free on-demand radio. There’s a big distinction.
First – There are already niche players like last.fm and Pandora, but music streamed from a website is not very compelling if I can’t take it with me, or play it throughout my home.
Second – MySpace can’t even sell it’s existing ad inventory. They have trillions of ad impressions, and no ability to monetize them. It’s doubtful they’ll be able to use their current ad model to support even more services – especially one with such high overhead as free Music.
Read the excellent analysis of MySpace’s ad-supported music fiasco at http://www.BroodingSavage.com.