MySpace Plans iTunes ‘Killer’ April 04, 2008

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Hot on the heels of Amazon MP3, social networking site MySpace has announced plans to launch a music download service to rival iTunes.

Called MySpace Music, the service has the backing of Sony BMG, Warner Music and Universal which will act as partners in the venture. It will offer DRM-free downloads, paid for videos, free music streaming and a host of music-related activities like tickets sales and music merchandise.

EMI is the only big music publisher not in on the deal but MySpace CEO and co-founder, Chris De Wolfe, thinks that it’s only a matter of time. Talking about the new service, De Wolfe said:

“Today represents the beginning of a new chapter in the story of modern music—we’re proud to announce the marriage of the world’s biggest collection of music content to the world’s most popular music community. Millions of die hard music fans and artists already call MySpace Music home—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 realised.”

Will it dent iTunes dominance? It won’t be the first to try but it’s starting with a better start than most with 110 million users worldwide and 30 million of those already listening to music on the site. There’s also around 5 million music acts using the site to promote themselves.

MySpace Music will be rolled out in stages over the coming months.-Martin Lynch

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