MySpace today launched its music service to British members, as the company attempts to compete with Facebook and other social networking or music services in international markets.
Helping MySpace with its service is Warner Music Group, EMI Music, Universal Music and Sony Music, along with some smaller, independent record labels. The Independent labels are extremely popular in the UK, so I'm happy to see MySpace Music launch with support from indie companies.
"The independent sector is so strong here in the UK," a source told the Guardian. "I think MySpace realized that they needed to have them on board. Don't jump to the conclusion that we do. There are many ways you can structure a deal to make it valuable."
Record companies have been forced to integrate new technologies into their distribution models, with CD sales still declining as digital music downloads continue to increase in popularity.
MySpace members will have free access to the site, but tracks will be available for sale through Apple iTunes.
I applaud MySpace for branching out and taking its service overseas, but there are still a few problems that News Corp must take into consideration. For example, MySpace Music is popular -- and remains a successful business for News Corp -- but offering tracks for sale through iTunes may hurt overall sales.
Furthermore, News Corp has been blamed in the past of being too intrusive with its service in the United States -- that cannot happen in other markets, especially with so many online music services available.
The Guardian article linked above also has a brief review of the new site, so I recommend UK citizens to take a look.
