MySpace Music deal attracts big labels

Rupert Murdoch is at it again—this time with his sights set on online music distribution. According to Reuters, MySpace's recent parent company News Corp met with Sony BMG, Vivendi Universal, EMI and Warner Music Group to discuss licensing for what will become MySpace Music. This new commercial component will offer free advert-supported streaming and a digital music store. News Corp also floated a subscription music service as an additional feature.

Initial plans include a music player that can be embedded on other sites like the videos on YouTube. News Corp is not sure yet if MySpace will run the digital music store itself or use a Facebook-like application to partner with Amazon.com (who has been aggressively courting the companies for a digital music store).

After CD sales dropped, the "Big Four" record labels struggled to make strides in the digital music market. Their battles against copyright infringement in the late '90s and early '00s led to the industries' sole reliance on the Apple Store for online distribution, which caused iTunes to dominate the market up until now.

Related links:
MySpace.com
Facebook.com
NewsCorp.com

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