MySpace has just announced a high-profile move into the digital music retailing space, to compete head-on with Apple’s iTunes. It’s called MySpace Music, and is a joint venture with major labels Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. They’re describing it as a “fully integrated 360 degree global music solution”. Whatever that is.No, I’ll tell you what it is. It goes beyond MySpace’s existing music features - streaming tracks on bands’ profiles - and is basically a platform for artists and labels to sell music and other content on the MySpace Music site, on band profiles, and through regular MySpace users’ profiles too. It includes DRM-free song downloads (so they’ll work on your phone), but also a mobile storefront run by Jamba, which like MySpace is owned by News Corporation.
In short: you’ll be able to buy full-tracks, ringtones and wallpapers from your favourite bands’ MySpace profiles, as well as non-mobile products like t-shirts and gig tickets. It’s all rolling out over the next few months, and since it’s global, it’ll work for us Brits too. It’s a big deal for MySpace and the music industry, although in truth, for us music fans it’s just a (theoretically) easier way to get all this stuff from one place.
Hey, I wonder whether MySpace Music will be available on phones too? MySpace has a mobile site, after all…
