Universal, Sony and Warner already on-board
Apple's iTunes store may now be the biggest music retailer in the US, but it looks set to come up against another potentially tough opponent in the form of MySpace Music.
The world's largest social networking site has established a joint venture with three of the four leading music labels; Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.
The venture has resulted in the formation of MySpace Music, a new company based in Los Angeles, of which all three labels share minority stakes. Armed with millions of tracks and with more labels expected to be added, MySpace Music will offer DRM-free downloads, free music streaming, paid for videos and other related content such as concert tickets.
Chris De Wolfe, MySpace CEO and co-founder, 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."
MySpace states that the forthcoming MySpace Music service will offer its users a "360-degree global solution", suggesting that the thousands of artist profile pages already found on MySpace will be integrated into MySpace Music.
Apple's iTunes already faces stern competition with digital music stores currently available from big names such as Wal-Mart and Amazon. The addition of MySpace Music could open the market and, dare we say it, bring an end to iTunes' dominance.
Official website: music.myspace.com
