MySpace has long been an Internet concert hall, where bands went to market their wares to the Web, and that’s a big part of the reason why the Los Angeles-based site rose to fame in 2004. According to MySpace, 65 percent of its users already have streaming music on their profiles and six billion songs are played every month.
On the flip side, neither MySpace nor News Corp., has much experience in music retail; consider that Apple has zoomed past Wal-Mart to music retail’s top spot. Some critics have said that something like MySpace Music should have been in place on the site years ago.
But after reviewing the site with the help of Steve Pearman, MySpace’s senior vice president of product strategy, it’s clear the site has a few things going for it.
Among the many challenges the service faces is that it offers no hardware solution. Apple can provide everything a music listener needs–hardware and software. MySpace hasn’t attached itself to any popular music player, primarily because the iPod has such a huge market share. MySpace will sell songs, which will come from Amazon, in the MP3 format. This means they are not locked in digital rights management and will play on the iPod and most other devices.
MySpace Music will be the next biggest thing. It will be so convenient and easy for millions and millions of young MySpace addicts to buy and download music. They could also sell ringtones or anything else that young people like.
The downside is that many young people do not have credit cards so they need to design a way that these young people can pay for their music or other things. Maybe they can sell download gift cards that can be bought with cash to local stores like some download music companies have done.