MySpace music store launches today, lawsuit to follow?
If Tom and MySpace had their way, iTunes would cease to exist after today. But considering Apple’s online music outlet is just bathing in the money these days, MySpace and their newly launched music store will have to do it the old fashion way with some friendly, anti-trust style competition.
As of today, MySpace Music is officially live, offering music fans another online medium to listen to and purchase mp3s and albums. The site currently features material from five million artists and all four major labels (EMI Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group), meaning they’ll be plenty of choices to spruce up your MySpace profile with - if anyone actually still does that or fill up your iPod Zune.
The “first phase” of MySpace Music includes:
- The new, ‘MyMusic,’ personal music management toolset
- Free and unlimited ad-supported, full-length audio streaming
- Free and unlimited playlist functionality
- Free discography and content catalogues for SONY BMG, UMG and WMG artists
- DRM-free MP3 music e-commerce downloads powered by Amazon MP3
- Ringtone e-commerce powered by Jamster
Sounds all swell, right? After all, between this and the newly revealed Android, one would think Apple is currently shaking in its boots and any hour now, Steve Jobs and company will be forced to strike back with unlimited free downloads for 72 hours or something insane like that…
Well, not so fast, kids.
Even with all the launch and all the accompanying features, MySpace Music apparently isn’t in the “clear” just yet. In fact, the whole little project might not even be legal. As reported by The Register (via TMT), several of our favorite indie labels are a bit upset over the fact that they’re being restricted from participating in the new venture.
MySpace Music offers a service, using technology from Audible Magic, which allows indie labels to upload their own music. But scores of labels have reported they’ve been blocked from uploading their catalogs, even though they own the rights. A stumbling block appears to be the metadata database administered for MySpace by Audible Magic. If, as is commonplace, a major label owns territorial rights to a piece of indie music somewhere in the world, then the “ownership” is assumed to belong to the major label, not the independent. Which means that a US major pockets the royalty revenue for a British indie label.
Meaning…
But the broader concern is that MySpace Music is a party to which the independents haven’t been invited - an arrangement which strengthens the major labels’ dwindling control over music distribution in a digital era.
Because of this, MySpace reportedly controls “70 percent of the music industry on the site,” meaning - at least to the best I can understand - that Tom and all his friends could be violating some serious anti-trusts laws. However, even with the issue still unresolved, MySpace chose to go with the store’s launch today, either reflecting its confidence in its legality, or to serve as a “big F you” to anyone trying to hold them back.
We’ll let you come up with the conspiracy theories…
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