"Social Network" is so 2005. MySpace Cofounders Chris DeWolfe (left) and Tom Anderson are calling their site a "social portal". | photo by Jill Greenberg
Chief operations officer Amit Kapur came aboard MySpace three years ago as the "first business-development guy." | photo by Jill Greenberg
After the off-site, DeWolfe put in a call to famed record producer Jimmy Iovine of Interscope to bat around ideas. Back in 2005, MySpace had partnered with Iovine to launch its own label, MySpace Records, which was set up to identify and recruit unsigned acts using the site. Iovine's unexpected but inspired suggestion: Call Doug Morris. "If you want to get into the business, you have to get Doug," says Iovine. The CEO of music label Universal, Morris was a most unlikely ally at the time -- his company had a nasty copyright-infringement lawsuit pending against MySpace. But Morris also had another thorn in his side: Steve Jobs. Just a few months earlier, Morris had convinced two other major music labels, Warner and Sony, to try an end run around iTunes by launching their own subscription service. That effort had foundered, in part because of serious rumblings of antitrust concerns. As an outsider, DeWolfe had an opportunity to broker an agreement without triggering legal problems. The day after talking to Iovine, he got on a plane and flew to New York to meet Morris.
Morris listened. And over the ensuing months, DeWolfe and his team managed to bring Warner and Sony back into the mix, in a joint venture called MySpace Music. (Along the way, MySpace settled the Universal suit, coughing up a rumored $100 million.) On the face of things, the venture -- which was slated to launch in September but at press time had yet to name a CEO -- will offer the major labels their best hope for a significant competitor to Apple's iTunes store. DeWolfe is quick to say that isn't the point. "We didn't set out to annoy Steve Jobs or compete with him," he insists. "This was not conceived as an iTunes killer." Anderson points out that iTunes itself isn't much of a moneymaker, anyway: Apple is really a hardware company, not a media company, he says, even if iTunes does control about three-quarters of the digital download market. And Jobs has burned a lot of bridges with the labels, especially over his reluctance to embrace variable pricing -- charging more for newer or more popular music. MySpace may not want to kill iTunes -- it says its music site will actually boost iPod sales -- but the labels wouldn't cry if it happened.
Although technically a separate company, MySpace Music is very much DeWolfe's baby, and its CEO will report to a board that reports to him and Anderson. The new site promises to let people listen to and share streaming songs from a full catalog of music for free, as MySpacers do now with video -- but also create playlists and buy ringtones, merchandise, and concert tickets. And of course, buy music. The majority of MySpace Music's tracks will be offered without digital-rights management, which will allow them to play on an unlimited number of devices, including the iPod. And expect variable pricing. The idea is to create an environment where people will buy more music rather than steal it.
Bits and pieces of MySpace's music model can be found in other places -- such as iMeem, Pandora, iLike, Last.fm, Live Nation, and, yes, even Facebook. But once you factor in MySpace's distinctive mix of entertainment content and social-networking power, the proposition gets more interesting. As Michael Nash, EVP of digital strategy and business development for Warner Music, puts it, "Unlocking the social value in the context of an online community is one of our most important priorities." Nash, who is on the board of the new venture, worked with MySpace in its pre-Murdoch days, developing promotions with acts including REM. "About 20% to 30% of total traffic on MySpace is music traffic," he says. "We saw that lightning in a bottle, the social interaction around music and fans."
For Nash, the MySpace deal may be just the thing to save the music industry from destruction, at least for a while. "The traditional music model has really already sort of expired," he admits. "We were seeing tremendous value in our content, but not a lot of revenue being developed." The dream: As users begin to organize music they like into streaming playlists that can be shared with friends (and that other users can vote up, Digg-style, or subscribe to), the computer becomes a community-generated radio. Supported by advertising. And with the already existing MySpace swirl around celebrities and events, the industry envisions hordes of fans flocking to concerts, which are much easier to profit from. "We needed a completely different business model to unlock that value," Nash says. He admires DeWolfe and the MySpace team for uniting competitors into a venture benefiting all. Rupert's bags of cash didn't hurt, either: "That News Corp., a major media company with deep industry knowledge, has been there to monetize all of this really deepened our commitment."
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Recent Comments | 25 Total
August 25, 2008 at 9:18pm by voter2008
Hello,
A friend of mine has created a very interesting video. It has inspired me vote in the upcoming election, and if you aren't already going to, I am sure it will for you too.
You can find the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4kg514DcTA
I would love to hear what you think about it after you watch it. Thank you for your time.
August 27, 2008 at 10:23am by Heather Mansfield
August 27, 2008 at 10:49am by Heather Mansfield
Hi,
I have built a business using MySpace to help nonprofit organizations... and I love the chaos, the freedom, the ability to get on there and market an idea, a cause, etc.
I run:
http://www.myspace.com/nonprofitorganizations
The nicest, most generous people on there.
I like Facebook for different reasons... to connect with people I know.
I have given countless webinars and presentations all over the country about how nonprofits can use MySpace and Facebook. I've never once heard a MySpacer slam a Facebooker... they're just chill.
Facebookers on the other hand, I can't believe the way they talk about MySpacers. Even the nonprofit folks. I find it so frustrating. I hate the MySpace vs. Facebook thing. The sites couldn't more different in purpose, yet there is this inclination to choose one or the other... use both! MySpace just gets ripped in the press too (a bunch of Facebookers, I am sure... journalists and press in their 30-40's that can't handle MySpace, and find the neat, clean, linear whiteness of Facebook much more in their comfort zone... Mashable is the worst.).
I like the diversity on MySpace... the democracy of it... Facebook has rules, rules, rules and more rules... there's very little diversity in class or race. People need to talk about this more.
Facebook does very little for social good, and MySpace has Impact, Impact Awards, A Place for Impact... and they get no press for it.
Also, what no one is saying in the media... the rush of traffic in recent months is the nonprofits, businesses, bands, etc. promoting fan pages... they are sending out millions of emails saying "Hey, visit our new Facebook fan page!".
Anyway, some people use MySpace, some people use Facebook, some people use both for different reasons. There is space on the Web for both!
Glad to see you wrote a story about them!
August 27, 2008 at 11:29am by Rene Paige
September 6, 2008 at 12:54pm by Johannes Bhakdi
MySpace & Co have never taken their users seriously - meaning: their ability to generate high quality content. As long as they do not focus on the (monetary) value of their content, they will never realize their monetary potential.
Sell your content on Klatcher
October 10, 2008 at 4:13pm by Justanother Usefulcomment
Myspace is cool, has its pro's and con's along with everything else which is man made. However Tom's Statement in regards to iTunes and Apple not being a "media" company... Tom what are you thinking, are you blind? Apple makes great hardware which supports media, some of the best A/V application for creating and rendering graphix, to DJ'ing and Vj'ing and sample recording, are power by Apple MAC OS X... WTF are you talking about Tom... A side from not being able to partake in business with business men, you should stay away from being interviewed... because you are just plain DUBM!
October 10, 2008 at 4:13pm by Justanother Usefulcomment
Myspace is cool, has its pro's and con's along with everything else which is man made. However Tom's Statement in regards to iTunes and Apple not being a "media" company... Tom what are you thinking, are you blind? Apple makes great hardware which supports media, some of the best A/V application for creating and rendering graphix, to DJ'ing and Vj'ing and sample recording, are power by Apple MAC OS X... WTF are you talking about Tom... A side from not being able to partake in business with business men, you should stay away from being interviewed... because you are just plain DUBM!
November 15, 2008 at 3:13am by Eugene Osei
I think it just depeds on what your online to actually do.I would recommend facebook myself but I use myspace more
September 4, 2009 at 12:05pm by T Sweets
I'm sure they didn't know myspace would have skyrocketed like the way it did.
Locksmiths
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