MySpace Music: Details & Commentary
The new MySpace Music is up and running now. Here's a list of new features and who's on board.- The Orchard 1 million tracks along with indie labels distributed by major label owned ADA, RED. Caroline and Fontana are represented.
- But trade group Merlin and its indies representing 9% of US digital are holding out for an equity stake like the majors received.
- A new MySpace self-service ad platform presents an opportunity for music marketers but has serious limitations.
- Hypebot has learned that new tools aimed at indie and d.i.y. artists are in the planning stages.
COMMENTARY: MySpace Music is open for business and a new features represent a true step forward for the popular social networker. Ad-supported song streams, a new player, playlists, Amazon powered download sales and more offer exciting opportunities for labels and indie musicians.
But a quick tour of the site showed that one of MySpace's strengths - custom designed pages - continues to be a MySpace Music weakness...
Many pages present unique challenges when trying to find how to purchase, for example. Links to iTunes, label sales sites and other non-MySpace and Amazon purchase options still populated several major artist pages. MySpace promises upgrades, but other hurdles at launch include:
- Last minute deals with EMI and the Orchard and pending deals with other indies leave incomplete catalog that may frustrate users
- Playlists are locked on MySpace and can not be added to other blogs and networks
- Music recommendation is entirely friend based and lacks popular intuitive features
