February 20, 2008
MySpace in talks on music downloads
MySpace, the world’s largest social networking site, is gearing up to partner with the major record companies to create an advertising-supported service that would allow consumers to listen to music for free on their computers. The FT reports.
"... Assuming the venture takes flight, News Corp would join Amazon.com, Wal-Mart and a group of other competitors who are trying to challenge Apple’s dominance of online music through its iTunes store.
Unlike iTunes, the MySpace service would be built around online advertising. Consumers would be permitted to stream songs for free, according to people familiar with the matter, while MySpace would then sell ads based on the traffic.
The service would probably also include a means for consumers to click on a link and pay to download songs. "
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/ringtonia/archives/2008/02/019136.htm