September 18, 2008
Major labels to offer free music streaming
Just a few years ago, a Web site giving away virtually every notable song ever recorded would have had music business executives speed-dialing their lawyers. But in the next two weeks, a battered music industry, facing slumping CD sales and a bleak future, will help to introduce just such a service. The IHT reports.
"The new site, MySpace Music, is the product of a joint venture of MySpace and the three biggest music companies: Warner Music Group, Sony BMG and Universal Music Group. The venture plans to make money from selling advertising on the site and from selling digital downloads of music through a partnership with Amazon.com
... Music companies hope the service, which weaves music through the increasingly popular world of online social networking, will weaken Apple's dominant grip on the digital music business while helping to recoup revenue lost in the past few years as CD sales have suffered annual declines of 10 percent to 20 percent."
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