New MySpace Music Launches

As of midnight this morning, Myspace Music is up and running. The new platform will stream the catalogues of Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and last minute addition EMI Music group, all of which are stakeholders in the venture as well. The four majors also bring their more indie-focused divisions with them: ADA (Warner), RED (Sony), Fontana (Universal) and Caroline (EMI). Currently the only other independent group licensed is the Orchard, though MySpace hopes to include more in the future. Though not partners, Orchard does receive a portion of the revenue generated by advertising.As of midnight this morning, Myspace Music is up and running. The new platform will stream the catalogues of Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and last minute addition EMI Music group, all of which are stakeholders in the venture as well. The four majors also bring their more indie-focused divisions with them: ADA (Warner), RED (Sony), Fontana (Universal) and Caroline (EMI). Currently the only other independent group licensed is the Orchard, though MySpace hopes to include more in the future. Though not partners, Orchard does receive a portion of the revenue generated by advertising. Providing that revenue are McDonald’s, Sony Pictures, State Farm, and Toyota, all of which will be pretty easy to find throughout the site.

For the user, new features include the ability to create an infinite number of playlists up to 100 songs each for personal listening and a playlist of up to 10 songs to stream on your profile. MySpace says in the future they will enable users to share more of their playlists with friends. Also new is the ability to purchase songs, by way of a handy dandy “Buy” button next to every song, which goes to Amazon’s MP3 store. Or if you’re hankering for a musical ringtone, MySpace can help you via sister company Jamster.

As for the millions of independent artists accounting for most of MySpace’s musical members, nothing much will change. The song limit is still six and they still can’t sell their music. For now, they can hope that the new playlist feature will lead some new fans to discover them, and, as MySpace says, “stay tuned for expanded opportunities for both signed and unsigned artists to participate in the new MySpace Music.” As of midnight this morning, Myspace Music is up and running. The new platform will stream the catalogues of Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and last minute addition EMI Music group, all of which are stakeholders in the venture as well. The four majors also bring their more indie-focused divisions with them: ADA (Warner), RED (Sony), Fontana (Universal) and Caroline (EMI). Currently the only other independent group licensed is the Orchard, though MySpace hopes to include more in the future. Though not partners, Orchard does receive a portion of the revenue generated by advertising. Providing that revenue are McDonald’s, Sony Pictures, State Farm, and Toyota, all of which will be pretty easy to find throughout the site.

For the user, new features include the ability to create an infinite number of playlists up to 100 songs each for personal listening and a playlist of up to 10 songs to stream on your profile. MySpace says in the future they will enable users to share more of their playlists with friends. Also new is the ability to purchase songs, by way of a handy dandy “Buy” button next to every song, which goes to Amazon’s MP3 store. Or if you’re hankering for a musical ringtone, MySpace can help you via sister company Jamster.

As for the millions of independent artists accounting for most of MySpace’s musical members, nothing much will change. The song limit is still six and they still can’t sell their music. For now, they can hope that the new playlist feature will lead some new fans to discover them, and, as MySpace says, “stay tuned for expanded opportunities for both signed and unsigned artists to participate in the new MySpace Music.”