and the smallest major label, EMI. This partnership would create MySpace Music (see right), which would allow users to stream music for free in an ad-supported environment. Although the exact details of this partnership have not been disclosed, some in the music industry do wonder if the revenue generated by ads would be enough to warrant such a partnership were music is in fact given to the end user for no actual cost. MySpace Music also created a partnership with Amazon to offer users the ability to purchase songs directly from within MySpace Music, without ever having to leave the site. The files offered by Amazon (see left below) would be DRM-free and therefore be able to be used across any portable media player. I personally believe that users will not purchase any music from their store because of the fact that they can always listen to music for free online. MySpace Music is not pleasing the music industry as whole, the Indie Labels have felt betrayed by this new partnership with the major labels. Indie labels are accusing MySpace Music of not only leaving them out of this new service, but also going as far as not allowing them to upload original music which they own the copyrights to. I believe that MySpace Music is committing a big mistake by "kicking to the curb" all the independent labels and musicians which helped to create what 
MySpace is today. Independent labels and musicians do not have the resources as the major labels do, so they depend on word of mouth promotion and social sites such as MySpace to generate their fan base. Not only are the independent musicians being affected, but also the users because not everyone wants to hear generic mainstream pop music; and if only mainstream music is provided then users might feel the need to go elsewhere to listen to their music which in return would be a big hit to MySpace. I found two blogs that dealt with this topic, one being TechCrunch which has been featured on various news programs such as CBS, their blog entry entitled "MySpace Music Puts The Industry On The Right Track," and the other techdirt which specializes in analyzing different industries, their blog entry entitled "Independent Record Labels Missing From MySpace Music." In addition to posting my comments directly on these blogs, I have also posted my comments below.MySpace Music Puts The Industry On The Right Track
Comment:
Hello Michael,
Thank you for such an informative blog post. I really appreciate the fact that you not only shared your personal experience with the new MySpace Music service abut also mentioned how this service is a good business model for the music industry. You mentioned, "That 40% may be worth as much as $800 million already, on paper at least," where is this value coming? I was also wondering what your view was on the reports that Indie Acts were being left out of this deal and more importantly, were no longer being allowed to upload their music to MySpace. I understand the fact that MySpace is a new medium, which everyone wants to use because of the huge number of users that it has, but do you think that traditional advertisement by the record labels will ever stop? Will artists solely depend on their MySpace page or will there continue to be posters and other advertisement or their new music? You mentioned that all music should be free because anyone can copy a song, but what about the people that still want to physically own their music or for those who want to purchase legal downloads; would these users really be interested in being restricted to only being able to listen to music online on services such as MySpace Music? If the new way to go for music distribution is free, do you believe that record companies will just altogether stop manufacturing actual hard copies and solely distribute on ad-supported services, and if this is the case would they be willing to keep partnerships with Apple and other paid services, when they can just make a bigger profit with ad-supported services and not actually have to give any products to the end-user. If this is the case the music industry will be able to generate more revenue, solely by eliminating the costs that come along with manufacturing, distributing, and promoting physical copies of CD's. Seeing them from the artist's perspective, I do not know whether they would be happy to put in so much hard work into their productions when in fact they would not be able to see their final products in brick and mortar stores. I think that there is some nostalgia that comes along with seeing your final product in stores and therefore musicians would push to keep that distribution channel open. I believe that only time will tell how the music industry overcomes the downfalls that the digital age has brought, and we will just have to see and wait how users will react to MySpace Music.
Independent Record Labels Missing From MySpace Music
Comment:
Thank you for such a concise article about the treatment of Indie Record labels by the new MySpace Music service. I agree with you completely that Indie Artist contributed a lot to the growth and popularization MySpace. MySpace used to be a portal for hundreds if not thousands of Indie Artists who wanted to expose themselves to the masses in order to create new fans, generate buzz, and sell their music. Many musicians did come out of their Indie phase and were shot into the mainstream music industry because of their MySpace pages. One example I can think of is OneRepublic, which had a MySpace artist page, which caught the attention of Timbaland. Now with the new rules that have been put into place, it seems like new Indie Artist cannot create or upload their music which means a lot of artists will not have the opportunity to be exposed to producers and fans, therefore cutting their chances of making it big in the music industry. I know a lot of MySpace users liked the fact that they were able to find new and unsigned bands, because they were able to offer music which was "real" and not part of mainstream. I was wondering if you believed this new music service was going to cause have any negative ramifications for MySpace, such as fans and users leaving their social website and going to another one or Indie Artists coming together and openly endorsing another social website such as Facebook. You mentioned in your post that after posting your article you received a call from MySpace insisting that your story was not true and that they were in fact still allowing the same freedom of their service to Indie Labels. I was wondering why MySpace keeps insisting that this reports of them not allowing Indie Record Labels to be on their service to be untrue, when a lot of independent and prominent news sources are reporting the same facts. Do you believe that the huge amount of interest in this topic has caused MySpace to rethink their agreement with the major music labels and to allow Indie Labels back on their service? Maybe the major labels are afraid of the competition and want to monopolize that service but I do believe that in the coming days if not weeks, Indie labels will again be a huge part of MySpace Music.
1 comment:
You are obviously very knowledgeable about the posts you investigated. I would say that you should definitely attempt first hand anything that you claim as being possible/impossible, specifically in regards to the ability to upload music, especially because you have two differing opinions, it would be a good idea to give a definitive answer. I really enjoyed the fact that you challenged a lot of the facts and assumptions that were being used as data; I believe that on of the few very negative drawbacks to the blogosphere is the unregulated blurring of facts, opinions, and inferences. You should perhaps also offer your own conclusions from the data available. The fact that you are in Los Angeles, at USC, you must make the best use of all your music industry resources in order to have this blog ascend from its current very good level, to becoming a benchmark by which all other blogs should aspire.
On the second post, I would have like to see something from the indie POV. Indie artists all have their own story to tell and I would assume that there are various articles on the web pertaining to this case. I would also recommend commenting on other music services. In correlation, and this is biased as I have first hand experience, but I am curious that I haven’t heard anything of SnoCap Records or CDBaby, two cites that directly cater to independent musicians. Particularly SnoCap, which still indicates their home page “Powering MySpace Music and Beyond”
Generally, as you are so informed on the subject, I would have liked to hear some more detailed scenarios from your perspective. The two posts you chose demonstratively did very similar things; take facts and infer what will come of it. They are obviously presenting only one idea based on their opinions/experiences. Since you have your own ideas, I would like to see you expanding on some of these facts.
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