MySpace has just debuted MySpace Music and the reviews are generally good so far. But whatever users think of the style and songs of MySpace Music, there's a deeper point here that Jordan McCollum touches on when she writes "they just might have revolutionized music online..." The fact is, MySpace is trying a new business model - one that is going to make the world better for both consumers and artists. PaidContent hits the nail on the head.
MySpace Music says it wants to make finding and listening to music as easy and flexible as piracy, which is a pretty good bar to set.This, as A VC notes, is "progress".
In an interesting post, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington suggests this is the business model that will work...
...MySpace has done something incredible at a big picture level: they've created both a compelling music experience for users as well as a realistic, long term business model for labels and artists in a world where recorded music moves towards free.Is Michael Arrington right? Maybe. But Arts+Labs wasn't created to pick the winning business model. That's not our role. We believe that consumers and artists can be the best judge of that. Arts+Labs simply wants to ensure that new business models are allowed to flourish, giving consumers a variety of quality, safe content and artists the opportunity to earn fair compensation for their work.
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The Future Of Recorded Music Is Free, And MySpace Just Took Another Step In That Direction
Just a year and a half ago it wasn't clear if the music industry would ever give up on DRM. People were calling me crazy for saying that the price of music must inevitably tend towards free because anyone can copy any song for free.
But today the labels have all but given up on DRM, and users can now play virtually any song ever recorded on demand for free. MySpace has created the first ecosystem that has a shot of producing sustainable revenue streams for artists based on advertising, merchandise and concert sales.
If it works, the next step is the fall of per-stream fees and download fees. Instead labels will see music consumption for what it really is - free marketing. Labels will compete to encourage song downloads and streams to move those songs up the charts, attracting premium advertisers, merchandise sales and sold out concerts.
MySpace Music is a valuable new choice for both consumers and artists, and we applaud that.
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