MySpace has struck a deal with Universal Music, Sony BMG and Warner Music to create a joint venture for a Music Site. EMI is reported to be still in negotiations. The labels would take a minority stake at the spin-off of MySpace Music service.
TechCrunch was the first to disclose the deal, an provides some financial details:
“The new company will [...] get a cash infusion of $120 million or so from parent company News Corp, and distribute that $120 million to Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. In return, the litigation will be dropped and the labels will give streaming and downloading rights to their catalog to the new entity”
The New York Times gives some highlights on what the service will look like:
“Visitors to the site will be able to listen to free streaming music, paid for with advertising, and share customized playlists with their friends. They will also be able to download tracks to play on their mobile devices [...] in competition with similar services like Apple, Amazon and eMusic.
A subscription-based music component, where users pay a monthly amount for unlimited access to downloadable tracks, is also being considered [...]
[...] tickets, T-shirts, ring tones and other music merchandise will also be available.”
Labels seem to finally surrender to the new order created by Internet and mp3, even if it is as result of a litigation.
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