MySpace Music To Launch Thursday
September 24, 2008, 16 years ago
According to Antony Bruno from Billboard.biz, MySpace will flip the switch on its long-anticipated MySpace Music service on Thursday, completely revamping every element of the music section of the social network and bringing several elements of the music industry to the table with the launch.
In order to win favorable licensing terms from the major labels, MySpace created a joint venture to oversee the music initiative, which is partially owned by the four major record labels. While Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, and Warner Music Group were known participants for some time now, EMI Music Group joined the joint venture as a stakeholder at the 11th hour, on the eve of the service's launch.
And while a slight bit of controversy bubbled around the lack of independent labels or digital aggregators involved in the joint venture, MySpace also unveiled licensing deals with not only the Orchard, but also such independent distribution groups as ADA, Red, Fontana and Caroline.