After much anticipation and hype (a good deal coming from myself), MySpace Music has finally launched. They’ve got a few more friends on board as well. Besides the aforementioned Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner Bros, EMI and Sony ATV have joined the site now too.
Yeah, they got the majors, but what about the indies? Well, Bruce at Hypebot reports that they’ve made some strides on that front as well:
The new MySpace Music includes independent music thanks to a deal with The Orchard and its million track catalog as well as tracks from labels distributed by the indie arms of all four major label groups: ADA (WMG), RED (SonyBMG), Fontana (Universal) and Caroline (EMI).
Notably missing is repertoire from Koch, Beggars Group, Domino and other members of the Merlin trade group whose members command 9% of the US digital recorded music market.. IODA, inGrooves and CD Baby labels are also not part of the launch.
This is just the beginning though. More deals are likely to be reached, especially once these outsiders see what a great promotional tool the service turns out to be. Features available with the MySpace Music launch include:
– The new MyMusic personal music management toolset
– Free and unlimited ad-supported, full-length audio streaming
– Free and unlimited playlist functionality
– Free discography and content catalogues for SONY BMG, UMG and WMG artists
– DRM-free MP3 music e-commerce downloads powered by Amazon MP3
– Ringtone e-commerce powered by Jamster
For a better idea of what you can do with MySpace music, I talked about it here. Adam Ostrow at Mashable makes a good point about why it’s all about the “activity stream.”
“Why this is so important and potentially ground-breaking is that rather than simply broadcasting the fact your friend listened to or liked a certain song, MySpace will actually let you play the full track, right there on your homepage.” There’s no question that it’s a convenient feature.
Advertisers on board include McDonald’s, Toyota, Sony Pictures, and State Farm, but don’t forget, MySpace just launched a new self-serve ad program too. As far as I know, there is still no CEO for MySpace Music, although a while back, the list was narrowed down to some finalists.
