Indpendent record lables are not very happy with the state of MySpace Music currently, despite the fact that it has not even launched yet. The Register is reporting that indie lables are being blocked from uploading their music, which seems strange considering that MySpace has always been a haven for Independent artists.
“MySpace Music offers a service, using technology from Audible Magic, which allows indie labels to upload their own music. But scores of labels have reported they’ve been blocked from uploading their catalogs, even though they own the rights. A stumbling block appears to be the metadata database administered for MySpace by Audible Magic. If, as is commonplace, a major label owns territorial rights to a piece of indie music somewhere in the world, then the 
‘ownership’ is assumed to belong to the major label, not the independent. Which means that a US major pockets the royalty revenue for a British indie label.“
It is unclear just which labels have made complaints about the service and how widespread the problem is among indies. It would be interesting to see what major labels control rights to what indie properties in what parts of the world, but this was not elaborated on.
This could be another setback that has kept the site from launching, though it is still due out before the end of the month (the advertisers are ready to go). Other possible reasons include the lack of a CEO and a holdout from major label EMI. It’s starting to feel more like MySpace shouldn’t have promised a September launch, as the days of the month continue to dwindle down.
The issue brings to light antitrust issues that were inevitably going to surface at some point anyway. It might as well be before the launch. As far as I know, there has been no legal action of any kind at this point, but it is very doubtful that that will remain the case for very long. If MySpace can’t reach a deal with EMI, the label might want a piece of the action as well.
