MySpace signs a record deal for music lovers

USA TODAY, April, 2008 by Mike Snider

MySpace is out to create a celestial jukebox.

The social network heavyweight announced deals Thursday with Sony/BMG, Universal and Warner music companies -- three of the four majors -- to transform its current music offerings into a full-fledged jukebox of streaming and downloadable music.

Labels plan to offer artists' entire catalogs for free listening and for-pay downloads, as well as streaming videos. "All of our repertoire is going to be part of this venture, but I think you will see different types of programs (for artists)," says Warner's Michael Nash.

Top social networking site MySpace, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., has 110 million users, 30million of whom use its music features. Musicians and bands such as the Foo Fighters and Wilco now have songs that can be listened to on their MySpace pages.

This new joint venture with the music companies, officially called MySpace Music, will ...