MySpace Music Will Offer Free Downloads

By: John Lester
Staff Writer
Published: Sep 15, 2008

MySpace Music signs a joint venture with three major music labels. The deal consists of four major sponsors which include McDonalds, Sony Pictures, Toyota and State Farm. The sponsors will pay for the streaming costs to offer free music and downloads.

News Corp announced on Sunday that its social networking site has signed a joint venture with three major music labels. MySpace Music also signed a deal with four sponsors that will pay for free streaming music and downloads.

The four sponsors are McDonalds, Sony Pictures, Toyota and State Farm.

MySpace Music will offer a range of services powered by the new sponsors. Some features include a mix of free music downloads and song play lists. Some features will even include services for personal music and media players. Other services will offer videos, ticketing and merchandising.

"With MySpace Music integration, premium brands are offering our users and their customers new ways to discover, experience, and share music online and offline," said Jeff Berman, president of sales and marketing at MySpace.

The online social networking site first announced plans to form a joint venture in April. At the time, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group were named as partners.

According to comScore, MySpace recently beat Yahoo in numbers of display ad views. News Corp sees music as an important part of its strategy to drive revenues from displaying ads.