MySpace sticking to its roots 

Source: ONE NewsMan working on laptop

MySpace might be close to domination of the online music industry through its latest corporate dealings, but the website says it's sticking to its grassroots values.

MySpace launched its latest initiative - MySpace Music - in New Zealand on Wednesday with a free showcase in Auckland of local bands.

Its recent partnership with giant record labels EMI Music, Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, gives fans access through MySpace Music to the vast majority of mainstream songs ever created.

A swag of songs from independent bands through digital music aggregators The Orchard and IODA are also included.

It means all bands and songs signed to those labels can be accessed for free on MySpace, and large playlists can be built and shared by users through MySpace and other social networking sites.

Another partnership with iTunes means the songs can be downloaded for portable use - at a cost - through iTunes.

Australasia is the first territory outside the United States to have access to the new initiative , and ways to make money for bands who have profiles on the site were being developed, MySpace business development manager for Australasia Nick Love said.

"We aren't there yet, but the goal is to create a revenue path for every artist in the world, and we'll have some announcements in the near future on how that will happen," he said.

MySpace makes its money through advertising and has brought integrated sponsors on board for MySpace Music. It can "clip the ticket" through the iTunes downloads.

But Love talked about creating initiatives such as bands sell ing merchandise and tickets to gigs through their MySpace pages.

Bands not under the MySpace Music umbrella could have only a limited number of songs on the site currently. However, they would still have access to the products they had always had and new applications were constantly being developed.

"We've worked closely with the indie sector from the beginning. One of key drivers of building the site in the first place was to create a set of tools for unsigned, independent bands to have a website," Love said.

"So we have to build products that all those bands can use...also, there are consumers who like music that is predominantly major label, and there are people who like music that's new and emerging and comes from the independent and unsigned sector."

MySpace hoped to roll out the ability for every band in the world to be able to participate in its platform, irrespective of size, he said.