I Knew There Was Something I Liked About...

It appears that yet another online site is ready to strap on the gloves and take on iTunes. I know what you're thinking, "MySpace?" Yep, MySpace vs. iTunes...and honestly, I think MySpace has a chance. Have I lost my mind? Perhaps, but that has nothing to do with my last comment. Unlike many of the other online music sites, such as Napster and Rhapsody, MySpace has the right idea.
MySpace, who has partnered with Snocap in its latest venture, will allow independent artists to sell songs directly from their profiles for 79 cents a song. The way I understand it, by independent artists, they mean artists who are not on a label. This is the only area that could create some trouble for MySpace, seeing as how computers have allowed bands to record and release albums on their own indie labels. We'll have to wait and see how they handle that situation.
Back to me thinking MySpace has a chance to compete. For starters, according to Alexa, MySpace is the 3rd most popular website in the English language. Think about that. 3rd most popular out of all the millions upon millions of websites out there. The only 2 that are more popular...Yahoo! and Google. Insane. Based on its traffic alone, it would stand a chance. Add that to the fact that they plan on charging less per song than iTunes. I know people still steal music, but a lot of the artists who will have their songs available for purchase on MySpace won't turn up on even the most popular file-sharing services, not to mention on iTunes. In my opinion, allowing users to download songs on a per song basis is much more attractive than a subscription service. The only thing that could put a damper on things is how they handle iPods and the digital rights management (DRM) of the songs they sell. If the songs won't play on iPods, forget about it. They will get crushed. If they do, Apple better be careful.

You can read the full article from CMJ here.

Music to come later...