MySpace is the biggest social networking site in the world, with 107 million account holders, according to the company. Just last month it agreed to modifications to its terms and conditions to pacify a campaign led by singer Billy Bragg.
The terms and conditions had appeared to grant MySpace rights over music hosted there, and Bragg campaigned to have them changed so that they explicitly stated that MySpace, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, had no claim over rights in the music.
"I don't want to find out in 25 years time that 20% of my earnings are owned by Apple or whoever. I want the right to be able to exploit my own back catalogue," Bragg told OUT-LAW. "If I choose to sign that away to someone for life of copyright that's my choice but before that happens I want kids to know what that means and what the ramifications of that are."
With that legal uncertainty cleared up, MySpace founder Chris DeWolfe has told news agency Reuters that the company will open a digital music shop to rival Apple's iTunes.
“The goal is to be one of the biggest digital music stores out there,” DeWolfe told Reuters. “Everyone we’ve spoken to definitely wants an alternative to iTunes and the iPod. MySpace could be that alternative."
The site is now the most visited in the US, according to research from Hitwise. It was sold to News Corporation last autumn for $580 million. DeWolfe plans to use its dominance in the US in the still-growing social networking business to provide an alternative to traditional online music sales.
DeWolfe's plans involve allowing bands to set their own prices for their music, with the company charging a fixed distribution fee. Snocap, a company founded by Napster creator Shawn Fanning, will manage the service, said DeWolfe.
