The Associated Press reported today that MySpace plans to let bands sell their music via MySpace in the unprotected MP3 format using Snocap's technology on the back end.
Snocap, of course, was founded by Shawn Fanning – the same guy who wrote the original Napster program. Like Napster before it, the MySpace-embedded music store will rely on the MP3 format, which is still by far the most popular format with users, mainly due to its lack of DRM and wide compatibility.
Most online music stores have been hampered by the record labels' insistence on secure formats, so the New York Times report that the major labels are likely to be challenged by this approach shouldn't come as a surprise.
Justified as their fears may be, the MySpace/Snocap approach is not perfect. For example, the NY Times' claim that the deal "will allow bands and labels of any size to sell songs online for whatever price they want" isn't entirely accurate. Under the current deal, song owners won't be able to sell music for less than 45 cents per song without losing money [this was later dropped to 39 cents], because that's what MySpace plans on charging for its middleman services.
Still, if this trend continues and enough new bands use systems like this to sell music directly to fans in their preferred format, it's not just the labels that could be cut out of the equation. Secure, centralized digital music stores such as iTunes could also become irrelevant. As MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson told the New York Times, “Instead of going to iTunes and searching for music, which happens once in a while, you can see the band and buy their music."
The internet strikes again.
