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I just found an old post I did years ago on the MySpace blog. Remember the days when Myspace was the king of social media, the site was buzzing and the MySpace blogs were all the rave. As I read through the old blog post, it hit me, MySpace death was not homicide, it was attempted suicide. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the growth of facebook that almost killed MySpace, rather it was the silly decision making by MySpace management. Silliest of all their decisions was the one to join forces with the major music labels and shutout out the independent labels and artists. They completely underestimated the contribution of the thousands of independent artists and labels and the number of fans they kept coming back to the site.

As I read the old MySpace post again for the first time in 8 years and see all that transpired with MySpace, the major labels and what was then Snocap and Imeem, it really amazes me. Snocap was in a partnership with MySpace which failed miserably. MySpace then shun Snocap to form MySpace music with the major labels. Snocap went on to form a partnership with Imeem. MySpace then turn around and bought Imeem.

For years people have been talking about a Facebook music platform which was coming soon. Well, we all know now that is was not too soon as years has passed and there is still not a Facebook Music. I don’t think Facebook will ever launch their own music platform. If I was a betting man, however, I would bet that it wont be long until Facebook buys MySpace Music.

See the MySpace blog post I wrote 8 years ago and you will see why me prediction is not far fetched and might very well come to fruition.

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MySpace and Imeem prepares for an all out war.

“Isn’t it strange how princesses and kings
Can clown their capers in sawdust rings
while common people like you and me
will be builders for eternity
each is given a bag of tools
a shapeless mass and the book of rules” – The Heptones.

Depending on whether or not you follow entertainment news you may or may not have heard about the upcoming spin off of MySpace Music from MySpace. MySpace Music will be owned by News Corp (parent of MySpace) and three of the four major recording labels. EMI is the sole major label that is not a part of the MySpace Music deal, but they are currently in negotiation and are expected to reach an agreement very soon.

In the new MySpace music, instead of the maximum of six songs in an artist’s player profile, the artist entire catalog will be available. In return the major labels will share in all advertisement revenue earned by MySpace music. Sounds a lot like imeem, don’t it? In fact, when I read the news release I thought to myself that MySpace was trying to imitate imeem. However, MySpace Music will also allow paid music downloads, ring tones, ticket sales and the possibility for fans to purchase other merchandise on the MySpace Music. Whether or not this joint effort between MySpace and the labels will work remains to be seen.

MySpace has never been successful at selling anything since its inception. People flock to the site to meet and communicate with other people and to listen to music and watch videos for free. It is now being reported that the partnership between Snocap and MySpace was a dismal failure. In fact, Snocap laid off over 60% of their staff last year. If you have not noticed, a lot of artists’ profiles now have an extra player under the original MySpace player where fans can pay to download songs; that was the result of the Snocap and MySpace partnership. So now that MySpace is spinning off MySpace Music and will obviously handle all the music administration previously handled by snocap, what will become of Snocap?

Well, I got the following excerpt in my email this morning:

Dear SNOCAP Artists,

We are excited to make a special announcement to you, before everyone else gets the news, that SNOCAP has been acquired by imeem.

imeem is a longtime SNOCAP partner, and is the third-largest social network in the U.S. The company has been trailblazing new marketing and financial opportunities for labels and artists through its ad-supported social media network at imeem.com.

Wow! So it sounds like imeem and MySpace music will be gearing up for a head on collision. Who will win out and become the dominant destination for music on the internet? If you are an independent artist or an independent label, then you would better be hoping for Imeem to be victorious.

Why am I cheering for Imeem rather than MySpace? The fact that the four major labels will be part owners of MySpace music and therefore calling the shots, tells me that the independent artist as well as the independent label will get the shaft. MySpace boasts that it currently has 5 million music profiles. I believe that number is inflated but let’s run with it for now. I went to the four major label websites and count the artists on their rosters, it was 4,957 total. So let’s say the major labels have 5,000 artist signed to their labels, those are your Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson etc etc. 5,000 / 5,000,000 * 100 = .1. (Only one tenth or one percent of all the music profiles on Myspace are from the major labels). Now, I know that number is off since most major artists have more than one profiles as fans sometimes create profiles for their favorite artists. The fact remains, however, that the majority of MySpace artist, at least 95% are either independent or they are signed to independent labels. So who is going to look out for the independent artist on a site that is part owned by the major labels? Are these major labels that have used payola to shut out the independents from getting any radio play be expected to play fairly on a site they own?

I am sure what Imeem pays the independent artist/label pales in comparison to what they pay the majors, but at least they pay them. While Imeem shares their revenues with the majors, the majors do not own imeem and therefore cannot tell imeem how to run their show.

For Myspace to make a deal with the four majors and leave out all the independents on the site is a slap in the face in my opinion.

Who do you think will win in what is sure to be battle for dominance in the digital music space between Imeem and MySpace?