In my Web 2.0 world, money talks as much as cool, new ideas and services. This is why MySpace's move into the digital music business is so intriguing because it's another way one of the world's most popular online destinations is trying to create a viable business. MySpace plans to sell songs from three million independent bands through an arrangement with Shawn Fanning's Snocap. “The goal is to be one of the biggest digital music stores out there,” MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe told the New York Times. “Everyone we’ve spoken to definitely wants an alternative to iTunes and the iPod. MySpace could be that alternative.” No doubt, this is an ambitious strategy but fraught with many questions. For example, how much sales appeal will these three million bands actually have? MP3.com, for example, painfully discovered there was little interest when it attempted to sell non-mainstream music a few years ago. Another question is whether MySpace "members" have any interest in spending money online and, if so, how much? We're talking about teenagers who have disposeable income but how much will be left for MySpace digital music after clothes, wireless bills, etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing MySpace's plans because any effort to exploit a user base of 106 million members is a positive - and there's lot of good things about diversifying your revenue base beyond advertising. As for MySpace creating an alternative to iTunes and the iPod, that could be a Don Quixote-like assignment. If MySpace really wants to get into the digital music business, it would be better off trying to carve off its own niche rather than trying to knock off an institution such as iTunes. Perhaps it could position itself as the place to discover undiscovered bands. Mathew Ingram also has questions about the "sale-ability" of MySpace's three million band universe, and he makes a good point that the traditional record companies are the ones who really should be worried. Rob Hyndman is far more bullish, suggesting the music labels will be "eager to to get first dibs on whatever the MySpace model manages to develop".
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Mark Evansthe blog - examines the world of telecom and technology from a distinctly Canadian perspective.the person - lives in Toronto, CA with his wife and three children, and works as director of community with PlanetEye Inc. 
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