MySpace announced its plans to get into the music business in April, launched MySpace Music in September and streamed more than 1 billion songs during its first few days of operation. And since MySpace has already become an important way to market music, labels naturally hope it will emerge as a profitable way to sell it. The social network certainly has the audience. “We’re seeing incredible traffic,” MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe says. “It’s just the start of a lot of really cool community and editorial features to come.” After months of speculation, MySpace Music finally also has a president: former MTV Networks and Interscope digital executive Courtney Holt. As MySpace Music prepares for 2009, DeWolfe reflected on the site’s launch and its relationship to his core business.
1. What’s next for MySpace Music?
Right now we’re continuing to work on the consumer experience. But then we’ll be working on charts of all kinds-songs added to playlists, top users with the most listened-to playlists . . . as many charts as possible. We’re also going to be reworking the search page where you add your new playlists to give it a more community feel. It’s really about discovery and consumption.
2. What was the biggest challenge in launching MySpace Music?
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