aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South
Saturday, September 02, 2006
MySpace to let members sell music
The new Snocap-powered feature will enable bands to outfit their MySpace site with an interface through which computer users may browse the bands’ songs and buy them in the copy-protection free MP3 format, MySpace said.
The bands will be able to set the price for each track, with MySpace and Snocap taking a cut of the sale. And their fans or friends on MySpace will also be able to place the online music storefront on their pages, potentially widening exposure for the bands.
MySpace and Snocap officials declined to say what percentage of each transaction goes to the companies.
Emphasis mine. No mention of fans who sell music also getting a cut. But, then, the perfect is the enemy of the good.
A place to learn
NPR said Thursday it plans to launch a digital music service like none other:
The national leader in podcasting—the organization has 52 podcasts available via iTunes—NPR hopes to expand its reach to more web-based formats.
“NPR and other programs across the country offer all these remarkable services rolled up to create sort of an extraordinarily unique catalog of ideas about music,” said Ken Stern, NPR’s chief operating officer. “But in the digital age you can’t find this stuff. This will be a unique place for people to discover, learn and have a community around music.”
It won’t be selling individual downloads:
“There are a lot of places to buy stuff. This is a place to learn,” Mr. Stern said.
The site will host podcasts from public-radio stations around the country, as well as features already offered through its music program “All Songs Considered,” including streaming performances from Washington’s 930 Club and Philadelphia-based World Cafe. It will also allow users to access more than 70 years of public-radio archives, making it perhaps the largest resource for such information online.
