MySpace Music — like Muxtape, except people who wear deodorant will use it

Nicholas Carlson — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EDT

MySpace Music, a joint venture between the News Corp. social network and music labels Universal, Sony and Warner,finally launches next week, says Fortune, though it still won't have a CEO. MySpace users will be able to listen to and organize playlists full of songs from all three music labels for free. (EMI is the lone holdout, which means no coldplay.) Playlists will include affiliate links to Amazon.com's MP3 store. MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe says ad revenues and song kickbacks are going to save the music industry, replacing lost CD sales.

Imeem CEO Dalton Caldwell, whose company already offers a similar product,

5 lessons on how to triumph in the face of adversity

Tim Faulkner — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 18:36:10 EDT

Dalton Caldwell, founder of the little-known social network and media sharing site iMeem, is in the news because Warner Music has dropped a copyright suit against his company Instead, Warner has granted Caldwell's users free access to the label's entire music catalog in exchange for a portion of iMeem's advertising revenue. Caldwell may not be the most powerful social-network CEO, but he's certainly the scrappiest, and this is just the latest example in his history of responding well to adversity. You could learn a lesson from him Or five lessons, actually:

1. Your main business becomes legally problematic, as iMeem's file-sharing service did after a landmark case? Stay low profile — in iMeem's case, by recasting itself as a messaging network and warn users to uphold copyrights.
2. Desktop peer-to-peer applications go out of style? Migrate your site's functionality to the Web.
3. MySpace permanently bans your widgets? The enemy of your enemy is your friend. Caldwell's response? Build a Facebook application.
4. Your growth rate draws the attention of copyright owners? Make a deal for appearance's sake with Snocap to collect and distribute ad revenue to the artists. (Don't worry if the majors do not sign.)
5. A big media company sues you? Turn that legal frown upside down into a business-development smiley face. Instead of fighting it out in court, strike a deal.

Caldwell's willingness to bend but not break has kept iMeem afloat as it grew to a reported 16 million active users. The social-networking landscape iMeem competes in remains filled with also-rans who weren't as flexible. Caldwell's tenacity stands out as an example to any startup faced with threat after deadly threat.

Gawker: valleywag, dalton caldwell

MySpace Music — like Muxtape, except people who wear deodorant will use it

5 lessons on how to triumph in the face of adversity