Last night’s press release for the MySpace Music UK launch mentioned that users would be able to buy DRM-free MP3 tracks from iTunes. Although we did twig that iTunes doesn’t sell MP3 files, we didn’t make much of it. Perhaps we should, but 7digital CEO Ben Drury has stepped in to highlight the point.
“The link to download tracks via iTunes does not offer consumers the best deal for purchasing digital music,” he says.
“Despite the claims in the press release, music purchased through iTunes is in the AAC format and not MP3. This means purchased downloads are not compatible with all music devices and are of a lower quality than the 320k MP3s we sell at 7digital.com. It is unfortunate that they are not allowing their customers to choose MP3.”
Meanwhile, Drury is deliberately guarded in his welcome for MySpace Music UK – unsurprisingly given his company works with its main rivals.
“There are already a number of companies offering free ad-supported streaming in the UK, including our own partners Spotify and Last.fm. Although they are a little late to the party here, its encouraging for the industry as a whole to have a name like Myspace investing in the music sector. The question now is can the site, which has lost a lot of ground and users over the last year, attract enough users to make this service a profitable business.”