MySpace executive Shawn Gold has admitted that his company's first adventure in physical music releases was not a huge success.
Speaking at the Digital Music Forum in New York, he said that MySpace Records Volume 1, the compilation album the community website released in the US last year, had sold "between 40,000 and 50,000 units" so far. Asked why sales weren't higher, given the huge popularity of MySpace among both music fans and the artist community, Gold said that the compilation was the "pet-project" of co-founder Tom Anderson and therefore not overly resourced. Asked if MySpace suffered by overly-hyping the release on its website, Gold continued, rather honestly: "I don't know if it was that, or if it was just a shitty CD".
Either way, the company, now part of the Murdoch empire, of course, don't seem to have been put off the idea of MySpace branded physical releases. Talking about his company's plans in the music space, Gold said that there would be another album release later this year, though one based around a single artist rather than a compilation. Gold also revealed plans to launch a MySpace branded satellite radio station in the US.