Music Week is reporting that the much talked about MySpace Music will go live next week, though the social networking conglom hasn't commented on the reports, and it's not clear if the service will go live globally in one go, or if it will launch in one territory first, probably the US.
As previously reported, MySpace is hoping to capitalise on its position as social-networking site of choice for bands to launch itself into the increasingly crowded digital music market, providing various ad-funded music services, including more of that 'share with friends' nonsense that's very much in fashion, plus a download store, possibly to be powered by Amazon's MP3 service, which is already live in the US.
The Rupert Murdoch owned social networking firm already has Universal, SonyBMG and Warner Music signed up as partners for its music service – the former, in particular, presumably keen to help MySpace cut into iTunes' market dominance in the download space (they usually are). EMI are not yet on board, nor are the indies, though talks continue with the London major and indie label digital body Merlin. The consensus is that MySpace would go live even if those deals weren't in place.
That said, MySpace is still looking for an exec to runs its music division – as previously reported, both former MTV man Andy Schuon and former Yahoo! exec Ian Rogers have been touted as possibles. Whether the company would go live without its CEO in place isn't clear.
Reports of a 15 Sep launch for the new MySpace music service have appeared in a number of places on the net, but with no official comment, I guess we'll have to just wait and see if there's any truth in the rumour.