As expected, Courtney Holt, formerly an exec at both Interscope and MTV, has been named President of MySpace Music, the joint venture company owned by MySpace and the major record companies which is behind the expanded MySpace Music platform that launched in the US earlier this year.
Despite the new look MySpace Music already being live in America, the MySpace Music company has so far been without a top man. Holt has been linked to the job for a while now, and it's been confirmed he'll join the social networking conglom's music business at the start of January.
The new look MySpace Music has, of course, been subject to some very vocal criticism from key players in the indie label community who are angry that neither they, nor their collective digital rights body Merlin, have been offered equity in the new venture to put them on a level playing field with the majors. Although some indies have signed up - mainly via aggregators The Orchard and IODA, or major label owned indie label distributors - most of the big indies are still holding out, arguing it is unfair that their competitors, ie the majors, will profit from their music being on the MySpace service.
Whether Holt, a former major label exec, is the man to win the indies over remains to be seen. The lack of a personality with music business experience at the top of MySpace's music venture can't have helped in past negotiations with Merlin and the indies.
Confirming Holt's appointment, MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe told reporters: "Courtney understands how to successfully blend technology with music and the resulting new business opportunities born from such a combination. Courtney's unique vision and willingness to innovate makes him an incredible addition to our executive team - we're thrilled to have him on board".
Holt himself added: "MySpace Music cultivates relationships between artists and fans by enabling and reinforcing music discovery both online and offline and providing the tools to customise and personalise their music experience. The new company will explore different and evolutionary revenue streams that provide real opportunities for artists and the industry as a whole. I can't wait to help build out those opportunities even further".