MySpace's Owen Van Natta for MidemNet 2010
Monetisation will be the buzzword this year at MidemNet. And topping the list of must-attend conferences will be the keynote address by Owen Van Natta CEO of MySpace. He will be there to outline MySpace’s vision of the future of musical content on digital platforms, the evolution of the company as a next generation content distribution platform and the new revenue opportunities for MySpace and its partners (many of whom will be sitting in the Palais des Festivals listening to him).
The reason, of course, is that after establishing itself as one of the foremost music addresses on the web, MySpace has to make serious headway to monetise its traffic. It recently launched MySpace Music Videos and a comprehensive back-office function for artists and labels on MySpace. Will this be enough? What else will he announce at MidemNet?
Currently, most monetisation on MySpace occurs through gaming (see the developer’s open platform). In music, MySpace is up against both Google and Facebook, who are about to launch direct music sales using their massive subscriber and user base. So many people will be carefully watching Van Natta at MidemNet and his template for music on the web.