At the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco on Thursday, MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe said that while there are no immediate plans to do so, it is possible that MySpace could eventually develop an MP3 player to take on Apple"s iPod.
In response to a question from the conference host, John Batelle, DeWolfe said "it"s possible," but added "Right now, we"re just focusing on the service".
MySpace launched "MySpace Music" in September, a joint venture with major music labels such as Sony BMG, Universal and Warner. The service allows people to stream music, download ring tones, watch videos and buy tickets and merchandising. DeWolfe said music was streamed over 1 billion times in the first 5 days and 80 million play lists have been created since it was launched.
So could MySpace develop an MP3 player? According to Reuters, music companies are keen to have a competitor to iTunes, so as to boost digital download sales. However, DeWolfe believes that MySpace Music alone could help iPod sales grow. "If anything, we"ll be accretive to iPod sales", said DeWolfe, "unless we develop a device."
MySpace faces ever increasing competition from other social networking sites such as Facebook. With 2009 set to be a tough year due to falling advertising revenue, social networking sites are looking for new ways to make money from the millions of people who use their site each day. Could an MP3 player be the answer MySpace are looking for?