IT’S OFFICIAL: MYSPACE MUSIC COMES ALIVE

As expected, MySpace and three of the Big Four have formally announced the formation of MySpace Music. The new company, which combines the most active music community on the World Wide Web with the catalogs of UMG, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group, will unveil a number of new music services and monetization models. The financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed, the companies said in a joint announcement.

The announcement, which makes no mention of UMG's presumably settled lawsuit against MySpace, comes before completion of negotiations with EMI, but the British company is expected to participate as well.

The new company will be based in Los Angeles and will have a dedicated executive management team to oversee the business. In the coming months, MySpace Music promises to begin rolling new content and product functionality within the existing music channel. According to the release, the process will be "iterative" to take full advantage of the popularity and existing traffic to the Music channel already booming within MySpace.

The product vision for MySpace Music is to build on the existing traffic, credibility and popularity of the MySpace Music platform by creating what the release describes as “a fully integrated 360 degree global music solution… The new offering will seamlessly transform the MySpace Music experience into a groundbreaking mix of community, commerce and discovery. The product will roll iteratively [there's that fancy word again] in the coming months."

MySpace Music will function across three primary areas: the MySpace Music home page, the site’s more than 5 million artist profile pages and individual user home pages, enabling multiple sources for the purchase of music and merch in one place. The new entity will include DRM-free downloads, ad-supported audio and video streaming, a mobile storefront (powered by News Corp.’s Jamba mobile company) and sponsorship arrangements.

A personalized music management product will allow users to control their entire MySpace Music experience directly from their user page by creating playlists and having access to enhanced purchase opportunities and search functionality. At the same time, the entity will offer artists the opportunity to provide fans with downloads, ringtones, SMS and wallpapers directly from their profiles, along with merch and tickets.

The new company is uniquely positioned to quickly launch its new music product with nearly 30 million unique monthly visitors for the music channel and more than 5 million artists. Also participating in the new venture will be millions of indie and unsigned artists via their music profiles and interaction with the MySpace community.

Whether the joint venture will result in a shift in a digital music landscape dominated by the iTunes Store remains to be seen, but things just got a lot more interesting.