All Things Digital

This morning, Peter Chernin, the chief operating officer of News Corp. (NWS) (which owns Dow Jones and this site), acknowledged that Fox Interactive Media, which includes MySpace, will fall short of its goal of generating $1 billion in revenue for fiscal 2008. A surprising shortfall for a division that operates the strongest social-networking offering on the Web.

But not to worry, MySpace has a solution for that. It’s just one that lacks an obvious monetization strategy. It’s called Data Availability and it’s a way for MySpace members to share and sync profile data across partner sites–starting with Yahoo (YHOO), eBay (EBAY), Twitter and Photobucket. “The walls around the garden are coming down–the implementation of Data Availability injects a new layer of social activity and creates a more dynamic Internet,” enthused Chris DeWolfe, CEO and co-founder of MySpace, in a statement. “We, alongside our Data Availability launch partners, are pioneering a new way for the global community to integrate their social experiences Web-wide.”

That’s all well and good. But how about pioneering a new way to, you know, make money off that integration? Data portability is wonderfull and all. But so is revenue. And right now, MySpace’s Data Availability initiative doesn’t include any advertising deals.

MySpace will soon be not just “a place for friends”, deceptively flattering photos, and seizure-inspiring Web page design, but a place for the music industry as well. This morning some major music companies struck a deal with the social network to create a music destination site. MySpace Music will be jointly operated by MySpace and Universal Music (VIV) (who’ve apparently settled their long-running copyright suit) and Sony BMG (SNE) and Warner Music Group (WMG). EMI hasn’t yet signed on, though sources involved in the negotiations tell The New York Times it will probably join soon making Myspace Music, in the words of MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe, a mega-music experience. ‘This is really a mega-music experience that is transformative in a lot of ways,” DeWolfe enthused. “It’s the first service that offers a full catalog of music to be streamed for free, with full community features, to be shared with all of your friends.”

The venture is a noteworthy step for the music industry–whose failure to embrace digital distribution early on has cost it dearly. And it’s one that could pay off. “MySpace has the audience and environment to enable the music industry to get to the next digital level,” Forrester analyst James McQuivey told News.com. “What iTunes offers is a good buying experience but that’s not all people do with music. They they talk about it, they share it, they try things out. Remember, this is the kind of activity that (record label) Universal Music Group was suing MySpace for previously. I think the labels said to themselves,’Oh, if we enable fans to have a fully immersive experience, they might spend more on music. MySpace can offer a place where all aspects of the music experience can be expressed. Imeem was getting close to this, but MySpace, if they don’t mess it up, should take Music 2.0.”

How will Rupert Murdoch, head of the world’s largest media empire and soon-to-be-owner of Dow Jones improve The Wall Street Journal?

• Make it better in what it does now. Financial news.

• Add more national and international news.
• Kill the New York Times? “Yes, that would be nice.”
• Expand the culture section.

How will he improve MySpace?

• Renew co-founder Chris DeWolfe’s contract for another two years.

• Roll out a “MySpace Platform” that will allow third-party developers to create applications for the social networking service.
• Kill Facebook?

Imagine that would be “nice” too.