The service is starting with just basic features, but it has a huge pool of potential customers in MySpace visitors.

MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe came to a worrisome conclusion last year. The online community, which began as a place where musicians connected with fans, had stopped innovating.

Proof of how its musical star had faded became clear during a conversation with Interscope Records Chairman Jimmy Iovine, who was the producer behind Stevie Nicks and Bruce Springsteen and with whom DeWolfe had previously struck a deal to distribute CDs on a MySpace Records label.

Iovine didn't mince words. When it came to music, "you guys are basically in our rear-view mirror; we're going in different directions," DeWolfe recalled Iovine saying. A representative for the producer confirmed the account.

At Iovine's urging, DeWolfe boarded a plane the following morning to meet with Universal Music Group Chief Executive Doug Morris. The purpose: to sketch out a potential collaboration that would set the stage for today's relaunch of the MySpace Music service.

Although MySpace was a pioneer in giving unsigned musicians a voice, the social network struggled to leverage that momentum into a revenue-generating business. That left the door open for Apple Inc. to emerge as the dominant force in digital music, eclipsing even familiar record stores.

Details of the new MySpace Music are now as familiar as the lyrics to any hit pop tune. MySpace's 120 million worldwide users will be able to create and share playlists, as well as listen to songs or albums in its digital catalog for free. If users want to put the tracks on a portable music player, they need to buy them through Amazon.com.

However, this revamped MySpace Music falls short of the comprehensive one-stop online music store DeWolfe described last spring when he announced the service. At that time, he promised that music aficionados could not only listen to and purchase songs but also buy concert tickets or a band's T-shirt.

Instead, MySpace went for the basics. Users will be able to search for music by artist, song title or album, then place it on a playlist that can hold as many as 100 tracks. The songs can also be added to a shortened playlist on a MySpace profile page, where others can hear it. Other features will be added over time.

The playlist is hardly an innovation. Other online services, such as the start-up Imeem and Last.fm, which is owned by CBS, offer free streaming and ways for friends to share their virtual mix tapes. These smaller rivals say they're not worried about the competitive threat from MySpace, noting that they had a head start.

"Retrofitting an older legacy online service is like trying to turn the cargo ship toward the more nimble speedboat," said Steve Jang, chief marketing officer at Imeem.

But what the News Corp.-owned MySpace Music may lack in originality, it makes up in reach.

"There are 120 million unique users every month on MySpace," DeWolfe said. "It's the largest music community in the world."

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http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-myspace25-2008sep25,0,6577911.story