MySpace May Buy iLike

MySpace may be close to upending the music market with an acquisition of iLike, a rumor this morning suggests. More than one TechCrunch source has the social network giant buying the music recommendation and playback app for about $20 million in a deal that could be made public later this week. The purported agreement would be separate from the MySpace Music download and streaming service available today.

Neither of the involved companies has commented on the rumor.

A buyout of the sort would represent a major blow to Facebook, for whom iLike is not only one of its most important apps but its only real equivalent for purchasing music. iLike recently opened its own store after linking only to Amazon MP3 and iTunes, and it's also known for regularly offering full-length songs to stream either in a site profile or for sharing with others. It's not known if MySpace intends to pull iLike from Facebook, Bebo and other competing networks.

Adding iLike would also reinforce MySpace's attempt to become a central hub online music and to compete not only with Facebook but also iTunes and other services. While MySpace has regularly been a home for artists, it has rarely had an easy way to share music or to offer features besides playing music; iLike would bring better ways of sharing music between users, finding artists on tour and buying concert tickets.

By Electronista Staff