Although MySpace Music made a huge deal about its new approach to sharing music while making profits, many music executives had said that it was turning out to be a slow start. However to their surprise, we can all look at MySpace Music 11 months later and see that there have been a substantial amount of progress.

Since it’s launch in September 2008, the Los Angeles Times reports that the amount of users have gone from 4.2 million to 12.1 million gaining more activity more than MTV Networks Music and Pandora currently has now. At Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech Conference in Pasadena yesterday, MySpace Music chief, Courtney Holt, also hinted at the site’s upcoming features.

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Myspace Music has separate licensing deals with each of the major labels that stream music on its service; they pay fraction of a penny for each stream, but negotiate different rates with each label.  But now, Techcrunch is suggesting that Myspace pays Warner Music absolutely nothing per stream, and instead, they share advertising revenue from the pages where Warner’s artists have their songs.

Warner Music is undoubtedly embarrassed for having such a poor deal in comparison to the other labels, and will probably look to renegotiate the licensing fees soon. What is also worrying is that the advertising revenue hasn’t been as much as they thought it would be. So, if Myspace’s advertising isn’t pulling enough money for Warner, what about other ad-based music services?

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It’s been possible for some time share photos from Myspace to many other networking sites like Facebook, Reedit, Google Bookmarks, StumbleUpon, Netvibes, Twitter, Newsvine, myAOL, Slashdot, Digg and Yahoo Bookmarks, as pictured above. Now, Myspace has finally given the same functionality to Myspace Music Playlists, allowing you to share music across the long list of sites. MySpace executive Tracy Akselrud told Digital Music News that:

“This feature encourages the sharing and promoting of playlists and album pages on and off site. It makes the music experience more social, more open and offers even greater exposure for artists.”

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After a sluggish start, Myspace Music is starting to upgrade its services. The President of Mypace Music, Courtney Holt, explains that the recent introduction of quicker, lightweight music player is just the beginning. The service plans to launch “album pages”, as opposed to the normal user page, and improve search utility.

Myspace Music is the product of a deal between Myspace and the four major labels early 2008. Almost six months after its subsequent launch, which featured customizable pages, they have also removed limits on the number of songs of artist’s playlists. The new album pages will be dedicated to specific albums for listening, and users will have the powerful comment section to discuss an album’s merits and failures, and Holt says that: Continue Reading

It’s no surprise that Lily Allen has agreed to promote her new album, It’s Not Me, It’s You, through MySpace Music. MySpace is what got Lily listeners and eventually a record deal. With that said, she will perform 3 intimate shows in New York, Tokyo, and London at no charge through the social media platform. That’s right – FREE. This is the first time an artist will participate in multiple MySpace Music secret shows on a global level.

For those of you in New York City, it’ll be happening on Februrary 10th (her US album release date) at The Bowry Ballroom. To get more details, all you have to do is become MySpace friends with MySpace Secret Shows Profile. You will then be notified of all details through a MySpace bulletin. It’s easy as that, and we already know one thing: Matt and Kim will be opening for her!

Also, beginning February 10th, Lily’s new album will be available to purchase for $3.99 for a limited time on her MySpace Music player through Amazon MP3.

MySpace Music kicked off its new music program, Front to Back, on October 23rd by reuniting Ben Folds Five to play their album “The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner” from beginning to end.

Front to Back is designed to ask leading artists to play their most prominent albums from front to back. The first episode features interviews with Ben Folds Five, Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie, Andrew McMahon of Jack’s Mannequin, and Ben Lee.

Reunited and playing for the first time in almost 10 years, Ben Folds Five gathered in their hometown of Chapel Hill, NC on Sept 18 to perform and film the episode. Check out the performance here. More performances will be announced in coming months.