TechCrunch reported yesterday that Myspace may soon charge for streaming music. When the social networking site originally partnered with labels to provide free streaming content last year, it was heralded as a big step forward for the future of the music business. However, the royalties that Myspace pays for its free streaming capabilities are too significant, and with the site losing revenue, free streaming is on the chopping block. Additionally, Spotify, the successful ad-supported streaming venture in Europe, is being forced to delay its American release because labels want Spotify to charge listeners.

We’ve seen that the paid subscription models as they currently exist, do not work. But the majors, still angry and stubborn about technology, refuse to think outside the box. Fortunately there are some voices of reason out there. Love him or hate him, Bob Lefsetz published a great rant yesterday about the future of music buying lying in mobile form. Ian Rogers of Topspin Media thinks the key lies in developing
relationships with fans. The one thing they both have in common though is their belief that free listening access is necessary to achieve sales.

“The focus will no longer be about enticing people to pay.  It will be about getting their attention, getting them to stream,” says Lefsetz, who argues that once you have the listener’s attention, it will be easier to get them to upgrade to a paid model. (Read more here)

Similarly, Rogers (seen here skateboarding) says the key to getting fans to make purchases starts with getting them to listen for free and developing a relationship with them. Rogers recently discussed this approach in his blog, where he posted a breakdown of his management strategy for hip hop group, Get Busy Committee.  It seems so far that his strategy is working, with Get Busy Committee seeing modest sales and big market radio play. Did I mention they don’t have a label? (Read more here)

We’ve seen how free streaming can turn listeners into paid subscribers with the European version of Spotify.

We’ve seen how name your own price models (with options of $0.00) have netted artists big money and big downloads.

We’ve seen how bands blow up by amassing an online fan base that was developed with access to free content.

So why do the majors insist on paid streaming models? Does the future of music sales lie in free access to content?