MySpace Music CEO Hunt Continues: Facebook's Owen Van Natta Top Contender

Former Amazon and Facebook executive Owen Van Natta is said to be a top contender for the CEO job of the new MySpace Music joint venture, multiple sources confirmed to us this morning. There are also a number of other candidates still being interviewed. Last month we posted a shortlist with a handful of them.

MySpace Music, an ambitious joint venture between MySpace and top music labels, is set to launch sometime this month. The project combines the music from three of the four major labels (Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group) with a rumored $120 million in cash from MySpace and its existing music properties.

Music download sales are just one revenue stream for the new venture. In addition to selling DRM-free music (singles, albums, and playlists), MySpace Music will iteratively also offer ring tones, concert tickets, merchandise (tshirts, etc.) and branded advertising campaigns. Amazon is said to be powering the music download part of the service.

Van Natta left Facebook earlier this year and has been said to be looking for a CEO spot at a new company. MySpace Music may be just the position he’s looking for.

Don’t count on a CEO announcement before launch, though. In an interview with MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe earlier this week at TechCrunch50, he made it clear that they’re willing to wait as long as it takes to find the right person for the job, and the search for a CEO certainly won’t delay the launch. In any case, DeWolfe and MySpace COO Amit Kapur themselves remain actively involved in the venture and plan to maintain leadership roles within it even after launch.

Skip to the 7:24 mark in the video below if you want to hear just about MySpace Music:

http://www.ustream.tv/flash/video/698370