MySpace.com, the internet's largest online community with 75 million users, is starting to lose musicians. Some popular artists, including Weezer and Nine Inch Nails, and scads of undiscoverd bands have long used MySpace to build awareness with the young demographic that spends so much time there. But things may be changing.

Popular British folk rock artist Billy Bragg just pulled his music from the site. He is now using his MySpace page to shine a light on MySpace Terms of Service, and is asking MySpace users to use the site itself to encourage a change in MySpace policy, his page now reads:

SORRY THERE’S NO MUSIC. Someone who we work with was bright enough to read the small print of the MySpace terms and conditions and found that once an artist posts up any content (including songs), it then belongs to My Space (AKA Rupert Murdoch) and they can do what they want with it, throughout the world without payng the artist. Because of this we've had to take all of Billy's songs down. I'm working on getting small clips put up instead, but in the meantime please visit www.billybragg.com to listen to and download songs.

Below is the offending clause. We are hoping to start a small revolution (in true Bragg style) to try and put a stop to this. You can do your bit by posting out a bulletin to all your friends, esp artists, and badgering Tom with e-mails letting him know how unfair this clause is (not least because you can't hear Billy on here anymore!).

Thanks for your help and support. The amazing thing about My Space is how fast we can all communicate so if we all do our bit we should be able to change this.

The troublesome fine print informs users that by posting any content, “you hereby grant to MySpace.com a non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense through unlimited levels of sublicensees) to use, copy, modify, adapt, translate, publicly perform, publicly display, store, reproduce, transmit, and distribute such Content on and through the Services.”

It will be interesting to see if the MySpace artist user base will simply flee, or if the online community can wield any power over its provider and get the terms changed.

technorati tags: onlinecommunity, myspace