Peter Kafka reported this afternoon, "Myspace Music head Courtney Holt is stepping down. . . .  Sources say Holt doesn’t have another post lined up.  But the real news is that he was still at the site, which is a joint venture between Myspace and the major music labels."

Consider that MySpace’s traffic levels have been falling sharply for at least the past year.  That’s not the sort of pattern many execs associated with their name.

Also, remember that different people at both News Corp. and MySpace have been pretty open about the possibility of a merger, spinoff, or sale due to losses.  Again, not something to brag about during a job interview.

Holt may have plenty of career options, though.  Kafka speculated that he might land elsewhere within News Corp., or at Spotify.   Or even at Apple or Google.

Meanwhile, MySpace CEO Mike Jones is supposed to take over MySpace Music in Holt’s absence.

“Courtney understands how to successfully blend technology with music and the resulting new business opportunities born from such a combination,” said Chris DeWolfe, CEO and Co-Founder of MySpace. “Courtney’s unique vision and willingness to innovate makes him an incredible addition to our executive team—we’re thrilled to have him on board.”

So Who is this Guy?

Holt was the Senior Vice President of New Media, Creative and Strategic Marketing at Interscope Geffen A&M. He worked with artists like Weezer, Nine Inch Nails, Beck, Black Eyed Peas, and Audioslave after MySpace launched, as he recognized the potential the social network had for promotion.

After Interscope Geffen A&M, he went to MTV Networks where he was Executive Vice President of Digital Music. There, he oversaw several initiatives for the company’s digital music group, including working with the MTV, VH1 and CMT brands

Executive Vice President of Digital Music for the MTV Networks Music and Logo Group where he oversaw. According to a release from MySpace, he was also responsible for identifying ways to further engage audiences across a spectrum of touch points, expanding the reach of the music brands online and content syndication. He also worked closely with Integrated Marketing and Ad Sales teams to drive new business partnerships and advertising models.

Now He gets MySpace Music

“MySpace Music cultivates relationships between artists and fans by enabling and reinforcing music discovery both online and offline and providing the tools to customize and personalize their music experience,” says Holt. “The new company will explore different and evolutionary revenue streams that provide real opportunities for artists and the industry as a whole. I can’t wait to help build out those opportunities even further.”

Hopefully Holt will push MySpace Music to reach the potential the site’s concept is clearly capable of accomplishing. That means, he needs to make THE place to go online for music, period. That is if it is to live up to the site’s initial hype, which admittedly I was part of spreading.