Los Angeles-based Topspin and MTV said Thursday at SXSW that the two are in a new partnership, on a new initiative called Artists.MTV. The new project taps Topspin's marketing platform, to provide artists with pages on MTV with ways to connect with fans, and allows fans to buy music, merchandise, and tickets. The companies said that Artists.MTV will be open to all levels of musicians, and will give musicians access to MTV, VH1, and CMT's audience of 600 plus million TV viewers and 60 million online viewers. Financial details of the arrangement between Topspin and MTV were not announced; the new site is expected to launch in June. Topspin, which is led by Ian Rogers, the former GM of Yahoo Music, is venture backed by Redpoint Ventures and The Foundry Group.