Will Myspace Re-Emerge Or Do We Already Have Enough Social Networks?

From a band perspective, MySpace was indeed a great tool. One of the biggest gripes, is that they tried to offer way too much and all of the features became clouded in the excess garbage offered. If they would have stuck to being a music outlet and focused on their strengths, maybe the site could still be relevant. With Justin Timberlake and other rich folks putting a flag in the sand and relaunching MySpace, we kinda feel as if it's just been forgotten about. This is sort of like the dilemma that faces the department stores Sears and JCPenny. As fast as brands grow and in our ADD riddled and over saturated minds, if you don't keep the crowds coming back for more and lose them, chances might be, they are never coming back.

Link to original post on Mashable.com

Fifteen months after its acquisition by Specific Media, we’re finally getting a sneak peek at the new MySpace.

Justin Timberlake — who took an ownership stake in the new MySpace — tweeted a link to a video previewing the new service.

THIS IS MYSPACE vimeo.com/myspace/the-ne‚Ķ #NEWMYSPACE— Justin Timberlake(@jtimberlake) September 24, 2012

Although Timberlake and members of the MySpace team were at CES 2012, most of the discussion was about a partnership with Panasonic and not the rebirth of the new service.
The video points to a new MySpace URL, New.MySpace.com, where users can give their email address for an invite to the new service.

What Is the New MySpace

So what is the new MySpace? The video overview doesn’t go into a lot of detail, but this is what we can ascertain so far:

• Users log in with Facebook or Twitter and can then choose to bring photos or other information with them.
• Status updates look similar to the mobile app Path, with photos largely displayed and user comments showing up underneath.
• There is a large music component the service, which includes a way to browse albums, find popular songs and artists and more.

The music component is interesting — especially since this was historically always one of MySpace’s strong suits. What is less clear is if MySpace is building its own music service or if it has partnered with a provider such as Spotify, Rdio or Rhapsody.

The interface looks clean and attractive — but obviously we’ll have to wait for the beta launch to understand more about how this works.

Does the MySpace Brand Mean Anything?

The biggest question I have about the new MySpace is whether or not the brand is worth anything. I’ve argued in the past that the biggest asset of MySpace is also its biggest liability.

What the new owners will have to do — celebrity investor or not — is prove to users why this MySpace is worth a user’s time.

Google Music Not Living Up To Expectations, Is Justin Timberlake The Saviour?

All the signs are pointing to another huge cash influx about to enter the music streaming business. Rumors are that Microsoft is sniffing around to what is possible, even after their failed attempt with Zune. Spotify is making waves with their streaming service and Myspace is claiming to have their numbers rising due to "significant" improvements to their music player. Not sure if Myspace realizes it or not, but their interface still is way too busy. If Myspace were to die off or completely, revamp their approach with a whole new influx of ideas and potentially a new name, maybe they could shed their old skin and start anew. Sorry Justin Timberlake, not even your amazing SNL appearances can save your investment in Myspace, unless it has a game changing overhaul.

Is Pandora a patsy for the major labels? What about Last.FM, Rdio and the litany of others who have provided streaming services? Do any of them have a solid presence or unique aspect which we as music fans crave?

In terms of streaming music, many huge players are entering the arena and looking to compete with Itunes after the strides created by Spotify. Some will create a decent presence, but soon every major entity within social media will have some sort of proprietary music player, especially Facebook. 

We honestly think this is the best thing for bands as a whole. Competition breeds a better system and forget your big box package stores for buying music anymore. Its all going to be digital or directly to fans from the bands.

Link to original article on CNET 

Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga on Saturday Night Live

"Three months after launching, Google Music hasn't lived up to expectations, CNET has learned. Google's managers have told counterparts at the labels that customer adoption and revenue are below what they expected, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the talks. 

Google Music has been live for barely a full quarter, so nobody is panicking. Google has yet to throw the full force of its marketing muscle behind the service, and managers have told the record companies that they are trying to correct certain issues. Still, the numbers are low enough for some in the music sector to be concerned, the sources said.

A Google representative declined to comment. 

Google Music was supposed to be a music powerhouse. As a companion service to Android-powered mobile devices, the service has a massive potential user base. At the time of Google Music's November launch, there were more than 200 million activated Android phones and tablets. 

If Google managed to convert just 10 percent of those device owners, it would mean 20 million customers. Google Music sells downloads, and also streams songs to users who store their music libraries on the company's servers. The service sells tracks from a host of indie labels as well as three of the four top major record companies. Google has yet to license tracks from Warner Music Group. 

Google campus in the bay area

Google managers have told label executives that the service will get a boost once Google implements its hardware strategy, the sources said. Google plans to start competing against Apple by building an array of consumer devices.

Two weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google is building a wireless entertainment system that will stream music throughout the home. 

The troubled start for Google Music comes as the music sector shifts attention away from downloads and onto subscription services, such as Spotify, Rhapsody, and Rdio. These companies sell consumers access to huge pools of songs for a monthly fee. 

Handset manufacturers and network providers, such as Research In Motion, T-Mobile, Cricket, and MetroPCS have bolstered their music offerings. 

Just last week, CNET reported that Microsoft has held talks with some of the record companies about creating a new digital music store that would serve owners of the Xbox gaming console as well as buyers of an upcoming Windows-based phone. The parties have discussed the possibility of streaming music as well as selling downloads. 

Phones are important to the labels. They see a future where subscription services offer unlimited access to music and the fees are wrapped into phone bills. The thinking here is that this will make the consumer's buying experience much more painless. 

So is Google Music out of step with current music tastes? 

The record companies didn't think so when Google first approached them in 2010. The recording sector couldn't be happier that a company with Google's money and marketing might would be taking on iTunes. Because of Apple's domination of music sales, Apple has been able at times to dictate terms to the labels. 

Despite all the excitement surrounding subscription services, it remains to be seen whether these services are very profitable. 

The music industry is still too much in flux to say who the winners or losers are" 

News Corp Sells Myspace To Justin Timberlake and Specific Media

Seeing news like this is almost quite interesting, but then knowing all the suits will scramble over the site and think how they can edit and fix what was once a great music portal is quite sad. Yo Justin Timberlake, let myspace die off. You are wealthy enough and have a big name, just keep entertaining us with your dick in a box.

I could be totally wrong on this whole revamp that is probably going to happen. My mindset is that with the ADD riddled brains we have, once a bubble is burst everyone in today's tech world has already moved on to the next cool widget. Sorry dude, but your other dud was trying to create "American iconography of denim and biker culture" in your clothing line at Target. Wish yall the best, but damn Myspace tried to reign in their site once they had already given the keys to the coding kingdom. You will have to win back the masses who Myspace pissed all over with their constant barrage of shitty code and user interface updates. Call up Andy Samberg for help on this one.

Justin Timberlake poster at Target

News Corp Sells Myspace...

 

By Jennifer Saba | Reuters – Wed, Jun 29, 2011

NEW YORK (Reuters) - News Corp has sold Myspace for $35 million, a fraction of what it paid for the once-hot social media site even as a new generation of Web-based start-ups is enjoying sky-high valuations.

Advertising company Specific Media will team with the singer Justin Timberlake to acquire Myspace in a deal that caps a tumultuous period of ownership under Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, which swooped in to buy Myspace for $580 million in 2005.

At the time, Myspace was among the world's most popular websites, and News Corp's success in beating out rival Viacom Inc in a bidding war was viewed as a major victory for Murdoch. Since then, however, Facebook has eclipsed Myspace in popularity, and the deal has become a hard lesson in what can happen when a traditional media company imposes its will on a start-up.

It also shows how quickly audience -- and investor -- tastes can shift in the world of social networking. Indeed, Wednesday's deal contrasts sharply with the current frenzy over social media companies, including LinkedIn, Twitter and Groupon, among investors looking for the next big thing.

Another of the hot start-ups, Zynga, an online social game company, plans to raise up to $2 billion in an initial public offering that could be filed by Thursday, valuing the company at $20 billion

"This is a mistake that will repeat itself," James McQuivey, an analyst with Forrester Research, said of the Myspace saga. "I'm not sure that someone being pushed on by early round investors, someone reading their own press, which is praising them, will stop and say, 'Wait, is this a one-year fad, a two-year fad? Or is this a five-year to ten-year change in the way things are done?'"

The Myspace transaction calls for News Corp to retain a minority stake in the website, the companies said in a statement, confirming a deal that was reported earlier.

Specific Media, which specializes in digital advertising, did not disclose financial terms. It announced, however, that Timberlake -- who happens to have played Facebook adviser and investor Sean Parker in the movie "The Social Network" -- would take an ownership stake and serve a "major role" in developing a strategy for Myspace.

A source familiar with the transaction said the deal is worth $35 million and is a mix of cash and stock. News Corp will retain about 5 percent, the source said.

Additionally, more than half of Myspace's 500-strong workforce is expected to be laid off because of the sale, the source said.

The deal comes after a four-month bidding process in which a number of different possible buyers surfaced, including other social networking sites and private equity firms. The auction had been expected to fetch in the neighborhood of $100 million.

In the end, the sale serves as the latest example of what can happen to a once coveted company with a rocket-like trajectory that quickly loses its luster as competitors zoom past it in popularity.

Founded in August 2003 by Chris De Wolfe and Tom Anderson, Myspace was conceived as a way for friends and fans to connect with one another as well as with their favorite bands and artists.

Myspace, a kind of musical version of pioneer social network site Friendster, fast became wildly popular with teenagers and young adults, who spent hours designing their own pages with their favorite digital wallpaper, posting photos and adding friends.

At its peak in 2008, Myspace attracted nearly 80 million people in the United States, almost double that of Facebook.

The growth was too fast and Myspace had trouble scaling the number of users who were flocking to the site. Meanwhile Facebook had opened up its platform to third-party developers, such as Zynga and its popular FarmVille game. That attracted more people and kept them on the site.

By 2011, the number of U.S. visitors to Myspace fell to about 40 million while those visiting Facebook totaled about 150 million, according to online measurement firm comScore.

For the quarter ended March 2011, News Corp reported a segment operating loss of $165 million, mainly due to declines at Myspace.

(Additional reporting by Paul Thomasch; Editing by Bernard Orr, Steve Orlofsky and Matthew Lewis)