In the Summer of 2011 MySpace was sold by News Corp. to ad network Specific Media in a deal worth around $35 million. Shocking really for a company that was bought for $580m just 4 years earlier.
While 7 months ago it seemed asthough MySpace’s days were well and truly numbered, the once world-renowned social network seems to have steered itself out of a nosedive of late, with reports suggesting the site has gained 1 million new users over the past month.
The rapid boom that averages out as 40,00 sign-ups each day now takes MySpace’s total users to 25 million.
This recent success can be attributed in part to MySpace’s new ‘branding face-lift’, whereby high profile investor and pop-idol / film star Justin Timberlake has adopted the role of ‘the new face of MySpace’.
Much of MySpace’s demise can be attributed to the overwhelming success of Facebook – now the worlds biggest social network by a country mile. MySpace’s ambitions are clear; to redefine itself so that it’s not in direct competition with Facebook but instead focuses on music and online entertainment rather than just ‘social networking’.
The chief executive of MySpace, Tim Vanderhook states “MySpace is building meaningful social entertainment experience around content, where consumers can share and discover the music they love,”. He continued, “Consumers are getting excited about MySpace again – a testament to a great music product.”
So what does the ‘new’ MySpace offer that differs from the old clunky, HTML-heavy social network that we all knew and loved?
Firstly, the site claims to have the largest free music library on the web, at 42 million songs strong. It also boasts unlimited on-demand playback and radio streaming, giving rival Spotify a very good run for its money.
But like Spotify, MySpace has decided to embrace rivals Facebook by allowing users to integrate between the two services. The new app lets users access Myspace directly from their Facebook account.
Vanderhook sees this recent success as a sign that the new MySpace ethos is working out a planned; “The numbers tell an amazing story of strong momentum and dramatic change for Myspace.
And the 1 million-plus new user accounts we’ve seen in the last 30 days validates our approach.”
A million new users in 30 days is undeniably impressive, but is it really enough of a boost to reignite the MySpace fire? We would love to hear your thoughts.
