Rock your network
News Corp has finally got rid of the corporate embarrassment that is Myspace, having been trying to sell it for some time. The social networking site has been acquired by Specific Media, with pop star Justin Timberlake taking an ownership stake and a prominent role in managing the company.
Back in the summer of 2005 News Corp acquired the parent company of Myspace - Intermix Media - for $580 million in cash. Since then Myspace has found itself totally eclipsed by Facebook, and despite numerous rebrands, relaunches and general desperate tinkering, hasn't been able to prevent a haemorrhaging of users. Specific/Timberlake paid a mere $35 million, it has been reported.
"There's a need for a place where fans can go to interact with their favorite entertainers, listen to music, watch videos, share and discover cool stuff and just connect. Myspace has the potential to be that place," said Timberlake. "Art is inspired by people and vice versa, so there's a natural social component to entertainment. I'm excited to help revitalize Myspace by using its social media platform to bring artists and fans together in one community."
Myspace has been trying to position itself as an entertainment-specific social network for some time, calling itself "...a leading social entertainment destination... Aimed at a Gen Y audience," whatever that is.
While the failure of Myspace is a humiliation for News Corp, its has to be said that most commentators thought it was a pretty good move at the time, and indicative of how ahead of the curve Rupert Murdoch was when it came to combining old and new media. The problem with new things is that they don't stay new for long, and News Corp isn't the first media company to fall into this trap - just ask Time Warner shareholders about AOL.
Still, $35 million is still $35 million and it will come in handy when News Corp has to find the £9 billion or so it will need to snap up the rest of BSkyB, which the government looks set to green-light.
