Myspace was once the biggest social media network on the web, but with the emergence of social media sites like Facebook, Myspace lost its following when many of the casual users moved to the sleeker new social sites.
In 2011, Myspace was acquired from NewsCorp by singer and actor Justin Timberlake, along with brothers Tim and Chris Vanderhook, owners of the online advertising site Specific Media.
“I think they lost sight of who their audience was,” Chris Vanderhook said. “It wasn’t the moms of America. It should have been, and should have remained, all of those artists who used the platform to be discovered: Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, B.O.B, LMFAO, all of those guys.”
In the social media sphere of influence, it is very rare that a former champ returns to the scene, but that’s just what Myspace has attempted to do. After going off-line, the site was relaunched in January. While I remember many things about Myspace, the thing I remember most fondly was discovering new music. The interface was suprisingly easy for the underground artist to release and share it’s music on sites that looked and operated just like their mainstream counterparts.
By narrowing their company focus, I believe Myspace will be able to carve out a decent niche for itself, even if it is just a shell of its former self.
New Wave Reporting 