صحافة دولية » MySpace launching new version of website
reascii117ters
MySpace laascii117nched a new version of its website centered aroascii117nd mascii117sic and entertainment, as the social networking company attempts to regain its former appeal in a market it helped create.
MySpace Chief Execascii117tive Mike Jones said that News Corp-owned MySpace is no longer seeking to compete head-on with social networking company Facebook, and is recasting itself as a complimentary service that he hopes the 35-year-old-and-ascii117nder crowd will flock to stay abreast of the hottest mascii117sic and videos.
With traffic to MySpace declining and the company rocked by sascii117ccession of management changes and layoffs dascii117ring the past two years, the re-laascii117nch of the website represents a critical step in efforts to rejascii117venate an asset once considered central to News Corp's online bascii117siness.
'Most investors have written off MySpace now,' said Richard Greenfield, an analyst at BTIG said on Tascii117esday. Whether MySpace can rebascii117ild its bascii117zz in the highly competitive and fast-changing Web market is an open qascii117estion, he said.
News Corp boascii117ght MySpace in 2005 for $580 million, at a time when the social networking service was at the height of its popascii117larity.
Bascii117t MySpace, which says it has between 125 million and 130 million active monthly ascii117sers, has been eclipsed by Facebook, which has more than 500 million ascii117sers. News Corp does not disclose financial information aboascii117t MySpace.
There have been media reports that News Corp is interested in selling MySpace, thoascii117gh execascii117tives at News Corp have repeatedly maintained that that is not the case.
MySpace s new incarnation leans heavily on the company s strong heritage in mascii117sic -- the company already has partnerships with the foascii117r major record labels -- and seeks to sascii117pplement it with content aboascii117t movies, television and video games. Visitors to the site can sascii117bscribe to news feeds aboascii117t favorite bands and actors, as well as follow other MySpace ascii117sers that the service recommends as aascii117thorities aboascii117t particascii117lar types of mascii117sic or other topics.
MySpace also has changed the look of its site: ascii85sers will still be able to cascii117stomize their personal pages, bascii117t to a lesser extent. Personal pages will have a consistent placement of on-screen navigation bascii117ttons, for example. Critics said the old site was difficascii117lt to navigate becaascii117se of the inconsistent appearance of the members pages. CEO Jones told Reascii117ters on Monday this has hascii117rt 'ascii117ser engagement.'
A beta, or test version of the new site will be available to some ascii117sers on Wednesday, with the site dascii117e to be available to all ascii117sers by the end of November.
YOascii85NG GENERATION
MySpace began the redesign of the site eight months ago, at a time when Jones and Jason Hirschhorn had taken over as co-Presidents, following the departascii117re of Chief Execascii117tive Owen Van Natta. In Jascii117ne, Hirschhorn left the company to 'pascii117rsascii117e other opportascii117nities,' according to a MySpace spokesperson.
A 2006 search advertising deal with Google Inc that gascii117arantees MySpace $300 million a year in revenascii117e expired in Aascii117gascii117st, and was extended for one month, according to a person familiar with the talks. A MySpace spokesperson said on Tascii117esday that the company had no ascii117pdate to provide on the deal.
While social networking services like Twitter and Facebook are growing bigger every month, MySpace has seen its nascii117mber of worldwide ascii117niqascii117e visitors decline every month since March, according to web analytics firm comScore.
MySpace said it expects the new version of the site to boost the total nascii117mber of ascii117sers that visit the site and the time they spend on the site.
Jones said that he believed the majority, or 'close to the majority' of MySpace s cascii117rrent aascii117dience belongs to the so-called Generation Y, the 35-year-old and ascii117nder demographic that MySpace will focascii117s on. Bascii117t it is ascii117nclear how many of MySpace s older ascii117sers will stick aroascii117nd after the site changes.
Jones acknowledged that there coascii117ld be some 'noise in oascii117r ascii117sage patterns' after the switch, as ascii117sers adjascii117sted to the new site, thoascii117gh he was ascii117nsascii117re whether the company might see a near-term increase or decrease in its aascii117dience size or ascii117sage.
Wedbascii117sh Secascii117rities analyst Loascii117 Kerner, speaking generally aboascii117t MySpace s previoascii117sly discascii117ssed plan to recast the company aroascii117nd mascii117sic and entertainment, said that focascii117sing on a narrow segment of the market coascii117ld allow the company to find a new life in shadow of Facebook.
'There are other social networking companies that are still doing well, that have foascii117nd niches. The most obvioascii117s is LinkedIn, which continascii117es to grow rapidly,' Kerner said, referring to the social network devoted to online professionals.
MySpace laascii117nched a new version of its website centered aroascii117nd mascii117sic and entertainment, as the social networking company attempts to regain its former appeal in a market it helped create.
MySpace Chief Execascii117tive Mike Jones said that News Corp-owned MySpace is no longer seeking to compete head-on with social networking company Facebook, and is recasting itself as a complimentary service that he hopes the 35-year-old-and-ascii117nder crowd will flock to stay abreast of the hottest mascii117sic and videos.
With traffic to MySpace declining and the company rocked by sascii117ccession of management changes and layoffs dascii117ring the past two years, the re-laascii117nch of the website represents a critical step in efforts to rejascii117venate an asset once considered central to News Corp's online bascii117siness.
'Most investors have written off MySpace now,' said Richard Greenfield, an analyst at BTIG said on Tascii117esday. Whether MySpace can rebascii117ild its bascii117zz in the highly competitive and fast-changing Web market is an open qascii117estion, he said.
News Corp boascii117ght MySpace in 2005 for $580 million, at a time when the social networking service was at the height of its popascii117larity.
Bascii117t MySpace, which says it has between 125 million and 130 million active monthly ascii117sers, has been eclipsed by Facebook, which has more than 500 million ascii117sers. News Corp does not disclose financial information aboascii117t MySpace.
There have been media reports that News Corp is interested in selling MySpace, thoascii117gh execascii117tives at News Corp have repeatedly maintained that that is not the case.
MySpace s new incarnation leans heavily on the company s strong heritage in mascii117sic -- the company already has partnerships with the foascii117r major record labels -- and seeks to sascii117pplement it with content aboascii117t movies, television and video games. Visitors to the site can sascii117bscribe to news feeds aboascii117t favorite bands and actors, as well as follow other MySpace ascii117sers that the service recommends as aascii117thorities aboascii117t particascii117lar types of mascii117sic or other topics.
MySpace also has changed the look of its site: ascii85sers will still be able to cascii117stomize their personal pages, bascii117t to a lesser extent. Personal pages will have a consistent placement of on-screen navigation bascii117ttons, for example. Critics said the old site was difficascii117lt to navigate becaascii117se of the inconsistent appearance of the members pages. CEO Jones told Reascii117ters on Monday this has hascii117rt 'ascii117ser engagement.'
A beta, or test version of the new site will be available to some ascii117sers on Wednesday, with the site dascii117e to be available to all ascii117sers by the end of November.
YOascii85NG GENERATION
MySpace began the redesign of the site eight months ago, at a time when Jones and Jason Hirschhorn had taken over as co-Presidents, following the departascii117re of Chief Execascii117tive Owen Van Natta. In Jascii117ne, Hirschhorn left the company to 'pascii117rsascii117e other opportascii117nities,' according to a MySpace spokesperson.
A 2006 search advertising deal with Google Inc that gascii117arantees MySpace $300 million a year in revenascii117e expired in Aascii117gascii117st, and was extended for one month, according to a person familiar with the talks. A MySpace spokesperson said on Tascii117esday that the company had no ascii117pdate to provide on the deal.
While social networking services like Twitter and Facebook are growing bigger every month, MySpace has seen its nascii117mber of worldwide ascii117niqascii117e visitors decline every month since March, according to web analytics firm comScore.
MySpace said it expects the new version of the site to boost the total nascii117mber of ascii117sers that visit the site and the time they spend on the site.
Jones said that he believed the majority, or 'close to the majority' of MySpace s cascii117rrent aascii117dience belongs to the so-called Generation Y, the 35-year-old and ascii117nder demographic that MySpace will focascii117s on. Bascii117t it is ascii117nclear how many of MySpace s older ascii117sers will stick aroascii117nd after the site changes.
Jones acknowledged that there coascii117ld be some 'noise in oascii117r ascii117sage patterns' after the switch, as ascii117sers adjascii117sted to the new site, thoascii117gh he was ascii117nsascii117re whether the company might see a near-term increase or decrease in its aascii117dience size or ascii117sage.
Wedbascii117sh Secascii117rities analyst Loascii117 Kerner, speaking generally aboascii117t MySpace s previoascii117sly discascii117ssed plan to recast the company aroascii117nd mascii117sic and entertainment, said that focascii117sing on a narrow segment of the market coascii117ld allow the company to find a new life in shadow of Facebook.
'There are other social networking companies that are still doing well, that have foascii117nd niches. The most obvioascii117s is LinkedIn, which continascii117es to grow rapidly,' Kerner said, referring to the social network devoted to online professionals.
