Almost out of nowhere, MySpace has eclipsed Friendster and Orkut as the premier internet destination for the youth generation. But could corporate control ruin this runaway success?
Los Angeles-based MySpace is what's known as a "social networking" site. Members log on, create a profile, and seek "friends" who match their interests and personalities. On MySpace, users can comment on other member pages, add pictures, and invite their internet friends to events and groups. Users also have the ability to post blogs.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (owner of Fox News and other entertainment sites) has bought MySpace for over $580 million dollars in cash. The site will become the cornerstone of the newly created Fox Interactive Media unit.
The appeal of MySpace is simple. It's created for the people and by the people. It's not the creation of some 40 year old Madison Avenue marketing whiz as an attempt to break into the youth market. Although corporations such as Warner Music and NBC Universal have a presence on the site, the heart of MySpace is its people, who range from Afropunks to certified racists, to models. Unlike some sites, MySpace has still sought to be true to the people who are the core of their business.
MySpace got its start in the LA entertainment industry and it is very easy for artists to distribute and promote their music on the site. Unlike some sites like Garageband and MP3.com, MySpace is free and easy to use. In fact, MySpace has eclipsed MTV has a music destination. Former Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corogan says, "now that MySpace is here, bands don't necessarily need a label to be heard."
The demographic trends of MySpace make it a very lucrative site for the everyday billionaire. The site receives almost 14 million unique visitors a month. Also, many kids in the coveted 18-25 demographic are shunning television and spending more and more of their time on the Internet. Couple this with the fact that a member can spend up to 3 hours on MySpace (as well as visiting the site many times a day), and you have a suitable platform for advertisers and marketers alike.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Temple Stark
I believe 29 other companies came along with that multi-million figure.
Good post. I was going to do something on this, if I got the chance. THe Duke will flip his lid. :-)
2 - Dave Nalle
I don't see this as a cause for worry. Fox markets their TV fare to a younger audience, and that ties in well with the purchase. Plus remember that Murdoch is first and foremost a businessman, and if MySpace makes money then he's not going to mess with it. His politics are largely irrelevant to how he runs his businesses. He's not a moralistic type at all - Fox News was conceived to fill a market need and filled it well and made money. It's less an expression of his politics than of his smart business sense.
Dave
3 - lono
crap. I have a myspace profile and I love the site. I don't even use it to meet people... but the music hook up is great. I was able to stream the new foo Fighter and Billy Corgan discs from there. It is a wonderful site, but the thought of Fox owning it bums me out.
I am not going to bail out of principle though. Instead I will stick it out and if they try to mess with it I will report back here.
www.myspace.com/iamcorrect
As Temple mentioned, the Duke is in there too. You can find him in my friends.
4 - DJ
Just because its on here... Does it mean its TRUE?? or just a bunch of BS? If this is all true then why haven't the ownders to myspace said anything about this to the ppl who have a myspace?? I have a myspace and it's great. Well, will have to wait and see what is true and what is not. I will believe it when i see it from Tom or Chris on myspace.. Other than that..i think its just a bunch of whoha.
5 - Sir
wow.
just wow.
i have a Myspace too.
Its addicting.
wowww
6 - Silas Kain
Render unto Murdoch what is his and unto God what is God's. Sumner Redstone, your country is calling.
7 - Tom
Now that Tom sold out, we'll see nothing but banners and pop-up ads. It's gonna die very soon. It lost its soul.
8 - Tan The Man
It seems that Murdoch got a good deal. With the future in mind, myspace could have approached a $1 billion.
9 - nate
Tom sold out months ago. What they aren't telling you is that Intermix Media bought myspace from Tom for $11.5 million in February. They are an online advertising company and bought them under the condition that Tom stay and keep the site feeling "grassroots". When intermix posted $79 Million in profits last year the corporations took notice and it was a bidding war for the prize: unlimited access to americas uncencored youth. Check out:
Intermix Media, Inc buys myspace
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/050629/mix10-k.html
NewsCorp. buys Intermix Media
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=ae.MCdMTEEcM
Draw your own conclusions.
10 - no worry
"It's less an expression of his politics than of his smart business sense."
you're a crackhead.
11 - Dave Nalle
Hey, No Brain, do you think the Fox Network represents Conservative Family Values as expressed by the commentators on Fox News.
Hint. Say yes and you're an idiot. Say no and you were an idiot on July 20th at 12:30 am. Your choice.
Dave
12 - Hahaha that's funny.
Own3d.
13 - Riot Nrrrd�
Who cares?
MySpace is by far the worst of the 3 - for one, they weren't original (Friendster should've patented the idea and locked them out), but more importantly, MySpace is the "HotOrNot?" for morons - it's all about buff dudes and phoney chicks with no brain cells to rub together. While people might complain that the music stuff (which came along much later) is MySpace's redeeming feature, the fact remains that it's mainly a bottom-feeders' hookup site.
The whole concept is a joke nowadays. Friendster became the forgotten red-headed stepchild when their servers couldn't handle the load, and Orkut was completely overrun by Brazilians who, much like the Mexicans coming back to re-take California, could give two sh*ts that English is the de-facto lingua franca of the Internet. These sites' 15 minutes of fame is up. I don't know a single friend who is active on any of them. We all got accounts when they started, and now they just gather dust. I won't mourn their demise.
14 - MuTeD
Pfft, not true :)
15 - Kid Hobo
http://blog.myspace.com/murdoch_rupert
16 - Bennett
Kid hobo, Please make your link clickable, and have a comment or something.
Your barren link messes up the collumns.
Thanks!
17 - Phillip Winn
DJ, everything on here is true, except the parts that aren't.
We've scooped the major news sites on smaller stories a couple of times -- apparently including this one.
18 - gliffcopm
If it does die, that means I finally get my life back.
19 - D.C.
Like RiotNerrrd said above, myspace is by far one of the worst services, and Friendster should've patented the idea.
Tell me one thing, if you are listening to a CD on the computer and you're rocking out while you are surfing the web and you happen to be checking out myspace; chances are you're gonna be bombarded with some form of music from someone's profile that you do not want to hear. You're gonna be pissed right??? That's what turned me off. My entire music library is from Itunes. I mean their site is full of kids, not 18-25 year olds as the article says; I've seen kids on there as young as 10 years old, and nothing is ever done about it.
Plus from a computer programming standpoint which is my focus of study, it's basically chaotic seeing the mediocre HTML work on that website b/c they allow their users to mess with it themselves; that's why you see ocean scene backgrounds with light blue writing (that also causes major headaches).
To put it simply, Friendster had problems in the past, but has stayed true and has not sold out. Let's say forget about myspace and re-populate Friendster.
20 - DAVE STORM
It matters not, where the oblivion of misconcepted view points from those who aim to oppose the accellerated new found successes of one man. Who, incidently, knew NOT, of just HOW FAR the extensive explosion of his inner potential through the improvised innovative network he created, would go. HE...in fact was annointed, by the powers that be, to recieve the flourishes of his creation instead of the primaries of the pavers before him. Because success in this day of age, aspires by those who were not expecting it. It is a cultivated stronghold of the phrase, "EXPECT NOTHING and GAIN EVERYTHING" vs. the sub-minded inner projective opinions of those who have remarkably done nothing to accell they're OWN successes, and obviously posess no positive inquiry to heighten the wonderfully blessed attributes and new found wealth of others, but however instead, devise only comments to tear down and ridicule the continued successes of others who've recieved handsome offers by kamakaze corporate contenders in the mediocrity of such a vast shark feeding circus of a world. In other words....DON'T FUCKING HATE!!! because YOU have FAILED excessively! Or because he pulled in a WHALE and you only got a tuna sandwich. Give the guy props, man, instead of moronic self absorbed pity and chastisement, based on the shortcomings of your OWN failed conceptions that you never had the fucking BALLS to launch, or what could have, or WOULD HAVE been your feeble ass claim to FAME! Just sit there and ponder the simplistic fact of reality, while you kick yourself, repetitively in the ass....asking yourself the question over & over again, and that QUESTION BEING, "Why THE FUCK DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT!" Because THAT is what unconditionally has you PISSED! YOU SICKEN ME! YOU DENY THE SYSTEM AS YOU EMBRACE IT! THE TRUE SUCCESS OF OTHERS! vs your OWN FAILED ATTEMPTS. By nature, we are all biologically connected. What Tom has accomplished is phenomenal, he has junctioned millions and millions of people together forming a circuit of PURE ENERGY. Using, adapting, improvising in a pre existing formula for bringing people TOGETHER!!!! As GOD INTENDED it and wants us ALL to be. JUST THAT! TOGETHER!!!!! Not DIVIDED! Only the "Enemy" loves and embraces division, so do the MATH! and TRY to conduct a more POSITIVE outlook on this guy or anyone ELSE'S for that matter SUCCESS...and then ask YOURSELF, what has it been, that has kept YOU from SUCCEEDING!!! Do this before you begin JUDGING and condemning the successions of your fellow man. Because incidently and contrary to popular belief my friends, ANY and ALL of YOU, for that kind of LOOT? Would have "SOLD OUT" too. I know I would HAVE, and that's ok! It's ok to SELL OUT to CORPORATE!THIS IS AMERICA, THIS IS THE WORLD!, WE BUY AND SELL DAILY!, our nations ECONOMY is BASED ON IT! from the beginning of TIME! So it's OK! to sell out to corporate, as long as one NEVER sells out to...TRUE FRIENDS! Be WELL!
- D. R. STORM
21 - Daniella
Thats really messed up. If myspace starts chargeing looks like im going back to Xanga!
http://www.myspace.com/15549214
22 - Douglas Mays
hhhmmm...My Space. I am a computer retard, but I just put www.myspace.com/x15 up their. Oh well, we'll just see what happens.
23 - J
FUCK that!! to the people who think myspace is so fucking bad! Try finding friends you havn't seen in years and being able to find them and fucking talk to them. Just because youthink you are a fucking genious or something and you probobly fucking nit pick at everything in the fucking world b/c you think everything is against you or something. WELL GEUSS WHAT it is you neive stupid peices of UGLY SHIT!!!!!!!
ps myspace is awesome
24 - Dave Nalle
Discussion of MySpace seems to attract people who can't spell and rave uncontrollably. What does that tell us about MySpace?
Dave
25 - Sheena
i have a myspace
its addicting
and i love it!
as long as we dont have to pay anything, i'll be fine!
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