In late June, Specific Media bought MySpace for $35 million and announced Justin Timberlake's involvement. Yesterday, they hinted at more of their comeback plans via an AdAge interview setting the stage for a possible press conference next week.
Al Dejewski, the new senior VP-global marketing for Specific Media who will also oversee marketing for Myspace, discussed the company's comeback plans with a focus on music as a "foundation" and iTunes, Spotify and Vevo as targeted competitors (as opposed to, say, Facebook and Google+):
"No other music destination online today can claim the breadth of partnership we have with the four major music labels in addition to the tens of millions of independent artists and the libraries of their songs."
Given that most musicians still seem to have some sort of presence on MySpace, whether or not that presence is active, MySpace has a lot to work with despite wide-ranging scepticism.
Yesterday, Dejewski also described the future MySpace as an "interactive content platform" for Specific Media that gives it a "consumer-facing platform."
At this point, the unspoken focus is not just on winning users, but on convincing advertisers of their strength, When Specific Media CEO Tim Vanderhook spoke with AdAge on the day of the sale, he stated:
"We intend to make MySpace what it was supposed to be. We want to fulfill the original promise of MySpace -- be a true home for content creators and artists."
Music is the obvious place to start and having Justin Timberlake on board as creative adviser helps eventual bridging to movies, tv and other media. In that interview, Vanderhook also stated that they would hold a press conference in 60 days, including Timberlake, where they will get more specific on strategy. Look for an announcement early next week with yesterday's interview a teaser targeting advertisers.
Though News Corp. may have wanted MySpace to work, Specific Media needs it to be successful to realize their own aspirations. And that desire, combined with their considerable resources, may make a huge difference in focus and commitment.
Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith is a freelance writer and blogger. He is currently relaunching Flux Research to pursue his long-standing obsession with web business models. To suggest music services and related topics for review at Hypebot, please contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
