MySpace Press Room: MySpace Blog

Enough is Enough and MySpace Empower Parents with Internet Safety 101 Program

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST

By Hemanshu Nigam, MySpace Chief Security Officer

March 11, 2010

As today’s kids become more tech-savvy and engrained in the world of social media, MySpace has teamed up with Enough Is Enough, one of the nation’s leading Internet safety organizations,  to bring parents “Internet Safety 101,” a multi-media program that educates, equips, and empowers parents and educators with the knowledge and resources they need to protect their teens online.  

"Internet Safety 101” includes a four-part DVD teaching series, accompanying workbook and Web site, and features experts from around the country who educate parents about new Web technologies and ways to protect their kids from online dangers. In the program, I share useful advice for parents related to safety and security in social networking sites and discuss the importance of tools such as privacy settings. You can see a clip of my video as well as video vignettes from of other experts from the program here, on the Enough Is Enough Web site.  (MORE)

MySpace Launches New Games Experience and Connects with Developers at GDC 2010

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST

Posted by Mike Jones, Co-President

March 10, 2010

Gaming is core to the overall entertainment value of MySpace. Nearly a third of our users engage daily in games and there are more than 28 million active app users on our site. Over the last few months, we’ve had a laser focus on improving our gaming experience. Just as music was our springboard for revitalizing our platform, we’re taking a similar approach to gaming which you’ll see in new features throughout site.

Today, at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, we’re launching a new MySpace Games experience. We’ve revamped the previous games homepage and created a more robust gaming platform. For users, this means it’s going to be easier than ever to discover and share games virally. For developers, we’ve improved application engagement and analytics tools so you have more intelligence on the demographics of who is using your games, how they’re discovering them and how they’re being shared. (MORE)

Meet Dehlia and Graeham- Our New Married on MySpace couple!

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST

Posted by Dehlia and Graeham

March 9, 2010

Hey MySpace!!

We are SUPER excited and humbled by your support and all your votes. We are so honored and blessed to have been chosen for this "one of a kind" experience.  We had put in countless hours on top of our day jobs and your votes made it all worth it...We can't thank you enough!!!

The day we found out was quite an adventure.  We received a text telling us to head to a Bridge in downtown L.A. to pick up our 1^st clue.  The suspense was killing us, so we rushed out the door.  We were given instructions to head to another location where we ended up at LA Live, right by the Staples Center.  There we saw a treasure chest and found another clue which said "The Signs are all around you"   We were surrounded by about 17 large TV Screens and then our names popped up on all these monitors. (MORE)

 

MySpace Mobile Becomes Top Social App on Android Platform

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST

By Scott Goldberg, product manager, MySpace Mobile

March 9, 2010

As more people are acclimating to a mobile lifestyle, more of our MySpace users are enjoying MySpace on-the- go through downloadable apps and the mobile web. In fact, we’re excited to share that MySpace Mobile has become the number one social application on the Android platform, and the third most popular downloaded application on Android.

Our deep integration with the Android platform is one of the reasons why we’ve seen a surge in usage. Unique to this app, we have three home screen widgets. One of them allows voice-enabled status updates. We also allow users to set MySpace photos as background wallpaper on their phone’s home screen. Close integration with the native Android camera contributes to the customized experience and makes it easy for MySpace users to take, upload and share pictures of their friends out having fun.  ( MORE )

MySpace for Outlook Kicks Email up a Notch

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST

Posted by Mike Jones

March 8, 2010

You may have heard some buzz a couple of weeks ago following the beta launch of Microsoft’s Outlook Social Connector software, which brings together communications history, contact information, and professional and social networking information – all within Microsoft Outlook.

With over 400 million active users, Microsoft’s Outlook email and calendar client is a mainstay in the modern workplace. And today, I’m excited to share that after a dedicated effort from our development team, we’re releasing our very own public beta of MySpace for Outlook, a new plug-in that enables you to view MySpace user activity and contact information within Microsoft Outlook. (MORE)

MySpace Shines Spotlight on 25th Annual Spirit Awards with Live Webcast, Audience Interaction and In-Show Integration

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST

Cap Poehner, Executive Editor, Movies & TV

March 5, 2010

Awards Season is reaching a fever pitch as the red carpets rolls out to put a much-deserved spotlight on the artists who are shaping the future of movies, television and music. But it’s also a time to recognize that big budget blockbusters aren’t the only films deserving of accolades. The entertainment industry has provided the independent film community a platform to garner exposure for their projects even with small budgets, particularly with the emergence of the Spirit Awards – an event that has unquestionably become one of the biggest supporters for independent filmmakers everywhere.

Just as the Spirit Awards have become a renowned platform for emerging artists, MySpace has always been a place for filmmakers of any experience level or genre to showcase their work and develop a fan base, so of course we were compelled to help the Spirit Awards commemorate their 25^th Anniversary and bring viewers closer to the event than ever before.

With MySpace as the official host of the 2010 Spirit Awards red carpet live webcast, thanks to dick clark productions and Ustream, viewers will be able to watch the stars arrive in real time today at 5pm PT/8pm ET by tuning into the MySpace profile at www.myspace.com/spiritawards. We’re also offering an unprecedented level of audience interaction with comprehensive in-show integration made possible by MySpace’s unique movie and music verticals. In the spirit of openness, all viewers will be able to: ( MORE )

MySpace Talks Social Entertainment at IAB’s Annual Leadership Meeting

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST

Posted by Nada Stirratt, Chief Revenue Officer

This week, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) brought together leaders of the interactive marketing and advertising ecosystem to Carlsbad, California, for its 2010 Annual Leadership Meeting to discuss and debate the key issues facing the future of marketing and advertising. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in last night’s closing keynote and to share the stage with our very own co-President Jason Hirschhorn.

During our keynote Jason and I elaborated on MySpace’s core offerings from an entertainment standpoint. With exclusive access to music, videos, artists, and other compelling entertainment, the site has long been a destination for discovery and we really wanted to show this crowd how MySpace is thinking differently about the advertiser experience and illustrate the level of sophistication that we are able to bring to the table. (MORE)

MySpace Real Time Search Goes Live on Google

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST

Posted by Mike Jones, Co-President, MySpace

February 16, 2010

In December, Google announced plans to implement the MySpace Real-Time Search API, which would push publicly available updates from our users to Google in real-time. The implementation is now LIVE on Google and we couldn't be more excited to be the first social networking platform to light up real-time integration with Google.

Empowering our audience to share, discover and showcase content – whether it's music, movies or games – is core to the MySpace experience. This partnership increases our users’ ability to share and showcase content across the open Web and gives people outside the MySpace network even more ways to discover new content. (MORE)

Spotlight on… Linh Chung, VP of Network Operations

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

Posted by MySpace

February 5, 2010

You never think about the behind the scenes of a website as ubiquitous as MySpace unless something goes wrong – you see an error response or the site isn’t quite running as quickly as you’re used to. People rely on social media to share, discover, connect and communicate, and expect their favorite site to be waiting for them no matter what. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are people out there who spend all of their energy making sure a site is always up and running well.

One of those people is Linh Chung - Linh runs the Production Operations team at MySpace and is in charge of making sure the site is always up, the platform runs smoothly, and users are receiving a great user experience. The Production Operations team manages a huge undertaking when you consider that MySpace is utilized by more than 100 million users in 29 countries around the world, yet the team is only comprised of roughly 24 people. (MORE)

My GRAMMY Red Carpet Experience with MySpace Music

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

Posted by Roslynn Cobarrubias

Senior Director Marketing, MySpace Music

February 1, 2010

For the past few days I feel like I’ve taken a crash course on The GRAMMYS. Growing up as a kid, and working as a music-obsessed DJ, watching my favorite artists on the GRAMMYs has been a bit of a tradition. I remember watching Janet Jackson perform “What Have You Done for Me Lately” in 1987 and Michael Jackson’s memorable “Man In the Mirror”  performance in 1988. I never anticipated to not only attend the awards show once again, but actually working as a red carpet correspondent for MySpace Music, CBS, and the GRAMMYs. As cheesy as it sounds, it was a dream come true!

I can also say that I have a new appreciation for not only the GRAMMYs, but the entire national organization that operates 365 days out of the year in 12 major cities. I’ve learned a lot about programs like Music Cares that help musicians and artists in need during financial hardships for things like healthcare and other expenses.  (MORE)

MySpace Celebrates Filmmakers and Friends at Sundance 2010

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

Posted by Myspace

January 29, 2010

When Sundance rolls around, we dust off our parkas and head to Utah to get up close and personal with the talent and tastemakers that continue to support MySpace’s vision for entertainment. We mix and mingle and, most importantly, enjoy a sneak preview of the latest independent film ventures on the horizon. The event is truly an inspiration for the growing community of aspiring artists here on MySpace and we couldn’t help but share some of the highlights. I was thrilled to attend the opening night screening of the Shorts Program introduced by Robert Redford. Spike Jonze and Rory Kennedy debuted their shorts I’m Here and The Fence respectively followed by a brilliant look at a commercialized world in Logorama by François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy, and Ludovic Houplain. (MORE)

Your official guide to The GRAMMYs on MySpace

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

Posted by Myspace

January 29, 2010

It is that time of year again. The air is crisp, the snow is falling and some of your favorite musicians are flying to Los Angeles to wear eight-thousand dollar gowns.

That's right: The GRAMMYs are approaching. They're coming fast (Sunday, in fact) and, in turn, we here at MySpace Music will have all sorts of ways to get closer to your favorite artists over the next few days.   (MORE)

MySpace Mail Celebrates 15 Million Accounts Created

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

Posted by Rajit Marwah, MySpace

January 25, 2010

 Last August we announced the global beta rollout of MySpace Mail, the uniquely MySpace twist on mail that blended the best of social networking and traditional mail. I’m extremely proud to announce that today MySpace Mail has reached 15 million accounts.

 Adoption by our users has experienced phenomenal growth, well exceeding initial expectations. At launch we set a goal of 10 million accounts created within a year – we knew we were on to something when we surpassed this goal in less than a quarter.  (MORE)

MIDEM Keynote: MySpace and SoundExchange Work To Deliver Royalties to Indie Artists

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST

Posted by Owen Van Natta

January 23, 2010

Today I spoke at MIDEM , the global music industry event held each year in Cannes. MIDEM brings together the best and brightest from the world of music – including musicians, music journalists, and industry influencers – to discuss the future of music and how it is experienced on a global scale. This was my first keynote outside of the U.S., and I took this opportunity to share our vision of MySpace as a next generation content distribution platform.

MySpace Music has gained considerable traction amongst users, and today’s keynote focused on some of the company’s recent milestones. MySpace Music unique users grew by 30% this month, and unique users are up 92% year-over-year (comScore December 09). Add to that the fact that we’re now the #1 music site in Australia, and that our users have created more than 170 million playlists worldwide, and the power of our global platform really becomes apparent. ( MORE )

Meet the MySpace Journal 2010 Winner

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

Posted By Sloane Berrent, MySpace Citizen Journalist

To attend the World Economic Forum in Davos is truly the opportunity of a lifetime. I would like to thank MySpace, the Wall St. Journal and the World Economic Forum for offering me this opportunity. I'd like to thank the judges, especially the 6th judge - YOU. So many amazing people in my online network voted for me and I wouldn't have this opportunity without your support. Thank you.

As I talked about in my video entry for this contest, my life has changed dramatically this past year. I went from working in a technology startup in Los Angeles to traveling the world as a global volunteer, discovering my own online voice on my blog, The Causemopolitan and eventually, at the end of my travels, relocating to New Orleans to be part of a vibrant social entrepreneurship community and continuing movement to rebuild one of America's greatest cities.  (MORE)

 

“If I Can Dream” on MySpace…

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:00:00 EST

Posted by Angela Courtin , SVP, Marketing, Entertainment & Content

January 19, 2010

Our MySpace users are talented. We’ve seen them dance, sing, strum, photograph, illustrate and speak their voice. Over the last six years, MySpace has become a platform that showcases undiscovered talent. From singer-songwriter, Colbie Caillat , to funny man, Dane Cook ; our site has become a hub for sharing raw talent and exploring one’s love to perform.

During the past decade, we’ve witnessed countless reality-based shows give the “average Joe” the opportunity to achieve their 15 minutes of fame and experience life in the spotlight. Now the industry is abuzz with the next stage of reality TV as Simon Fuller, the creator of “American Idol,” will premiere his new online entertainment show, “ If I Can Dream .” The show will document the lives of young people who dream of succeeding in Hollywood. As the exclusive social networking partner, MySpace is powering the platform for Hollywood hopefuls to audition for the show. (MORE)

MySpace Music Annouces News Introducing Artist: Semi Precious Weapons

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST

Posted By Justin Trantor, Semi Precious Weapons

January 15, 2010

When we heard that MySpace Music (or The Spooce as we call it) wanted to make us a part of their "Introducing…" program we almost died. The amount of time we have spent working on MySpace since this band started in 2006 is insane. Yes b*tches, we talked to every fan that wrote us, posted 20 bulletins for every show we ever played, and even sent clever spam requests trying to build our loves aka fans.

Yesterday, I got about 20 texts from family and friends saying things like "holy bleep your face is on the homepage of MySpace!". Having the king of music-social-networking commit to featuring a filthy band like ours is almost as helpful as magic.

All four of us have been playing since we were 10 years old, went to music school, and as a band we have driven ourselves around the whole country in van for 3 years trying to get people to hear our rockNroll. So to get a bleeping gorgeous push like this is...well...bleeping gorgeous. I honestly can't remember the amount of times I told people "I don't care what it takes, but one day Semi Precious Weapons is gonna find a way to be on the homepage of MySpace..."

-Justin

Justin Tranter is the lead singer of Semi Precious Weapons. You can hear him speak at the upcoming New Music Seminar on February 2^nd in Los Angeles on a panel about The Creative Process and Radical Differentiation. Semi Precious is currently on tour with Lady Gaga and joins Jason Derulo, K. Michelle and Never Shout Never as MySpace Music’s next round of “Introducing…” artists.

For more information on the new Introducing... artists click here ( MORE )

Sean Percival Joins MySpace as Director of Content Socialization

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

Posted by Angela Courtin , SVP, Marketing, Entertainment & Content

January 14, 2010

I’m excited to announce that respected tech influencer Sean Percival has joined MySpace as its new Director of Content Socialization, effective immediately. In this new role, Sean will partner with MySpace’s Editorial and Content teams to increase visibility and traffic across the site. He’ll help lead the charge to create compelling social experiences for MySpace users by developing new and alternative ways to leverage social media activities. Sean will be based in MySpace headquarters in Beverly Hills and report to me.  ( MORE )

Spotlight on: Tish Whitcraft, SVP, Customer Experience and Operations

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

Our MySpace users are loyal and visit the site daily to interact with friends, find new music, discover content and share their passions. Recent data shows that roughly seven out of 10 customers will not inform a company of an issue or problem, but simply stop using the site or product. We never want a technical error or site glitch to interfere with a user’s social entertainment experience on our site.

In my 1.5 years at MySpace as the SVP of Customer Experience and Operations, our team has revamped our entire user help experience with updates including a new homepage, layout and navigation, new search technology that makes it easier for users to find what they’re looking for and updated FAQs. We’ve also added help videos so users can see how to use our products on MySpace.  For example, we posted a tutorial on how to sync your MySpace and Twitter accounts and how to create and share music on MySpace.  The re-launch of MySpace Help decreased customer contacts to us by more than 100,000 each month! ( MORE )

MySpace’s Best of 2009

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST

Posted by MySpace

December 18, 2009

One of the many great things about MySpace is the fact that our users are constantly telling us what they love on the site. While our editorial staff takes pride in spotlighting well-known artists, blockbuster films, legendary celebrities, along with breaking new bands, films, celebrities, comedians and designers and introducing the latest viral phenomena, it’s also our users who set trends on MySpace by socializing the content they love.

With this in mind we present the Best of 2009 – the top most watched, most shared, most interesting, and most exciting content on our site from Music, Videos, Movies, Celebrity, Fashion, Sports and Comedy.

Without further ado here’s what MySpace and it’s community found interesting, compelling and downright entertaining in 2009 – Enjoy!

( MORE )

Year in Music

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:45:00 EST

Posted By Trevor Kelley

December 18, 2009

Dear Mr. Vernon,

We accept that fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday afternoon writing this blog for whatever it is we did wrong. But we think you are crazy to make us write a blog like this to tell you why we chose our favorite releases of the year.

No matter what we say, you’ll see us as you want to see us. In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions, we are…

•  A short emo dude who isn’t afraid to say that he liked both the Lady Gaga <I>and Manchester Orchestra</I> records.

•  A die-hard R&B fan who convinced us how good that Melanie Fiona album is. 

•  A father of two who still stood up for that LMFAO record.  (Jeesh.)

•  And a music scholar who played the White Lies record really loud in his office all year.

 ( MORE )

Tune in to Live Webcast of AVATAR Red Carpet Arrivals on MySpace tonight!

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted by Angela Courtin, SVP Marketing, Entertainment & Content

December 16, 2009

We’re excited to announce that coming off of the huge success of The Twilight Saga: New Moon red carpet live broadcast, MySpace and Twentieth Century Fox are hosting the exclusive live webcast of the AVATAR premiere red carpet arrivals tonight at 8:30 pm ET/5:30 pm PT. The star-studded event will be made available worldwide and presented on the official AVATAR MySpace profile at www.myspace.com/officialavatarmovie.

The interactive webcast features cast and celebrity attendee interviews and provides unique access to the premiere of one of this year’s most highly anticipated films, opening in theaters on December 18. Viewers will be able to participate in real-time by posting comments or questions for the celebrities during the broadcast. Be sure to spread the news to your family and friends!  (MORE)

MySpace Unveils New APIs to Unleash Real-Time Data

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:00:00 EST

Posted by Mike Jones, Chief Operating Officer

December 9, 2009

Industry discussions about the real-time Web continue to heat up. Given the potential it has to re-shape the online content experience, it’s no wonder that it’s a major theme at this week’s LeWeb conference in Paris. Today I’m speaking to conference attendees to announce some exciting new additions to the MySpace Developer Platform.

At MySpace, we’ve made significant strides in socializing content on the site. Our users share nearly 35 million activities and updates per day with rich content like music, photos, videos, and apps. Most importantly, we’ve completed extensive research to measure the value-add that real-time data brings to our users.

As we continue looking for new ways to socialize the growing array of rich, scalable content on MySpace, we want to also inspire the developer community to continue generating innovative applications that make it easier to socialize content on and off our site. 

Developers are already cultivating unique gaming and entertainment scenarios on MySpace, and now, we’re taking it one step further by opening up this data with a new suite of free-to-use APIs.  In support of the new API’s, several partners launched implementations today ( MORE )

Imeem Becomes Part of MySpace Music

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST

Posted By, Owen Van Natta, CEO

December 8, 2009

Today, MySpace Music has completed a deal to acquire certain assets of imeem - a leading social media music service.

MySpace Music and imeem share a common vision and commitment to further enabling the socialization of content across the Web.  This deal will allow us to leverage imeem’s industry leading technology and over time, meaningfully integrate their products into the MySpace Music experience.

Since its inception in 2003, imeem has built a highly engaged music community of more than 16 million users worldwide.  imeem helped pioneer the ad-supported digital music model and created the Web’s first embeddable music and video playlists enabling users to embed songs and playlists virtually anywhere on the Web, including MySpace.

In the coming weeks, our team will be working as quickly as possible to take aspects of imeem that users love and migrate them to MySpace Music. We’ll start that transition today by redirecting imeem users to MySpace Music to discover their favorite music.   As quickly as possible, we’ll be working to offer users the imeem playlists they’ve created on MySpace Music.

We’re also happy to welcome imeem CEO Dalton Caldwell, CTO Bryan Berg, COO Ali Aydar and VP of Sales David Wade to the team as consultants to help manage this transition.

During this transition period, we invite all imeem users to check out MySpace Music’s extensive catalogue of fully licensed music and video content from major and indie artists, editorial coverage, concerts, and ticket information.

-Owen

MySpace Partners with Google to Deliver Real-Time Results

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST

Posted by Jason Hirschhorn, Chief Product Officer, MySpace

December 7, 2009

Through comments, status updates, and activities, our millions of global users are constantly socializing around the content that matters most to them. This constant activity creates a stream of information that provides a snapshot of what our users are saying and doing at any particular moment in time: a pulse of pop culture. Until today, that rich stream of user interaction and expression has not been publicly available or searchable.

Today we’re excited to announce the availability of a new search innovation that pushes the publicly available updates from our users to anyone using the MySpace Developer Platform in real time, and that Google will be the first partner to implement MySpace real-time results as part of its Real Time Search initiative.   

The Google partnership brings your search results to life with a dynamic stream of real-time content from across the web. When searching Google, you’ll soon see live updates from MySpace users, as well as headlines from news and blog posts that have been published within seconds. All of these updates will be ranked to show the freshest, most relevant results related to what you're looking for.

Here’s how it works: When users search for a particular topic on Google, they will see MySpace users’ real-time updates about photos, videos, moods and other content seamlessly integrated alongside traditional search results. These results make the search experience more relevant for Google’s users while allowing MySpace to build on its vision of an open social web. ( MORE )

MySpace Upgrades Mobile Website

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:00:00 EST

Posted by John Faith, VP and GM, MySpace Mobile

December 3, 2009

Today, we’re launching a new version of MySpace’s mobile website m.myspace.com for iPhone, Android, and Palm WebOS users.   This new site is optimized to take advantage of the advanced browsers and screen sizes on these devices, allowing the user to navigate MySpace and take actions with a lot fewer clicks.  The new site also includes a mobile-optimized version of MySpaceIM and notifies the user of new MySpace activity (new messages, comments, IM messages, etc) immediately.   Finally, the redesigned photos layout makes browsing photos across MySpace a lot more fun.  (MORE)

MySpace UK Celebrates Music Launch with Special Kasabian Show!

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted by Will Francis, Site Editor, MySpace UK

December 3, 2009

Here at MySpace UK we’ve put on a long list of gigs all over our rainy little island. We’ve done them in bars, on buses, in aircraft hangars, even in our office here in London with the likes of Primal Scream, Faithless, Lily Allen, Babyshambles, Cobra Starship, Florence + The Machine, Soulwax, CSS (more than we can remember in fact, both because of the sheer number but also perhaps because of the ever-present alcoholic beverages that always seem to find their way into these shindigs!).

Last night was a different kind of show. We were partying to celebrate more than just the great music on the stage, but also the vast catalogue of incredible music we’ve opened up to our British audience. MySpace has always been known as a place for new artists to make their name and for major artists to keep it real and stay close to their fans. Today we’ve made that an even more comprehensive experience where anyone can listen to whole albums and back catalogues of artists from Elvis to Rihanna and pretty much anything in between. Oh, and there’s official music videos, new daily charts and the ability to create and share limitless playlists! (MORE) 

MySpace Music Launches in the UK

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST

Posted By Courtney Holt, MySpace Music President

December 2, 2009

The UK is renowned for its passionate and committed music fans, and MySpace has had a rich history with its artist community. Acts like Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen embraced MySpace from the outset, and are now synonymous with the site. I’m thrilled to announce MySpace Music is now officially available to all artists and music fans in the UK.

The Internet has helped globalize the music industry, and MySpace Music remains committed as ever to being one of the key global platforms moving forward. Recently we enjoyed successful launches in Australia and New Zealand, while our Charts and Dashboard products were launched in 17 languages and more than 20 different territories.

MySpace Music has already received major support from the UK music community. Our “Get Real Close” campaign features videos and playlists from acts including 50 Cent, Pixie Lott, Florence & the Machine, Alicia Keys, Chipmunk, David Guetta, Lost Prophets, Nelly Furtado, and Kasabian (playing a special performance to celebrate the launch tonight in a small London club). The new service also premieres with exclusive personal playlists from a wide cross section of famous music fans ranging from Katie Price to The Vatican. The Vatican’s playlist features artists as diverse as Muse, Mozart, Dame Shirley Bassey and Tupac. ( MORE )

Spotlight on: Shari Friedman, Vice President of Entertainment Sales

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST

For some, their love for movies is a nightly hobby. For others, they make it their career.

Meet Shari Friedman: movie buff extraordinaire, nine year advertising industry veteran and vice president of entertainment sales for MySpace. Shari and her team work with entertainment companies to promote upcoming films, DVD releases and TV shows on MySpace.

Check out the interview after the jump to get more insight into Shari’s job and why she believes MySpace is a premiere destination for entertainment enthusiasts and advertisers alike. ( MORE )

MySpace Music’s The Release Celebrates 50 Shows!

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted By Roslynn Cobarrubias, Director of Urban Marketing, MySpace Music

November 24, 2009

You might say I stole the idea for The Release program from my co-worker Isac Walter after years spent pressing my ear up against his office door as he planned so many of his famed Secret Shows.

While we had already held a couple shows with legends in the rap world like Ice Cube and Lil Wayne it seemed there were still some artists that didn't quite fit the Secret Shows brand and I wanted to start a program that really celebrated and catered to urban artists and their fans.

So in the fall of 2007, the first Release show was booked with Chamillionare in New York City. From there, the shows whizzed by… Nas, Wyclef Jean and Erykah Badu all happened within the first few months. (MORE)

Twilight Highlights

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST

Posted by Capulet Poehner

November 20, 2009

As opening day is finally upon us, the excitement and suspense for The Twilight Saga: New Moon has finally reached its climax! "Twihards" around the world have waited for what seems like forever and as the film appears destined to open huge this weekend I look back on the journey we’ve taken to arrive at November 20. Since June, MySpace has been an integral part of the New Moon campaign, working alongside Summit Entertainment to promote the film across all entertainment verticals of the site. Our campaign exemplifies the strengths of socializing content as it has been shared and spread across various mediums, along with hundreds to thousands of comments relating to each piece of content. We’ve been able to weave in status updates, exclusive content debuts, free music streaming, and offline programs into a comprehensive campaign that we’re extremely proud of.

If you’ve missed any of our The Twilight Saga: New Moon content or if you’d like to check it out again to get in the spirit for tonight’s festivities here’s an overview of the last 5 months. Also be sure to check out the site tomorrow for a surprise any New Moon fan wouldn’t want to miss! ( MORE )

A Night to Remember from MySpace’s #1 Twilight Fan

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:45:00 EST

By Courtney Glynn

November 18, 2009

Courtney Glynn was the lucky winner of The Twilight Saga: New Moon Red Carpet Correspondent Contest hosted by MySpace. Fans were encouraged to submit reasons why they should be awarded the prize and express what makes them a Twilight fan. Among the thousands of MySpace users who entered, Courtney’s heartfelt response was chosen. She won tickets to attend the premiere in Los Angeles and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a correspondent for MySpace on the red carpet where nearly three million people saw her speak with the cast via a live webcast powered by Ustream. Here’s an inside look at Courtney’s experience, one that we’re sure she will never forget!

*****************************************************

I hope that in some way I can manage to convey to every Twilight Saga fan the surreal and truly amazing experience I have been awarded, but how do you describe the night sky to the sun? How can you even begin to find words for something that is beyond language? My feelings during Monday night’s events are those you only dream of having on your wedding day. It was more than anything I had dared to let myself hope for, and more of a dream than you could imagine.  ( MORE )

MySpace Music Launches Charts - How Do You Rank?

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

Posted By Courtney Holt, President of MySpace Music

November 18, 2009

Every artist aspires to be #1. The music platform on MySpace was built on the belief that if you provide artists with the right tools to properly market themselves then the opportunities are endless- and we understood from the very beginning that data would be one of the most important tools we could offer.

Over these past few months we’ve gone under the hood to take a closer look at the intelligence underlining the MySpace Music platform and we’ve been focused on making it cleaner, more meaningful and more accessible to artists.

With last month’s beta launch of our new Artist Dashboard we now provide a comprehensive analytics tool to help give artists and labels useful intelligence about what’s resonating with fans and how their content is being socialized throughout MySpace.

Continuing that momentum, today marks the beta launch of MySpace Music Charts- a new global product that creates multiple front doors into the discovery of popular music content across all genres. Whether you’re a hip hop act, an unsigned progressive rock band or the next electronica sensation in Germany – there’s a chart for that. ( MORE )

MySpace Connects Twilight Fans through Highly-Integrated, Immersive Partnership

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST

UPDATE: Three million viewers tuned in to The Twilight Saga: New Moon red carpet live stream making it the highest number of total viewers for a Ustream red carpet webcast. It marks the farthest-reaching event the broadcasting platform has streamed to date with more than two million uniques. Thanks for watching and go here to see it again including Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner interviews: http://www.myspace.com/newmoonpremiere. (MORE)

Open Government Grows, MySpace Users Get Pipeline into FCC

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted By Angela Courtin, SVP of Marketing, Entertainment and Content

November 12, 2009

Today we live in an era when people and their governments talk directly. Press releases have given way to blog posts for public comment, and townhalls are as common as press conferences. The difference is dramatic, even since I helped run Rock the Vote in 2004.

This change is enabled by technology and demanded by a powerful grassroots sense of hands-on citizenship. We’re happy that MySpace and its users have been leaders in this revolution. As a place for self-expression, MySpace is a place where:

o    Users are twice as active in the online political community as average internet users,

o    700 thousand voters were registered during the last Presidential race, and

o    Over $850,000 in donations have been raised for charitable causes. (MORE)

Tom Green and Rob Schneider Join the MySpace Secret Stand-Up Family

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Posted by Jordan Ellner, Manager of MySpace Comedy

November 4, 2009

MySpace Comedy is the largest online community for comics and fans with more than 61,000 registered comedians. Over the years everyone from well-known advocates like Dane Cook, who got their start on the site, to the next generation of comedic superstars practicing in underground venues around the country have made their home on MySpace and It’s because of their continued support and participation that the comedy community on our site continues to thrive.

Over the last 4 years I’ve seen the incredible growth and success of our Secret Stand-Up series- an offline program that offers users the chance to attend exclusive free  performances from some of the biggest names in comedy. If you’ve visited the site or attended one of our shows, you know we’re able to deliver an unparalleled experience with comedians like David Alan Grier, Kevin Nealon, Jon Lovitz, Owen Benjamin and many more on our ever growing roster of past performers. Today I’m excited to welcome two new additions to our Secret Stand-Up family: Tom Green and Rob Schneider. It goes without saying that these are both BIG acts on and off-screen and we can’t wait to bring you front-and-center for their latest projects. (MORE)

MySpace Syndicates Major Artist Content Into Google Search

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:00:00 EST

Posted by President of MySpace Music, Courtney Holt 

November 3, 2009

We were excited last week to be part of Google's discover music launch in partnership with iLike, and today we've teamed up with some amazing artists to demonstrate the power of the MySpace content syndication platform.

To celebrate this milestone in online music discovery, we’re excited to announce that compelling, never-before-released content from dozens of major artists including Lady Gaga, Kings of Leon, and Green Day will be available on MySpace (and iLike.com)—and discoverable through Google search. (MORE)

MySpace’s Zero Tolerance Policy for App Scams

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST

Posted by Owen Van Natta

November 3, 2009

There has been increased discussion recently about how some application developers on the Web’s major social platforms are misleading consumers with deceptive practices.  It’s important that users and developers clearly understand MySpace’s policies and approach to these activities.

The MySpace Apps Terms of Use clearly state that we prohibit any deceptive, misleading, and unfair activity through developer applications on MySpace.  The Terms of Use require developers to provide accurate information to users and comply with specific rules around what information is being collected, payment terms, and promotional offers.  They also prohibit spam and other malicious use.

Our Terms of Use were drafted with the following four principles in mind:

1.  All MySpace users are entitled to a safe, scam-free application experience.

2.  All offers to MySpace users must have a clear and accurate description which is not misleading or deceptive to users.

3.  All offers to MySpace users must have a clear and conspicuous explanation of cost with no hidden fees.

4.  No application is permitted to incentivize a user to provide their personal information in exchange for virtual goods or currency within the application.

( MORE )

National Cyber Security Awareness Month, Throughout the Year

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:15:00 EST

Posted By Hemanshu Nigam, Chief Security Officer, News Corporation and MySpace

October 29, 2009

As National Cyber Security Month comes to a close, I realized that we could all do what we usually do when we raise awareness around a cause – we highlight the things we should do, the ways we should act, the donations we should make – all at the launch of the event.  And then, the celebration comes to an end and we all move on.  It’s kind of like when summer turns to fall and then to winter and then to spring… we move on to the next season and in this case the next important cause. 

Let’s do something a little different this time around.  As National Cyber Security Month comes to a close, let’s work together to make it part of every season of the year.  Let’s use the lessons learned, the new awareness we have to protect our information and selves online throughout the coming year and beyond.  And, while we are at it, let’s keep raising awareness with those around us – our parents and kids, our aunts, uncles, and siblings, and our friends and colleagues.   

Do your part with every click you make – think of these tips to protect your identity, your finances, and your privacy:

( MORE )

MySpace Delivers Streaming Music and More on Google Search

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted by President of MySpace Music, Courtney Holt

October 28, 2009

Today we are announcing that MySpace is now delivering streaming music on Google search results.  This relationship was secured and implemented by the iLike team; on the heels of the rapid integration of iLike into the MySpace Music Video and Artist Dashboard product announcements last week this represents the advantageous nature of the iLike acquisition last month.

Beginning today, we and other partners are enabling Google to make it easier for music lovers around the world to find, listen to, and buy music. MySpace is providing Google search with audio tracks from both major and independent labels, as well as links to music videos and upcoming tour information. (MORE)

MySpace premieres Paramount Digital Entertainment interactive supernatural thriller, Circle of Eight

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST

Posted by Jason Kirk, VP of Video and Entertainment

October 27, 2009

We all know and love supernatural thriller classics. From the The Sixth Sense to Paranormal Activity, audiences worldwide have found pleasure in their intricate story lines, offbeat characters, and stunning visual imagery. Starting today, MySpace exclusively premieres an original supernatural series that takes the genre to a new level, with Mountain Dew, Paramount Pictures’ The Lovely Bones, and Adobe sponsoring the program.

This is Circle of 8, a short-form serial thriller produced by Paramount Digital Entertainment and distributed exclusively by MySpace. This 10-episiode series follows the life of Jessica, a newcomer to Los Angeles who moves into an eerie downtown building filled with “overly friendly” neighbors who welcome her into an un-seemingly peculiar, bohemian world. In a few short days, Jessica witnesses horrifying deaths that only she can see and finds herself in a race against time to unravel the mystery behind these unforgettable crimes. ( MORE )

MySpace Secret Shows Presents Weezer Live in San Francisco!

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted by Trevor Kelley, Marketing Manager, MySpace Music

October 21, 2009

Thursday night was a brisk 60 degrees in San Francisco, but if you were at the Regency Ballroom for the MySpace Secret Show with Weezer, the temperature was up and people were ready for some Raditude. Fans lined up around the block hours before the doors opened, and we were at capacity by the time Weezer took the stage at 9:00pm in sweet matching white sweat suits. The venue was perfect because it was sort of intimate but still gave fans the space to mosh – in fact during some songs people were jumping so much the floor was literally shaking. (MORE)

MySpace Music Brings the Artist Experience Full Circle

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:00:00 EST

Posted by Courtney Holt, President of MySpace Music

October 21, 2009

 

In the past 10 years, the music industry has shifted away from flashy marketing techniques that drive engagement across disconnected channels to really harnessing the power of the web and experimenting with new ways of uncovering what makes an audience tick.  It’s a very exciting time for artists and music enthusiasts, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to share with you the latest investments we’re making.  

 

Record labels used to be forced to take risks about what they felt might work well for their business and the artist, and simply didn’t have a way to track the data that resulted from these decisions. The investments in data were either traditional sales and airplay or concerns about bleed from new platforms. (MORE)

MySpace Secret Shows Presents The Flaming Lips

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted by Isac Walter, Director Marketing/Music Editor for MySpace Music

October 16, 2009

Over the years we’ve hosted more than 200 MySpace Secret Shows around the globe but last night was the first time we’ve ever hosted a secret pop up record store!

That’s just what you get when you plan a show with the mighty Flaming Lips, a band so unapologetically unique in their image and sound that they are only matched by their fans, many of whom began lining up outside of the Nike Montalban Theater in the early hours of the morning on Thursday wearing furry bunny costumes. It was there that Wayne Coyne and company were set to play a free MySpace Secret Show later that evening but the Lips decided to give their fans a little something extra. They weren't merely playing. Nah, far from it. Instead, Coyne and his band mates spent all day at the theater, starting things off with the sale of rare Lips merchandise including old school T-Shirts and exclusive lithograph prints. (MORE)

MySpace Adds Top Talent to Executive Ranks

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:15:00 EST

Posted by Owen Van Natta

October 14, 2009

Today MySpace is pleased to announce several new executive appointments that support our technology and partnership goals.

First, Nada Stirratt has joined MySpace in the role of Chief Revenue Officer, effective immediately.  In this newly created role, Nada will immediately focus on working with our sales force to evolve our advertising product for our users and our advertising partners. Nada has extensive experience in building advertiser and agency relationships, growing online networks, and developing initiatives to drive profitability.  Prior to MySpace, Nada served as Executive Vice President, Digital Ad Sales, at MTV Networks.  Before MTV, Nada served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Advertising Sales at Advertising.com, directing a sales force that generated more than $500 million annually. Nada will be based in New York and report directly to me. ( MORE )

MySpace Supports and Rocks Out to Dylapalooza

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted By J Scavo, General Manager, MySpace Records

October 14, 2009

***UPDATE*** Platinum selling rock band Tonic has just been added to the bill.

Here at MySpace we’ve been helping out a very special member of our family the past two years. On Monday, we’re inviting you to support our cause, while listening to some great music.

Dylapalooza will be a special benefit concert featuring performances by the talented Emily Wells, vocal group Sonos, singer-songwriter Leah Andreone and new comers The Lonely Forest.

Dylapalooza honors and celebrates 7-year old Dylan David. Dylan, whose father works here at MySpace, was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor at age five. He had the tumor immediately removed but suffered a stroke during the surgery, which forced him into months of rehabilitation. Most recently, Dylan’s exams show masses growing in his spine, and he’s just coming off more chemo and radiation. (MORE)

MySpace Appoints Mark Rosenbaum Chief Financial Officer

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST

Posted By Owen Van Natta, CEO

October 5, 2009

Today, we’re pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Rosenbaum to the role of Chief Financial Officer. Effective immediately, Rosenbaum will be based at company headquarters and report directly to me. Rosenbaum will oversee all finance and accounting operations in this newly created role.

As a highly regarded financial and business executive, Rosenbaum brings over twenty-two years of business and corporate finance experience along with a deep understanding of the entertainment industry following senior financial roles at MGM, Gemstar-TV Guide (formerly a News Corporation Company), Twentieth Century Fox and Walt Disney Company. He earned his MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from UC San Diego. ( MORE )

Behind the Music: Bringing You Closer to the Bands You Love

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted by Matt Hergert, Senior Product Manager, MySpace Music

October 2, 2009

It’s hard to believe there was a time when connecting with your favorite musicians seemed impossible to fathom. It meant waiting outside a venue for hours just to get a glimpse of the band. Not anymore. As you may have heard, MySpace Music celebrated an important milestone last week – the one year anniversary our new music service. It’s been an exciting journey that has involved many artists and partners who have continued to share a dedication to evolving our platform and product in a way that reinforces MySpace Music as the go-to source for artists and the premiere online destination for anyone who is inspired by music.  

The heart of MySpace beats with this same passion for music and entertainment and, most importantly, connects you with the artists you care about most through exclusive premieres, contests, Secret Shows and more. We recently revealed some major updates to MySpace Music, including a redesigned homepage, new exclusive content, and backstage access at one of the most buzzed about concerts of the year!  There’s plenty more but here’s a look at what we’ve been working on: (MORE)

MySpace Honors Pink Together For Breast Cancer Awareness

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST

Posted by Angela Courtin, Senior Vice President of Marketing, MySpace

October 1, 2009

At MySpace, we’re honored and humbled when we realize the issues our members come together on.

In honor of breast cancer awareness month, I want to share highlights from one of our communities – Pink Together. In partnership with General Mills, this site serves to reach those who have been touched by breast cancer.

Each year, the group identifies a handful of survivors to serve as the site’s ambassadors. From sharing hope with other newly diagnosed women to raising awareness about early detection with 20 something’s – this group of commendable people is reaching others through MySpace. Their belief is that one person’s story becomes another person’s hope and inspiration.

Consider a few of these quotes from ambassadors on the site:

· “In some ways, it feels as though breast cancer never happened to me. I have been able to move forward with my life. Still, the scars that remain from my surgeries are proof of what I've been through.” – Linsey, Pink Together Survivor Ambassador

· “In January of 2008, I walked out on faith and quit my job. I now work in the non-profit sector and it has been more than rewarding.  I have found a new passion in my life, helping others!” – Crystal, Pink Together Survivor Ambassador

· “I was able to network with a lot of different women and share my experiences. It was nice to connect with other women especially at a time when I felt so alone.” – Irene, Pink Together Survivor Ambassador

( MORE )

MySpace Music Launches in Australia and New Zealand

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:30:00 EST

Posted by Rebekah Horne, Managing Director and SVP of International, MySpace

October 1, 2009

I have always been incredibly passionate about music and technology. Significant events in my life include buying Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’ and Madonna’s self-titled album on the same day – both on cassette tapes - back in 1984. Likewise, getting my first Sony Walkman from Japan, that happened to be bright yellow and possibly the size of Japan itself. Upon graduating University, my first few industry roles were with EMI Music and Warner Music, where I worked with artists such as Ben Harper, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Spice Girls, The Streets, Missy Elliott, New Order and Jason Mraz as well as local acts Evermore. EMI was like your first great love whereas Warner was more like the older wiser relationship you have in your 20’s. Both  taught me a lot about the business of music. (MORE)

MySpace Names Alex Maghen Chief Technology Officer

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:15:00 EST

Posted By Mike Jones, Chief Operating Officer

September 29, 2009

MySpace today announced the appointment of Alex Maghen to the role of Chief Technology Officer, effective immediately.  Maghen will be based at company headquarters and will be reporting to me.

Alex is a highly regarded technologist, having held the CTO position at both Yahoo Entertainment and MTV Networks. Most recently he served as CTO of MySpace Music, where he helped create and evolve the MySpace Music product, establishing it as the go-to platform for the world’s artists and the premier online music destination for users. Alex earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, and has taught at New York’s School for the Visual Arts. ( MORE )

“Madwomen” Make an Impact At Advertising Week Conference

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:15:00 EST

Posted by Angela Courtin, Senior Vice President of Marketing, MySpace

September 24, 2009

If you asked me five years ago if I’d consider myself a “mad woman,” my answer would might have been different than today. When I started my career, I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world, and somehow I ended up in advertising. Somehow it became good to be mad.

This morning I shared my story and thoughts on the state of advertising on a panel called “The Madwomen of Madison Avenue” at the Advertising Week conference in New York. Joining me on today’s panel were a group of powerful madwomen, including Christine Fruechte of Colle + McVoy; consultant Cindy Gallop; and Wenda Harris Millard of MediaLink.

I didn’t set out to get into advertising – my original mission was to make a difference through politics. Eventually I made my way to the youth empowerment campaign, “Rock the Vote” and MTV. Through that experience, I witnessed firsthand that you can make as much of a difference and impact in media as you can in politics. When you think about it, politics is about connecting people with ideas that enrich their lives, same with media.  ( MORE )

Get Up to Speed with NASCAR on MySpace

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:30:00 EST

Posted By Allyson Pizula, Marketing Manager – Sports

September 24, 2009 

As we say “goodbye” to summer and “hello” to the most exciting time of year for the world of sports, we are eager to bring you a more extensive lineup of sports activity than ever before here on MySpace. Today, we’re announcing a partnership with Turner Sports that brings NASCAR to MySpace, adding an exciting new element to our sports portfolio and further highlighting the strides we’ve made to deliver a multimedia, interactive experience that connects our users with their favorite sports and other fans with similar passions.

Get in on the NASCAR action:

· Become a friend of NASCAR on MySpace at www.myspace.com/nascar; view and share the latest race highlights, news headlines, league standings and race results with your friends.

· Some of your favorite drivers such as Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers, and Denny Hamlin are all here on MySpace. Find them in the driver gallery and show your support before each race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup!

( MORE )

Dodgers Karaoke Brings Out a Shining Star

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted By Mari Bower, GM of MySpace Karaoke

September 22, 2009

Many of us have that “inner rockstar” just waiting to be unleashed when jumping on stage at the local karaoke joint or trying to reach those ever-so-high notes in the shower. Tara Thomas just so happened to find hers as part of our recent MySpace Karaoke contest.  In partnership with the LA Dodgers, we challenged MySpace users across the country to record their best rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and submit to our team of judges… The prize? The chance to sing the National Anthem during the official “MySpace Day” at Dodger Stadium, Saturday, September 19^th against the San Francisco Giants! (MORE)

MySpace Celebrities Love Sync

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EST

Posted By Sharon Nguyen, Senior Product Manager

September 21, 2009

This morning I announced that MySpace had developed a new feature that empowers our users to sync their MySpace status updates with their Twitter feed.  I’m happy to report that this feature has been extremely well-received across both networks. MySpace is about broadcast, discovery, and self-expression, and sync enables our community to do exactly that.

We're excited to see musicians, comedians and celebrities including Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Rachel Zoe, Margaret Cho, George Lopez, Jamie Kennedy, David Spade, Slash, Cat Deeley, Chamillionaire, Jim Gaffigan, David Alan Grier, Larry The Cable Guy, John Witherspoon sync their MySpace and Twitter updates to connect with fans. This is only the beginning, as we plan to enable our users to sync their updates across even more networks.

-Sharon

MySpace Syncs with Twitter

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST

Posted By Sharon Nguyen, Senior Product Manager

September 21, 2009

Today we’re beginning the global beta rollout of a new functionality on MySpace that empowers our users to sync their MySpace status updates with their Twitter feed.  Any U.S. user can opt-in to sync their status so that any update created on MySpace will appear in your Twitter feed and any Twitter feed update will appear within your MySpace status & mood.

At MySpace, we believe in open content distribution and want to help users socialize around content in many different places.  Your status update is a quick way to tell friends what you’re up to, or in to. Our new sync functionality is part of an ongoing effort to make it simple for people to share their status beyond MySpace and allow friends and followers to interact with that content Web-wide. ( MORE )

Sean Kingston Offers Advice to New Artists

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted By Roslynn Cobarrubias, Director of Urban Marketing, MySpace Music

September 21, 2009

Last night we hosted an intimate MySpace Music “Release” show featuring chart topper Sean Kingston to celebrate the release of his latest album Tomorrow! Hundreds of fans lined up outside the Canal Room in NYC to meet Kingston, who took the time to sign autographs for some of his biggest fans before the show. Throughout the night Kingston performed fan favorites including  "Beautiful Girls" and  "Take You There" alongside hits off Tomorrow including "Face Off" and "Fire Burning" - proving that this superstar is no one hit wonder.

Kingston sat down with MySpace Music backstage at the event to talk exclusively about how MySpace helped launch his career, keeping up with MySpace friends, offer advice to new and upcoming artists, his experience making the new album Tomorrow and his upcoming tour. Watch his Vlog now!

Meet Our Rock the Space Winners!

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST

We are beyond excited to announce the winners of our Rock the Space contest, in partnership with MySpace Records and Toyota. Meet Call the Cops – a group of California electro- pop rockers who have recently come onto the scene with a refreshing burst of high-energy that brings the party every time. Justin Allen, Will Shuck, Stew Richmond and Bill Galvin have high aspirations to take on the music world and have a little fun at the same time.

They competed against more than 18,000 submissions from fellow unsigned bands or solo artists – all fighting for a chance to win a deal with MySpace Records – and Call the Cops emerged as a fan favorite. After making the top five finalists as chosen by MySpace Records, the band was then voted on by our MySpace community for their original song “Room 410.”

We sat down with the group recently to pick their brains about sources of inspiration, the fast track to fame, and the three “must have” items while on tour. Here’s what they had to say: (MORE)

MySpace Announces and Open Sources Qizmt

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:30:00 EST

Posted By Mike Jones, Chief Operating Officer

September 15, 2009

Today, we are open-sourcing Qizmt, an internally developed framework for distributed computation created by the Data Mining team here at MySpace. Qizmt can be used for many operations that require processing large amounts of data such as collaborative filtering for recommendations and analytics.

Qizmt is a powerful MapReduce-based environment that enables MySpace user recommendation engines to become smarter, faster and more reliable.  Currently Qizmt is being used in the ‘People You May Know’ feature, and will soon enable us to expand user recommendations to new areas. ( MORE )

Innovative Startups Shine at TechCrunch 50

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EST

Posted by Jason Hirschhorn, Chief Product Officer, MySpace

September 15, 2009

After the world’s earliest flight from LAX to SFO yesterday, I made my way to the San Francisco Design Center to find the TechCrunch50 conference buzzing with hopeful entrepreneurs, bloggers ready for news to break, and VCs expecting to find their next pet project.

 The conference kicked off just after 9 am and the room was packed as hosts Michael Arrington and Jason Calcanis congratulated Mint (a TC 50 alum and winner from 2 years ago) on their rumored acquisition. Mint founder and CEO Aaron Patzer then joined Arrington and Calcanis to officially confirm the news of the $170 million dollar acquisition by Intuit.  A pretty good way to start off the conference considering that any one of the companies launching today would love to be in their shoes two years from now.

I was joined by an incredible line-up of industry leaders to judge the first two rounds of company demos including Yossi Vardi (one of the funniest people on the planet), Ron Conway, Microsoft’s Don Dodge, and George Zachary of Charles River Ventures. ( MORE )

Boring vs. Normal: A Tale of Two Small Towns Making it Big

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EST

We’re always looking for new ways to create unique communities, uncover talent and encourage people to share their individuality with others. In July, we had a great opportunity to take this online approach offline by helping users learn more about themselves and people around the country as we partnered with Toshiba in support of “Boring vs. Normal” – a contest aimed at bridging the gap between two ordinary towns with one epic battle. ( MORE )

Microsoft enriches Windows Live, Messenger, and Hotmail products by using MySpace’s ActivityStrea.ms API

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST

Posted by Monica Keller, MySpace Group Architect, Activity Streams

September 14, 2009

I’m excited to announce that today Windows Live will start broadcasting MySpace user activity streams to their Windows Live Platform via MySpaceID.  The MySpaceID integration with Windows Live keeps you updated on what’s happening on MySpace.  Windows Live users can see their activities from MySpace, and those activities can now be distributed across the Windows Live network, enhancing their user experience by providing rich contextual user information. Now you can see the following activities from within Windows Live, Windows Live Messenger, and Hotmail:

- Status updates

- Blog Entries

- Photo uploads

- Music

( MORE )

Spotlight on: Hala Al-Adwan, Vice President of Data

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:00:00 EST

Hala Al-Adwan is the Vice President of Data for MySpace and has been with the company for almost three years. After spearheading the creation of the data services team at MySpace, she now oversees several teams that are responsible for the architecture, development and operations of the data infrastructure across all of MySpace – in total more than 4 petabytes of raw storage. You may be familiar with the “people you may know” feature that is used frequently to connect with friends and family on the site… 

Hala and her team are those individuals working behind the scenes to build recommendation engines and other features like this for MySpace. While some may find data stewardship a difficult task, Hala’s infectious attitude can make anyone enthusiastic about data!

Read on for more information about Hala, how she found her niche in Data Services and what she considers to be her favorite aspects of working at MySpace. ( MORE )

MySpace Music and DJ Hero Present an Intimate Evening with Jay-Z

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST

Last night we hosted a special intimate MySpace Music event with Jay-Z at the Blender Theater in NYC to celebrate the release of his new album The Blueprint 3. Hundreds of fans and friends including Baron Davis, Harve Pierre and Memphis Bleek lined up outside to check out the show and support one of the most popular artists in music today as he performed  in one of the most intimate venues he has played in more than a decade.

Roslynn Cobarrubias, Director of Urban Marketing for MySpace Music, shares her personal account of the experience below.

Posted By Roslynn Cobarrubias, Director of Urban Marketing, MySpace Music

September 10, 2009

Since I started at MySpace Music we’ve hosted more than 50 hip hop & R&B shows throughout the country featuring superstars like T.I., T-Pain, Kanye West and Rihanna. Last night I watched one of the world's most successful and inspiring hip hop artists perform to a small packed house of 600 MySpace fans and I knew I was witnessing one of those surreal, career defining moments. 

At 7 a.m. I stood outside the Blender Theater as the line of anxious fans grew coiled around the block.  For this show fans had to RSVP to a secret email address in order to receive information about where to pick up tickets. Many even shared personal stories about how Jay’s music inspired and changed their lives - one fan even named her son Jayson because she met her husband at a Jay-Z concert. (MORE)

MySpace integration with TweetDeck makes it even easier to stay connected with friends

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST

Posted by Gerardo Capiel, Vice President of Product, MySpace Open Platform

September 9, 2009

 

We are excited to announce a MySpaceID integration with TweetDeck. MySpaceID allows you to securely link your MySpace account with sites and applications around the Web, like Tweetdeck. TweetDeck is a personal browser for staying in touch with what’s happening now, connecting you with your friends on MySpace and other social networks – all in one place.

The MySpaceID integration with TweetDeck lets you stay in touch with everything that's happening on MySpace sorted with columns for status and moods, comments on your profile and your friends' activity stream, including photos, events, videos, apps and more. You can receive notifications to make sure you don’t miss a thing. (MORE)

Online Safety and Back to School: How To’s and Don’t Do’s

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted By Hemanshu Nigam, Chief Security Officer, News Corporation and MySpace

September 1, 2009

At MySpace we recognize that parents are the first line of defense when protecting their teens and teaching them about online safety, security, and privacy.  We also realize that in today’s cyber connected world, everyone can play an important part – parents, teachers, and social media companies like ours.  And so, we’ve spent the past several years building education programs on our site and through our partnerships to help us advance that mission.

And now, as our teens get their back to school shopping done with new clothes, new pencils, new notebooks, and new cell phones, it’s time once again for parents to step up and re-embrace the role they have always had offline into their teens’ online worlds – and that is of teaching our kids to be tolerant and respectful and not to be the school cyber bully or cyber hater.

This role isn’t just for parents to embrace, teachers too must step up and embrace the same mission.  In fact, Congress just recently passed a law requiring schools to teach online safety. (MORE)

MySpace Secret Shows Features Willie Nelson and Band Of Horses

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

Last night we hosted a special MySpace Secret Show with legendary performer Willie Nelson at Charlie’s, his hometown bar in Maui to celebrate the release of his new album American Classic. This time, the popular Secret Show series known for connecting fans to the bands they love also connected the legendary Nelson to the Low Country’s premier rock n’ roll outfit, Band of Horses for a special guest performance.  Angela Courtin, our SVP of Marketing, Entertainment and Content was on site in Maui - Check out her personal account of the experience.

Posted By Angela Courtin, SVP of Marketing, Entertainment, and Content

August 26, 2009

Driving into the town of Paia, the line at Charlie's is already snaked around the block. Before we get to the performance - we make a stop by Willie Nelson's home.

I’m sitting in Willie's poker room doing a quick sound check for the MySpace Music Feed. His album, American Classic, drops today and Quddus, the new MySpace Music Feed Correspondent, is sitting down with him to discuss his career and why he’s reaching out to the younger demo...as we say 'old is new'. The palm trees are blowing off the North Shore and the legend himself is now talking about his last tour with Bob Dylan. I’m in absolute awe as he talks about his next four albums coming out this year. The man is a machine. The interview wraps up and we are off to explore the little surfing town. (MORE) 

Season Two of BFF – Now Premiering!

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted By Cristian Cussen, Director of Content and Marketing for MySpace Video

August 25, 2009

The video team at MySpace has been working hard to build a strong platform for content creators and brands to unite. MySpace Video aggregates the best elements of professional, licensed, and user-generated video content to provide a social environment for users to view and share videos with their friends.

To round out our offering last year we wanted a game show but it wasn’t until Meryl Poster came in for a meeting with her producing partner David Rubin that we knew we’d found one.  I knew Meryl while she was president of production at Miramax where she oversaw some incredible movies including Shakespeare in Love, and one of my personal favorites, Good Will Hunting. The scene by the pond, where Robin Williams digs into Matt Damon with, "But you couldn't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel..." is about as good as it gets. Meryl had left Miramax for a deal at NBC and wanted to start a new series ‘BFF’ on the Web – specifically on MySpace.  (MORE)

Welcoming Media Link to MySpace

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted By Owen Van Natta, CEO

August 20, 2009

This has been a big week for MySpace.  We announced yesterday that we are welcoming iLike to the MySpace team and we’re excited about how our users and their users will benefit as a result of the two companies coming together. In addition to that, we also announced today that we are working with Media Link to improve our advertising product for our users as well as for our advertising partners.

MySpace has been a leader in social media both with users and advertisers.  Delivering on users' expectations requires that we maintain a balance between content and commerce.  Our commitment to innovation and creating a great user experience includes innovating in the advertising space. Media Link, a top media representation and strategic advisory firm founded by Michael Kassan, will provide us with valuable insight on the larger advertising market and what the most forward thinking marketers require.

As part of the broader strategic relationship Media Link will help manage our day-to-day sales organization under the leadership of Wenda Harris Millard.  Wenda is a pioneer in the internet advertising space and with very strong connections to Madison Avenue after holding executive sales posts at Ziff Davis, Yahoo, and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Also announced today Jeff Berman has decided to leave the organization to explore other opportunities after almost three and a half years of managing a highly diverse set of responsibilities at MySpace.  Jeff will be working with me, Wenda, and Media Link to ensure a smooth transition for all of our advertising partners.  We wish Jeff the best in his future plans. 

We’ve taken some important steps forward this week and look forward to sharing more news with you shortly.

-Owen

MySpace To Acquire iLike

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

Posted By Owen Van Natta, CEO

August 19, 2009

I'm happy to announce this morning that MySpace has entered into an agreement to acquire iLike.

In just two years, iLike has become the most popular music application across all social networks. With 55 million users and 1.5 billion monthly impressions, their growth speaks directly to the usability of the product, the technology behind it, and the great team that built it.

One of the great things about MySpace is that its openness enables discovery – we’re going to take that strategy one step forward by also allowing users to experience content on the distributed Web.

 

On MySpace, users connect with the content they love in a centralized and social environment. On iLike, users can access the content they love in a highly distributed environment across their favorite websites. This shared vision around content distribution is a key component to the future of MySpace.

What the iLike team has done with music is applicable to all of the areas that are important to MySpace users today such as entertainment, video, and games. Because we view the opportunities of this acquisition beyond the music category, MySpace Inc. will be making this acquisition separate and apart from MySpace Music. 

The company's current management - CEO Ali Partovi, President Hadi Partovi, and CTO Nat Brown - will continue to lead iLike's future. I've known Hadi and Ali for almost 10 years and the two of them, along with Nat are talented entrepreneurs with a strong track record for building world class product.

In addition to this great management team, iLike has 26 employees in various technical and business functions including a market leading development team that will join MySpace.  iLike users and the artist community should expect the iLike experience to be unaffected by the acquisition.  iLike will also remain headquartered in Seattle.

By joining forces with iLike you should expect that we’ll be testing more things and building product that keeps both platforms highly engaging and social. We look forward to hearing your feedback as we begin to collaborate. I’m thrilled to welcome Ali, Hadi, Nat and everyone at iLike to the MySpace team.

Check out the official press release for more information.

-Owen