Specific Media acquires Myspace for $35 million

[News_Editor]

Specific Media acquires Myspace for $35 million

2011-06-30 20:28:43 GMT+7 (ICT)

LOS ANGELES (BNO NEWS) -- Digital media company Specific Media announced that it had acquired social networking website Myspace from News Corporation for $35 million.

The announcement also noted that Pop star Justin Timberlake took an ownership stake, playing "a major role in developing the creative direction and strategy for the company moving forward."

"There's a need for a place where fans can go to interact with their favorite entertainers, listen to music, watch videos, share and discover cool stuff and just connect," Timberlake said. "Myspace has the potential to be that place."

"Art is inspired by people and vice versa, so there's a natural social component to entertainment," he added. "I'm excited to help revitalize Myspace by using its social media platform to bring artists and fans together in one community."

According to Irvine, California-based Specific Media, the company and Timberlake will be unveiling their plans for the website during a press conference later in the summer.

From 2006 to 2008, Myspace was the U.S.' top social networking site, but with the surging popularity of Facebook - which currently has over 600 million active users - News Corp. had been trying to sell the website. As of May 2011, Myspace's monthly unique visitors in the U.S. was 19.7 million, compared to Facebook's 138.9 million, according to Quantcast.

As part of the agreement, News Corporation, which had acquired Myspace in 2005 for $580 million, will take a minority equity stake in Specific Media. However, additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

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