Talking to The Telegraph at the Monaco Media Forum, Jones said the bold
statement: “MySpace is a not a social network anymore. It is now a social
entertainment destination.”
The troubled site, which saw its UK audience halve to 3.3 million monthly
visitors in July earlier this year, is pinning its hopes of renewed success
with a return to its music and content roots.
Two weeks ago, the redesigned MySpace, which focuses a lot more around
content, rather than social networking, launched in the US and will go live
in the UK in mid November. Everything has been changed; right down to the
logo – which is now the word 'My' and an extended underscore to represent
the ‘Space’.
MySpace, founded in 2003, at its peak had more than 100 million registered and
active members, but its audience has been declining since the rise of Facebook
in 2008.
It has come under increasing pressure from its parent News Corporation, which
bought the site in 2005 for $580 million (£351 million) in 2005, to reverse
its ailing fortunes.
On an earnings call at the start of this month, Chase Carey, News
Corporation’s chief operating officer, said: "We've been clear
that MySpace is a problem. The current losses are not acceptable or
sustainable." And that he wanted "a clear path to profitability"
on a timetable measured "in quarters, not in years”.
MySpace lost $156 million in the quarter that ended in September 2010 compared
to a loss of $126 million in the same period last year, on revenues of $298
million, down 25.5%.
Jones said that Carey’s words were taken out of context, and that all of News
Corp’s businesses are assessed quarterly.
“There is no timeline to shutdown MySpace. The goal of relaunching the site is
to a build a new path and use the tools of social around entertainment
content which will appeal to audiences aged between 13-35 around the world,”
Jones explained.
However, when asked what UK-specific content deals had been signed in
preparation for the roll out of the newly designed site on this side of the
pond, in a couple of weeks, Jones was evasive. “In order for our content
strategy to work, we will need localized content strategies, but these have
not been initiated yet.” MySpace shut down all of its European offices last
year, and made the London-based office its head quarters outside of the US.
Critics have said that MySpace is too US-centric, in its provision of
content and delivery.
He also admitted that MySpace Music, the site’s free streaming service, which
has failed to make a huge impact in the UK, with many people preferring to
stream music using sites such as Spotify, could be improved. “I think we can
be better at the way people consume music on MySpace. And over the coming
months, we will be rolling out new features to improve this.
“MySpace still plays an integral role in the showcasing of music talent and
every band still has a page.”
Jones would not be drawn on rumours that MySpace will soon implement a
Facebook Connect button across its service, allowing people to use their
Facebook identities on MySpace –which would effectively mean promoting what
was once their biggest rival across the site.
He also said that he was focusing his energies on retaining the majority of
the current 130 million-strong global registered membership as opposed to
attracting new audiences. “We have to get the product, which is still in
beta, fully right before we go out and hunt new users,” he said.
Jones said new users would be of a younger demographic who want to “meet new
and old friends around great content”. The focus of the ‘new MySpace’ in the
UK during the launch period of the redesign will be solely on music
discovery, with other content focus areas, such as TV and film, to come
later. However, the US MySpace revamp launched with movie, TV and celebrity
content ‘hubs’ already in place. Jones is hoping higher quality content,
will yield good advertising returns.
The revamped site aims to make itself the UK’s “leading social music
destination for 13 to 35 year olds”. It will promote influential MySpace
users and content curators across the site.
New products include a recommendations feature – which promotes ‘tastemakers’
on every page to help users find new content suited to their tastes; a
discovery tab – which is present on every page and shows what content a
user’s friends are watching or what is trending across the site, and a new
trending feature called ‘Right now on MySpace’ – which informs the
recommendation feature.
The redesigned MySpace homepage showcases popular music content as it ‘bubbles
up’ across the site in real-time. Additionally, once a user logs into
MySpace, the homepage will instantly populate with content based on the
individual’s interests.
Jones said he was enjoying the challenge of trying to turn around one of the
fastest growing websites in the world and had not been distracted by the
walkout of two chiefs executives in the last 10 months. First Owen Van Natta
stunned staff with his departure after a mere nine months at the helm of the
company in February, and then Jason Hirschorn, one of Van Natta’s
replacements, followed suit four months later.
When asked what MySpace would like in 2015, Jones said: “It sounds like a
mobile product.” He denied that MySpace was up for sale.
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