MySpace: The Mag

  A few weeks ago, rumors began being bandied about the blogosphere that MySpace was in talks to create a magazine.  That’s right, a good old-fashioned ink-on-paper magazine, geared toward its members.  And while, at the moment, it’s nothing more than an idea (exacerbated by rumor), the idea of “MySpace: The Magazine” is interesting on several levels.

  According to a brief article that appeared late last month on AdAge.com, MySpace was in talks with Nylon magazine to create a publication that would “likely cover standout MySpace members and their interests, from music to their social scenes.”  In case you’re unfamiliar, Nylon is a fashion/music/lifestyle magazine that targets 18-24 year olds—the same demographic with which MySpace struck gold.  In fact, the two entities have already worked together once.  Nylon partnered with MySpace in May to put together the Nylon Music Issue.  The issue bore a cover that touted “Listen to this magazine on MySpace,” where interactive features allowed readers to stream music reviewed in the mag.

  Whether a magazine that is centered around the “MySpace lifestyle”—a term that is, very nearly, an oxymoron—would succeed is something that remains to be seen.  If history is any indicator, the future ain’t exactly dazzling.  eBay Magazine hit shelves in 1999, and was designed to serve as a serial handbook on the online auction craze, a tangible, interactive tool that would strengthen the eBay brand by establishing a rapport with online amateur auctioneers.   In essence, it was a marketing tool intended to drive traffic to the site.  The magazine folded in December 2002, after a little more than a year in production.

  Similar site-oriented print magazines have also fizzled after short shelf lives.  Pets.com tried it briefly.  Garden.com published Garden Escape Magazine for a short time, and Yahoo! Internet Life folded after a six year run.  Of the many dot-com outlets that have attempted to expand into print, there are virtually none left.

  So why would MySpace be any different?  The social networking site’s slogan is “A place for friends.”  That is, and always has been, MySpace’s appeal.  It’s a place where you can find old friends and make new ones.  There are a lot of sites out there doing the same thing, but obviously many feel that MySpace does it best.  This isn’t about brand allegiance.  There is no loyalty to MySpace: The Brand.  The site’s users want to connect with their friends, and MySpace is the instrument that allows them to do it.  Which is exactly why MySpace: The Self-Serving Magazine wouldn’t work.

  If the premise is to showcase the “standout members,” why should the reader rely on the magazine’s editorial board to select those members, when all 113 million of them can be checked out for free online?  I honestly don’t get it.

  Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation bought the MySpace brand in July of 2005.  If this magazine ever sees the light of day, it will be a good indication that Murdoch doesn’t understand the product that he bought, like a man trying to figure out how to use his new voice-activated remote control.  Up next—MySpace: The Breakfast Cereal.

-From Pulse
   September 28, 2006

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Hear it on MySpace

  Not long ago, I told you about Starbucks’ ongoing effort to revolutionize and revitalize the record industry.  Through exclusive retailing opportunities, they are cashing in on record sales while the rest of the industry struggles.

  Yet another frontrunner exists in the race to break new artists.  It is at once as high-tech and grassroots as you can find in this information age.  Of course, I’m talking about MySpace.com. 

  MySpace is the Internet’s fastest-growing social networking site.  It attracts more than 14 million different visitors per month, most of whom are teens and twentysomethings.  Becoming a MySpace member is free, and members can create their own homepages with pictures, message boards, blogs, and streaming audio and video.  They post their interests, and seek out friends from across the globe.  It’s easy to lose hours surfing its millions of members.

  Enter the musician.  With the capability MySpace provides to post music on members’ websites, musicians were among the first to begin taking advantage of the feature.  Artists want exposure, and with 14 million unique visitors per month, MySpace became portal number one.  Now the site hosts pages for over 350,000 bands and artists, including Ludacris, Eminem, Black Eyed Peas, REM, and Billy Corgan (of Smashing Pumpkins fame).  Corgan recently told Business Week Online, “Now that MySpace is here, bands don’t necessarily need a label to be heard.”  And that is certainly true.

  Enter the sometimes-savvy record label.  MySpace has become an incredibly popular tool for record execs trying to stay ahead of the curve.  Not only can they fish the fertile waters it provides for new acts to sign, their existing artists can create MySpace pages for added exposure.  Labels often post unreleased or rare tracks from top acts to preview or download.  And with rock and alternative radio stations flipping formats, MySpace is quickly displacing radio as the rock labels’ primary mode of exposure.

  Now enter the always-opportunistic media mogul, Rupert Murdoch.  Last Monday, July 18, Murdoch’s News Corp. announced that it had purchased Intermix Media, Inc., MySpace’s parent company, for $580 million.  (News Corp. owns 20^th Century Fox, all of the Fox cable networks, DirecTV, the New York Post, HarperCollins publishers, and the National Rugby League, among many other things.)  Naturally, many religious MySpace users bristled at the acquisition.  What this will mean for the site remains to be seen, but initially there is no detectable change.

  MySpace president Tom Anderson posted a bulletin on the site on Friday, saying “Everyone seems scared that MySpace is going to change.  I’m not leaving, and I'm still making the decisions about the site, and I'm not going to let things suck.”  He goes on to dispel the rumors that have arisen about the future of MySpace.  “We are not going to become a pay site. We are not increasing advertising. We are not allowing anyone to monitor the site. We are not deleting any content or censoring people in any new way.  [And] we are not exploiting anyone's data or violating anyone's privacy.”

  Next time you’re online, look for me on MySpace.  I’ll be checking in frequently—unless it starts to suck.

-From Pulse
   July 28, 2005

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