At it's core, MySpace was an entertainment site centered around music. It didn't do that well enough to maintain it's audience, since instead of improving its core value, it choose to try to be more of a general social network. However, that failed miserably with Facebook coming from nowhere to dwarf its huge initial lead in both visitors and revenue.
The sad part is, there's still no obvious successor for music, as Facebook still lacks many of the core assets that MySpace offers, despite some of the available music apps like RootMusic.
What's more, MySpace still has more than 80 million visitors per month, although that looks to be declining by between 5 and 10% a month.
MySpace held such promise, and delivered little of it. It's another example of a multinational company getting involved in the music business only to slowly run it into the ground. History repeats itself again.
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10 comments:
If you would (and yes, I am obviously fishing) - what would you want from a MySpace successor in the music entertainment space?
The biggest thing is user and artist interface. It has to give the artist more of an ability to easily brand themselves, as well as as better music delivery system.
The successor will be here in February: FanaticFactory.com
I deleted my(space) account few days ago.
A good post after all this time around on the internet I found this article.
Dear Bobby,
What do you think about soundcloud.com?
Bobby,
First off, great post, I've been reading for awhile but yet to reply.
MySpace is clearly on a downward spiral and I think there will be a string of startups coming that offer to help musicians "make money", "brand themselves" etc..
Although a lot of artists want to be profitable enough from their music, I don't really think that this is where most artists devote their lives...they devote it to their art and sharing it with the world, always improving their work.
The closest that I've seen to a true "musicians" site would be http://www.thejamnet.com. Although not up and running just yet, the message seems to be right.
Cheers! keep bloggin!
I'm not saying there are not a lot of good alternatives and possible successors to MySpace. Just that none has gained traction yet to the point where it looks like it might be a replacement.
As a musician, i've not really been grabbed by myspace started late but still going, youtube.
I the industry is like a garden, and myspace a plant, no matter how much your going to prone it. It'll never blossom. Better dug out and left another or the others to take its place.
People are much more interested in the artists lives, it about video and then give the music. The interface of myspace never felt right.
All the best for those who have been laid off.
Nathan
ReverbNation seems to be the most likely candidate to take the place of MySpace, IMHO. I don't know of a more user friendly site for musicians and fans, and it's focus is 99% music.
Mixing social networking with a music network never made much sense to me.
SoundClick is another site that has been around forever, but it has a cheap" fill & look to it. If they changed their interface and gave the site a fresh new look to catch up with the times, they could be a contender. They "claim" to be the first music website to have Charting.
SoundCloud: This one just looks ands feels like a "storage" site with the capability of hotlinking.
I guess it all comes down to who is willing to fork out the most cash to put the final nail in the MySpace coffin.
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