Music service gives Myspace second wind

Faded online social network Myspace said Monday it was getting a second wind due to the popularity of a freshly launched online music player.

More than a million new members have signed up at myspace.com in the past month, with an average of 40,000 accounts being opened daily, the service said.

"The numbers tell an amazing story of strong momentum and dramatic change for Myspace," chief executive Tim Vanderhook said in a release. "And the one million-plus new user accounts we've seen in the last 30 days validates our approach."

The pioneering online social network transformed itself into an Internet community for music lovers and makers after being eclipsed by Facebook.

"Myspace is building meaningful social entertainment experience around content, where consumers can share and discover the music they love," Vanderhook said. "Consumers are getting excited about Myspace again."

Myspace is vying with hot Internet music services such as Spotify, Pandora, and Rdio as people increasingly go online for entertainment content. Myspace claims the largest library of online music with about 42 million tracks.

News Corp. sold Myspace in June for $35 million, just six percent of its $580-million purchase price, to Specific Media, a digital ad-targeting platform.

News Corp's purchase of Myspace in 2005 was a "huge mistake" and the social network was mismanaged "in every possible way" following the acquisition, chief executive Rupert Murdoch said at a shareholders meeting late last year.

(c) 2012 AFP