Well, I’m sure most of you must have seen the movie “The Social Network”. Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake in the movie) who is a co-founder of Napster and goes on to become the president of Facebook and eventually gets himself thrown out of the company on charges of drugs abuse. It seems the character has rubbed onto Justin who has recently bought an ownership stake in MySpace.
As per, the latest reports pouring in from Associated Press, Justin Timberlake the former N’SYNC member (Sigh! I loved that band) along with Specific Media has picked up ownership stake in MySpace for as low as $35 million from News Corp.
Justin plans to set up an office at the MySpace headquarters in Beverly Hills and will have at least six people working with him. AS per Mr. Vanderhook, CEO of Specific Media; Justin loves to form a community to help out other musicians and interact with his fans, and this is what he exactly plans to do. It is this fact along with the celebrity factor of Justin Timberlake that has led to the formation of this partnership which will attempt to take on the might of social giant Facebook and the upcoming Google+.
Well that brings us to MySpace which has constantly seen the downward trend wince the introduction of Facebook. Such had been the impact on MySpace that the deal was closed on $35 million which is a real bargain when you consider the fact that News Corp had to shell out a massive $580 million, when they bought the site in 2005. Though they still get to retain a 5% stake in the company.
Well Vanderhook is currently banking on the popularity of Justin Timberlake and will attempt to resurrect the site with the help of exclusive video content in the form of shows (maybe even live shows). There would be exclusive music content on the site facilitated by a partnership venture with MySpace Music. Justin Timberlake said that there was a need of a place wherein music lover could not only listen to music and watch videos but also be able to interact with artists, and he believes that he can transform MySpace into one.
We can already see a sequel for The Social Network in the making wherein Sean Parker forms his own website which is a mixture of both Facebook and Napster to take his revenge on Facebook founder Zuckerberg. So, if ever a sequel comes out for the movie you know where the idea came from. 😉
