I've been saying this for years. MySpace accidentally became the choice place for bands but they took so long to develop that.
The challenge is however, joining both worlds of user profile and band profiles. I would rather only have bands on MySpace because it can be a powerful marketing tool.
Lastly, I would probably change the name because MySpace is synonymous with failure since the rise of Facebook. #myspace
@Cheap Shot: I think the name thing is key. If they insist on retaining personal profiles, those that are for musicians would need their own clean & cultivated name, and it had better not be MyMusic. #myspace
There is no way Myspace can even hope to compete with anybody unless they completely overhaul their site so it (a) works and (b) doesn't look like junk.
Even if they do this, I think they're far, far too late to (their own) party. #myspace
They also have a market for crazies who inevitably end up killing someone or doing something outrageous and gossipy sites post things found on their myspace as proof. That's the real reason for myspace. #myspace
This is good but you are omitting the stuff-white-people-like element. NPR had that this morning: "'I have friends who are white,' says 19-year-old Diego Luna. 'They are my white people friends and they are mostly on Facebook. That’s why I use Facebook. My brown people are on MySpace.'" #myspace
@Peter Feld: This is very interesting. Do you think it's a race thing or a class thing? In my experience, Facebook is more of a white-collar, professional space, perhaps because of the founder's background and outlook? It did start out as a place for college kids.
MySpace has more of a blue collar, working-class ethos. Which is not to say something false like people from working-class backgrounds are content with shitty design. I wonder if it's more like design plays avery strong role in defining the socioeconomic class of a place. And people's backgrounds play a really strong role in defining which places they feel uncomfortable in.
It may be that a lot of working class people are put off by Facebook's design because while it is clean, it doesn't seem welcoming and inclusive. There is something exclusive about the severe and stark white and blue color scheme and the serif-less fonts. #myspace
@Wrapitup: Everything you said makes sense - not everyone dislikes the cluttered but flexible MySpace design. Certainly professionals do, but other people might find it appealing or fun to work with. (Certainly that was its original appeal.) But the main driver of using a social network is: where are your friends? If everyone you know is on MySpace (or FB or wherever), that will be a more important consideration than design. #myspace
Thanks for an interesting post, Ryan. While I disagree that dropping out of college is necessarily evidence of incompetence, I agree with the rest of your post. I agree with Uncle Billy about why Facebook kicked MySpace's ass. So why didn't the bigwigs at MySpace just design a whole new layout and cancel the option for users to design their own (ugly-ass) pages? For me, the question is why on earth MySpace is so wedded to their failing design concept. Do you have any thoughts on that?
It may be that the MySpace head honchos understand the music business better than they understand how to provide a coherent and attractive visual experience for their viewers. But then again, their stubbornness in sticking with a failing system and resistance to necessary change is cause for concern. #myspace
@Wrapitup: It could be a case where they realize they've simply missed the boat. At this point if they drop the user-controlled layout scheme, they will drive away those eggheads who prefer such ugly design while at the same time trying to woo back people who were already driven away by the clutter. The customizable pages are awful, mind-numbing burdens on the senses, but I'd be willing to suspect that the reason that most of the teenagers who still use MySpace over Facebook do so because of this option.
The company is definitely grasping at straws, but I think they're playing to their one strength, which Betty Draper mentions below: it's just easier to look for music on MySpace than Facebook. It's all they've got, and frankly, as someone who has no investment or faith in the company to begin with, the fact that that makes me nervous says tons about where MySpace is at these days. #myspace
@ampersandparade: Regardless, the fact that any of us could have told Van Natta a few years ago what he is just realizing now, is not a good sign. #myspace
Disagreed. I have always felt the only users Myspace had left were the indie musicians. It is much easier to search for and listen to music on Myspace than Facebook. #myspace
MySpace pages are a gestalt of its users' brains. Messy. Messy teenage rooms. Google and Facebook rule the waves because they are clean and minimalist. Tidy for the win! #myspace
@Uncle_Billy_Slumming: Yeah -- Myspace was for early adopters the equivalent of dorm rooms, complete with the embarrassing posters. We've graduated, but Myspace hasn't. Not even the bands/musicians I'm friends with really keep up their Myspace pages. #myspace
I'm not sure how much of this should be laid on Owen. He called the company "bloated" sure, but that's common parlance in these situations. Seems to me he's just being straight, and one would hope people wouldn't get worked up over that (as TC has). It doesn't sound like he himself then went calling the cut employees "fat", rather that was some perhaps overzealous and undersensitive underlings. I know the CEO is ultimately responsible, but he did just get there a few months ago. I think he's trying desperately to slow and eventually halt the downward spiral, but that isn't going to happen overnight, nor without some brash words and actions.
The people who have stopped using MySpace aren't coming back...not even if you paid them. And the people who are still using it don't make the best demo to sell advertisers on. Although, there is still some value in that. They're probably better off on focusing what they have salvaged in the way of band profiles and let facebook have the personals...
10/22/09
The challenge is however, joining both worlds of user profile and band profiles. I would rather only have bands on MySpace because it can be a powerful marketing tool.
Lastly, I would probably change the name because MySpace is synonymous with failure since the rise of Facebook. #myspace
10/22/09
10/22/09
Even if they do this, I think they're far, far too late to (their own) party. #myspace
10/22/09
10/22/09
10/22/09
MySpace has more of a blue collar, working-class ethos. Which is not to say something false like people from working-class backgrounds are content with shitty design. I wonder if it's more like design plays avery strong role in defining the socioeconomic class of a place. And people's backgrounds play a really strong role in defining which places they feel uncomfortable in.
It may be that a lot of working class people are put off by Facebook's design because while it is clean, it doesn't seem welcoming and inclusive. There is something exclusive about the severe and stark white and blue color scheme and the serif-less fonts. #myspace
10/22/09
10/21/09
It may be that the MySpace head honchos understand the music business better than they understand how to provide a coherent and attractive visual experience for their viewers. But then again, their stubbornness in sticking with a failing system and resistance to necessary change is cause for concern. #myspace
10/21/09
The company is definitely grasping at straws, but I think they're playing to their one strength, which Betty Draper mentions below: it's just easier to look for music on MySpace than Facebook. It's all they've got, and frankly, as someone who has no investment or faith in the company to begin with, the fact that that makes me nervous says tons about where MySpace is at these days. #myspace
10/22/09
10/21/09
10/21/09
10/21/09
10/21/09
10/22/09
06/26/09
06/16/09
06/16/09
Wrong wrong wrong... people who never shop for alternatives even when the brand they are using sucks are GREAT to have as customers.
Ask anybody at Microsoft.
06/16/09
06/16/09
06/16/09
06/12/09
06/12/09
2007: I can't believe you losers are still on Myspace. Everyone is on Facebook.
2010: I can't believe you losers are still on Facebook. Everyone is on MyFace!
06/12/09
2000: I can't believe you losers are still on Facebook. Everyone is on YouTwitFace!
05/18/09
05/18/09