The Rise and Fall of MySpace

December 9, 2009

While Facebook surges past 300 million users, MySpace has lost more than half its previous share of the social-networking market, and it continues to bleed about $100 million a year. And it’s all happened since being bought by Rupert  Murdoch’s News Corp (Fox News, Wall Street Journal, etc.). As this comprehensive article in the Financial Times tells the saga, “An acquisition that had initially covered Murdoch in glory and offered so much promise was becoming an embarrassment to the News Corp chairman and a liability for his company.” Local fallout from the collapse of MySpace can be found in the office component at Playa Vista where MySpace leases office space that it cannot use and has been unable to sublease. By June of 2010, MySpace’s Playa Vista rent will hit $2 million per year. One thing nobody can deny MySpace, however: It’s still the best site to hear music and learn about new music artists. And that’s the direction it has now chosen, after giving up competing with Facebook.