Myspace was the original Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. If you wanted to show off your favorite music, prove your coding skills, or showcase who your best friends were, that was the place to be. It also helped to launch music and acting careers, until one day, it seemingly vanished. Yet, could it be launching all over again? Keep reading for what is currently known.
Myspace Relaunching Soon?
Millennial hearts have been aching for the good old days of Myspace. There was a song choice, Top 8 friends, and an incredible feeling when we coded the background to feature our aesthetic. When someone made us mad, the best way to seek revenge was to drop them from the Top 8. It became a revolving door, plus regular people could interact with celebrities. This was the place to be. Then, it was gone in the blink of an eye, and no one understood what happened.
As it turns out, it is still technically around. It was sold to News Corp by Tom Anderson, who founded the site, and then to brothers Chris and Tim Vanderhook. They detailed what went down in the new documentary about Myspace, which takes a deep dive into the fan-favorite platform. Chris was all about finding a way to get a foot in the door:
“We heard that News Corp were going to sell it and we started to strategize how we got in there, because they weren’t calling us and they did not want to let us in. We knew we had to have a different angle to get their attention.”
For Tim, it was all about what the platform did, as they were creative-based and launched the careers of so many artists. Musicians such as Calvin Harris, Lily Allen, and Soulja Boy found their grounding there, while others like Katy Perry utilized it to get the word out about who they were. Ultimately, the brothers used Justin Timberlake as the hook to get News Corp on the line.
Justin Was In
Since Justin Timberlake had done The Social Network, it made sense to involve him. The brothers met with him, and it was actually extremely promising. They had what it took to make Myspace a success. Sadly, no matter what they did, it just ended in failure:
“We built an entirely new Myspace. We really tried to modernize it, but it was a different company at that point. It wasn’t the same Myspace. By that time, they had been through four other sets of management and CEOs. We were going to be the fifth ones, and I think that there were a lot of the people who were really just done.”
Now, they do still own it, despite being out around $150 million. However, they have hopes that they can bring it back; it just has to be the right fit:
“We still own Myspace. We are stewards of the Myspace brand at this point, and we are going to relaunch Myspace. We’re just waiting for the right time to do it. And if that one doesn’t work, we’ll do it again.”
Hopefully, the documentary will revive interest and make people see that this is a bit of nostalgia worth revisiting. Would you get an account if it were offered to you? Let us know in the comments below.
Amanda has been a professional freelance writer for over a decade, holding both a BA and an MA. Her passions include animals, iced coffee, gnomes, summer, music, and ‘Vanderpump Rules’.