A week after MySpace rolled out a Facebook-like redesign of its homepage, News Corp.’s struggling social network rolled out redesigned interior pages, too, including those for musicians, celebrities and everyday users -- that is, those who haven’t already abandoned MySpace for Facebook, Linked In and elsewhere.
“The new MySpace profile,” a note on the site reads. “It’s new, simple and better than ever before.”
The redesign simplifies the pages, which is especially good news for bands and their fans who until now had to navigate an ugly and equally clunky interface to find even the simplest information, like, say, tour dates. (Bands still have to upgrade themselves, though, and most of the, let’s say, non-mainstream bands I listen to have yet to clean up their pages.)
It’s part of the “major overhaul” Rupert Murdoch promised during his most recent conference call with investors, who are justifiably weary of MySpace’s long-term outlook.
Since Murdoch bought MySpace for $580 million in 2006, Facebook has rocketed past it in terms of cachet -- and users. Facebook now boasts 500 million members – MySpace, 120 million. News Corp.’s digital media group -- essentially MySpace -- posted an undisclosed operating loss (part of a $174 million segment dip) during the last quarter, driven down by flailing search and advertising revenues.
And while Murdoch touted MySpace’s newly installed executive team, he didn’t exactly instill long-term confidence in investors. "We're going to see it out for some time yet," he said.
