MySpace Readies Itself As Music Venue, Leaves Rival Social Networks Behind

While Thursday's Web 2.0 Summit at San Francisco revolved around tweets and social-network feeds, MySpace was fortifying its position as an online music venue.

In a theater not far from a night club where Microsoft was celebrating the worldwide launch of its new Windows 7 operating system late Wednesday night, MySpace devotees queued around the block to get into a "Secret Show."

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About a thousand MySpace Music members in a prime, youthful gadget-loving demographic were packed in front of the stage when hot US band Weezer strode out in matching white track suits.

"Shhh... This is a secret," Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo playfully told the adoring crowd. "You can't tell anyone... no tweeting, no Facebook, and if your parents ask, you were just hanging out listening to music with some friends."

The intimate setting was a change of pace for Weezer, which is known for being able to fill stadiums for concerts.

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Secret Concerts are among the ways MySpace Music builds loyalty among members of its online community.

News Corp-owned MySpace has turned itself into an Internet haven for music makers and fans in the wake of being eclipsed by social-networking rival when it comes to sheer size.

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MySpace on Wednesday indirectly expanded its reach by making its licensed music videos available at rival social networking services including Facebook through a popular application made by iLike.

News Corp recently bought iLike for 20 million dollars.

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The "first integration of iLike and MySpace" was revealed on Wednesday at the Web 2.0 Summit by MySpace chief executive Owen Van Natta.

An "iLike module" was part of an upgraded set of analytical tools launched by MySpace Music.

"It's a very exciting time for artists and music enthusiasts," MySpace Music president Courtney Holt said in a blog post.

"The music industry has shifted away from flashy marketing techniques that drive engagement across disconnected channels to really harnessing the power of the web and experimenting with new ways of uncovering what makes an audience tick."

The MySpace Music Dashboard released in a beta, or test, mode was billed as a comprehensive data and analytics tool to enable artists to assess how fans interact with tunes.

A side effect of the dashboard launch is that license videos from MySpace Music will be available to people using iLike applications at rival social networks, a MySpace representative said Thursday at the summit.

Source-AFP
TAN