Aug 20, 2009
MySpace acquires iLike to help with growth
MySpace, the once big dog on the block when it csomes to social networking announced today that it is acquiring iLike for $20 million to try to stay ahead of the curve. MySpace is trying to reinvent itself to stay ahead of the competition, i.e. Facebook.
In May 2008, MySpace was flying high with 74 million visits that month coming from U.S. alone. MySpace’s closest competitor, Facebook had only 36 million visits for the month. In May 2009, Facebook caught up with MySpace and they surged to 70.28 visits compared to MySpace which concluded the month with 70.24 million. If you are doing the math, Facebook grew by 97 percent, which MySpace shrunk by 5%.
iLike is a music-sharing service is considered the most-used music application across all social networks and, most notably, has a strong presence on MySpace rival Facebook.
Just five days ago (8/14/09), iLike launched a music download service this afternoon, offering users MP3 downloads for $0.89 to $1.29 per song. Previously the service only offered users the ability to sample 30 second clips of songs, or restricted full streaming via a partnership with Rhapsody (now phased out).
In April 2009, MySpace selected Owen Van Natta, a former Facebook chief revenue officer and vice president of operations to run the company as the CEO of MySpace. Natta hope that this acquisition will help slow down Facebook’s growth and in turn help spur its growth.
