Myspace: What Went Wrong 1
The Rise and Inglorious Fall of Myspace
Overview
The burgeoning popularity of social networking was ensured because of its
inherent novelty. Never before was it possible to socialize and share media with people
so extensively for practically a song. Coupled with the latest music on the market and an
interface to interact with artistes and it was a winning formula out and out. However the
dream run did not last.
Introduction
The reasons for the debacle are many, though they are scattered across from
infrastructural to marketing related. A huge element that was responsible for the drop in
user interest remains the lack of development of essential features, while focusing on
peripheral applications like play list functionalities and video players (Gillette, F., 2011).
Investing primarily in development of fanciful features took away the possible advantage
of having more control on the vital ones; resources were siphoned off into unproductive
applications that did not have appeal with users. Thus at the strategic level there was a
problem which got pushed under the carpet since the site appeared to be doing well. We
will analyze the factors that contributed to this unseemly outcome and evaluate how this
could be addressed.
The Problems
Strategic vision is vital to the survival and re-emergence of Myspace. Having lost
the cool-factor in the eyes of its market base the task ahead is to address the brand’s
personality. Garnering credibility with advertisers will remain a challenge so long as the
demographic of users remains fragmented. The sketchy platform development interface
Myspace: What Went Wrong 2
needs to be enabled to accommodate third party developers, and incentivizing such
development will be difficult if the switch to a friendly interface in not made.
Possible Directions
Ramping up the interface to one which is easily latched onto by programmers and
maintains a level of stability that rivals other content rich sites will be central to
rehabilitating Myspace. As it stands the website cannot create the applications which
have been instrumental in the rise of rivals like Facebook, because there are too many
kinks in the framework (Scoble, R., 2011).
Focusing on interactive channels between musicians and industry professionals
could create a new burst in the level of engagement from artists that is currently very
sparse (Levine, S., 2011). Recruiting industry professionals who can fish for talent in
amateur cliques will generate more activity around the fans of big successful artistes and
the overall traffic on the website. Going overboard with applications is also a pitfall to be
avoided; Facebook may be entering rough waters with the timeline feature that prioritizes
information for the user, potentially irritating them (Davey, R., 2012). Finally, it would
create a flutter if bands could use the platform to monetize their music in the way itunes
does it. Only here the level of interactions and additional functionality could bolster the
strength of sales and create audience for newer artistes.
In Conclusion
A mix of infrastructural revamping and strategic marketing will enable Myspace
to regain lost space in the social network market. Finding the sweet-spot in terms of
useful and core applications without disturbing the ethos of freedom and vivacity of the
demographic will be the key to executing a winning strategy.
Myspace: What Went Wrong 3
References
Davey, R., Does Facebook Have a Big Problem. Hypebot. Updated on February 15,
2012. Accessed on February 21, 2012. http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot
/2012/02/does-facebook-have-a-big-problem.html
Gillette, F., The Rise and Inglorious Fall of Myspace. Cover Story, Business Week.
Updated on June 22, 2011. Accessed on February 21, 2012. http://www.
Businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_27/b4235053917570.htm.
Levine, S., “The Problem with Myspace Music…”, Entertainment, Huffington Post .
Updated on January 8, 2011. Accessed on February 21, 2012. http://www.huffing
tonpost.co.uk/steve-levine/the-problem-with-myspace-_b_914682.html.
Scoble, R, MySpace’s death spiral: insiders say it’s due to bets on Los Angeles and
Microsoft. Scoblizer. Updated on March 24, 2011. Accessed on February 21,
2012. http://scobleizer.com/2011/03/24/myspaces-death-spiral-due-to-bets-on-
los-angeles-and-microsoft/.