MySpace used to be one of the major players in the world of social networking. However in the past few years its popularity dwindled significantly with the arrival of Facebook. Facebook is arguably one of if not the world’s most popular social networking site.

spotify-vs-myspace

However recently MySpace announced its comeback. Rather than focusing on social networking as it did in the past, they have repackaged themselves as a music streaming site. Music streaming is incredibly popular as the humble CD is virtually discarded and replaced by the digital format. Virtually everyone has access to the internet now and this is why Spotify have been doing so well in the music streaming arena.

• What is the new MySpace?

The concept of the new MySpace is to bring both fans and the artists who create the music together. This will be a platform for enthusiasts to interact, to share videos and so on and there is to be significant money spent on launching the project. MySpace also have plans to break into the mobile world by launching an app which will facilitate music streaming on the go.

A plus in the favour of MySpace is that they claim to have over 40 million songs to choose from in their catalogue whereas Spotify, although incredibly popular boast only around 15 million. However at this moment in time, Spotify have tens of millions of users worldwide and people like what they know.

• A spot where Spotify is better?

Spotify also enable users to download from the cloud and to store music on their mobile device. It will be interesting to see how MySpace answer this in terms of what they will potentially offer in order to make their comeback.

Interestingly, many ex MySpace users are no longer showing any enthusiasm for the site. This is largely due to the fact that they previously used it mostly for following bands and for social networking with friends. Now that the site is to be given this hugely radical makeover, it remains to be seen if the public will rediscover the excitement of their old favourite. The public can be fickle however and if MySpace have such a huge catalogue and are offering similar if not better terms than Spotify, there could easily be a huge resurgence in popularity for the site.

• MySpace and the future

It is thought that MySpace will be putting a great deal of focus on music from unsigned bands and artists which will certainly add to its popularity.  The latest reports from industry experts tell that the new site is very clean in design, easy to navigate and responsive too. On the negative side, some believe that the site is trying too hard to be everything to everyone. They say that there are simply too many features. That and the fact that the public are not so receptive to the brand name MySpace which many equate with failure as it failed to fight off Facebook could stand in the sites way with regards to market domination.

Whether or not they will offer cloud based music in the same vein as Spotify remains to be seen in 2013. What is very obvious though is that MySpace is not prepared to just lie down and die.

Image source: socialmediamashup.wordpress

Chris Dennis is a Telecommunications expert who has a keen interest in cloud computing companies in the market like MAQ (Macquarie Telecom)