Earlier today it was revealed that online advertising company Specific Media had purchased the social networking web site MySpace for a bargain basement price of $35 million. But that"s not all. Today Specific Media revealed that one of the investors behind the purchase of MySpace is none other than pop music hit maker Justin Timberlake. Yes, the man behind some of the biggest recent pop music tracks of all time now has an ownership stake in MySpace.
Today"s press release also states that Timberlake will also "play a major role in developing the creative direction and strategy for the company moving forward." While details of Specific Media and Timberlake"s plans for MySpace will be revealed later this summer, Timberlake is quoted in the press release as saying, "There’s a need for a place where fans can go to interact with their favorite entertainers, listen to music, watch videos, share and discover cool stuff and just connect. Myspace has the potential to be that place." In addition to becoming a destination for videos, music and "original shows", Specific Media states that MySpace will also "leverage the Myspace social networking infrastructure to deploy socially-activated advertising campaigns, enabling brands to turn their campaigns viral by allowing users to share their favorite ads with friends."
Ironically Timberlake played Sean Parker in 2010"s movie The Social Network. Parker was the co-founder of Napster and was also one of the major forces behind the rise of Facebook. The popularity of Facebook helped to bring down MySpace to the level it currently is today.