It’s your space — for now
Pundits surprised as Rupert Murdoch lets MySpace continue about its business
Anthony Augustine
His Space— tinyurl.com/ldvuq/—
Last year MySpace was purchased by Rupert Murdoch’s
News Corp. for a paltry $580 million while the boys behind
Google balked at the price and suggested their team could
create something much better. News Corp. realized it needed
a presence on the web and believes a freewheeling place such
as MySpace is perfect to provide a web platform that links
the two core areas of its business: content and distribution.
Since the sale, the site has exploded into the most significant
development on the web since Shawn Fanning and some friends
started to share music over their college network. This is
due in part to the fact that Murdoch kept around all the old
MySpace developers and allowed the site to continue to forge
its own path. Already the fifth-most-visited site in the U.S.
when it was purchased, MySpace’s membership has since
quadrupled, while the site adds more than 280,000 users every
day. During Rupert’s reign, page views have grown to
over one billion a day. The other significant influence of
MySpace has been immediate viral impact it can create. Not
only is MySpace a cumbersome social networking tool for everyone
from teenagers to aging hipsters, but it has also become a
de facto marketing tool of choice for bands, artists, photographers,
producers, movies, porn stars, rappers, DJs and nearly anyone
else who wants to reach a large, focused audience quickly.
MySpace is so ubiquitous that even the Hells Angels and their
supporters have set up pages. In his recent cover story for
Wired Magazine, Spencer Reiss suggests that while it’s
impossible to argue the impact the MySpace has had, Murdoch
has not turned the site into a money-making machine, as many
believed he would. What he has done is allow MySpace to grow
organically without overtly influencing what it will become.
Sure, the site bombards users with ads, but that almost seems
like an afterthought. People are willing to put up with the
problems and intrusive ad scheme because MySpace has become
ground zero for pop culture in North America. Until something
emerges to replace it, that isn’t going to change anytime
soon.
Zidane — Un Portrait du 21 siècle —
www.uipfrance.com/sites/zidane/
— Although his head-butt probably cost a lot of gamblers
money and his team any chance in penalties in his final international
match — in the July 9 World Cup Final — Zinedine
Zidane is still one of the best football players in the world.
An experimental doc on the French soccer god debuted at Cannes
and has been almost universally panned, but two clips (complete
with music from noise rockers Mogwai) are available for viewing
on this French promotional site. Perhaps post-World Cup fever
and his performance in the tournament will see the doc resurface
here in Winnipeg at Cinematheque or the Globe.
Anthony Augustine is a freelance music and pop culture writer
who spends way too much time in front of the computer. He also
hosts a weekly two-hour electronic music program on CKUW 95.9
FM Got a site you think he should see? E-mail him at anthony.alloneword@gmail.com. |
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