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YouTubeMySpace “Owning” Music through iLike Aquisition is a Smart Move
August 19th, 2009 • Industry News, Social Networks, Strategy
MySpace is reportedly set to buy iLike, Facebook’s leading music application — for about $20M USD, reports TechCrunch. That purchase would put the application’s future at Facebook in jeopardy, while solidifying MySpace’s musical pedigree, one of the few domains where MySpace tops Facebook. For Facebook, who was hoping to advance in this realm, the purchase is seen as a huge problem for because iLike is so deeply integrated into the Facebook experience. Nearly 10 million Facebook users use the iLike application every month, and MySpace is now going to own that traffic.
iLike, which launched in late 2006, is a social music recommendation service that now has more than 50 million registered users. It tracks what you listen to and like and gives you recommendations on new music based on that data as well as what your friends are listening to. It’s the top music application on Facebook, Bebo, Hi5 and just about every other social network other than MySpace, which has MySpace Music. iLike also hosts band pages which are second in popularity only to MySpace Music.
From humble origins in 2003, MySpace turned the music industry on its head by changing the way a generation communicates. But even having 200 million friends and Rupert Murdoch as a boss won’t help when your website is no longer flavor of the month. MySpace’s loss of status is reflected in its usage metrics: MySpace had 124 million monthly unique visitors last month, a decline of 2 percent, according to comScore. Facebook, by contrast, had 276 million unique visitors, an increase of 16.6 percent.
By acquiring iLike, MySpace solidifies their already leading position as the most popular online identity for bands and perhaps stop the bleeding as Facebook continues to dominate the social media space.
3 Responses (Add Your Comment)
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Rayanne Langdon August 19, 2009at 3:28 pm
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Lynn Eastep August 20, 2009at 5:06 am
That's a good point, Rayanne.
There is a perception that Facebook is “safe” or “safer” given the limitation of network membership. Facebook claims to be "… a trusted environment for people to interact safely."
While MySpace has implemented security measures for ensuring the safety of minors, it was revealed in February 2009 that 90,000 registered sex offenders have been kicked off its site in the past two years.(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28999365/) Personally, I’m considering deleting my MySpace profile because I’ve been a victim of cyberstalking. (Watch for another blog post on this topic in a couple of days.)
It will be interesting to see how many iLike loyalists abandon the service instead of migrating to MySpace. I’m also curious of Facebook’s response, and what music service it will offer to its users.
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Rayanne Langdon August 20, 2009at 12:54 pm
Oh yeah, I hear you with the kicking dirty old men (and young men and old women and young women — heh) off MySpace. They're doing a good job.
By "safe", I just meant familiar, easier to use, etc.
But, I DO hear ya : )
Or people will just stop using iLike. Someone will probably develop something similar for Facebook once it's a MySpace-only tool.
Lots of people hate MySpace and using the site is a terrible experience for them. I kind of think people will abandon the application in favour of hangin' out in a safe and comfortable neighbourhood.