Skip to main content

Justin Timberlake buys ownership stake in MySpace

Justin-Timberlake-MySpace-Facebook
Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s not often that you hear of someone switching from Facebook to Myspace. But in a surprising instance of life imitating art (that imitates life), Justin Timberlake did just that: The actor and singer has reportedly purchased an ownership stake in MySpace, along with fellow buyer Specific Media. The former N’SNYC member, who played Facebook president and Napster co-founder Sean Parker in The Social Network, will help revamp the diminished website, which the pair just purchased for a mere $35 million from News Corp.

According to the Associated Press, Timberlake will take an office at the MySpace headquarters in Beverly Hills, and have a staff of about six people working for him “around the clock,” as Specific Media CEO Tim Vanderhook put it.

Specific Media hopes that Timberlake’s celebrity and sway in the music community can help MySpace build upon its success with musicians.

“When we met with Justin and we discussed what our strategy was, we hit a chord with him,” Vanderhook told the AP. “One of his passions is he really enjoys helping other artists and creating a community for people to really express themselves. I think we were blown away that we were able to get someone like Justin to be so excited about what we were doing.”

MySpace has been on a downward spiral for years, driven deeper as Facebook skyrocketed in popularity. The $35 million deal is a bargain compared to the $580 million News Corp paid for the site in 2005. (Facebook first launched in 2004.) That’s a loss of $545 million, or 94 percent of the company’s investment. Despite this, News Corp will retain a 5 percent stake in MySpace.

Vanderhook says that, with Timberlake’s help, they can breath new life into the website by focusing on video content, including original shows. The new MySpace will also involve a major upgrade in technology, as well as the an effort to maintain the rights to music that was posted to the site through its partnership venture with major record labels, MySpace Music.

“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,” said Timberlake in a statement. “MySpace has the potential to be that place.”

Andrew Couts
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
10 most underrated The Walking Dead episodes ever, ranked
Rick leading his group towards battle, Morgan second in command in a scene from The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead has had its share of ebbs and flows. When ranking the seasons of The Walking Dead, there’s no denying the series took a dip in its 7th and 8th seasons, but managed to return to its original glory in seasons 9 and 10. The Walking Dead ended with its 11th season, which concluded in 2022, but the franchise lives on with numerous spinoffs. These include Walking Dead: Dead City and Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, both of which have been renewed for second seasons, and the recent 2024 Rick and Michonne-centric spinoff The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.

When it comes to the original, however, whether it was a top-rated season or not, every season of The Walking Dead has underrated episodes. In many cases, these are episodes that weren’t as frantic in pacing, nor filled with gruesome walkers and pivotal storylines. But they were important for a variety of reasons, and these 10 rank among the most underrated of them all.
10. When the Dead Come Knocking (season 3, episode 7)

Read more
Pachuca vs Columbus live stream: Can you watch for free?
A soccer goal net with the rest of the pitch in front.

Looking to become just the second MLS team in history to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the Columbus Crew make a bid at immortality when they take on Liga MX side Pachuca in the 2024 final tonight at Estadio Hidalgo.

Pachuca vs Columbus is about to start, at 9:15 p.m. ET/6:15 p.m. PT, and in the U.S. it will be televised on Fox Sports 1 (English) and TUDN (Spanish). Unlike MLS games, where you need MLS Season Pass to watch, there are a handful of different ways you can watch a live stream of Pachuca vs Columbus.
Watch the Pachuca vs Columbus Live Stream on Sling TV

Read more
Everything leaving Hulu in June 2024
Robert Pattinson in The Batman.

By now, Hulu subscribers are used to the idea of movies coming and going at seemingly random intervals. We've lost track of how many times the Die Hard films have departed and returned (they'll all be gone from Hulu again at the end of June). It's more intriguing to see movies that you wouldn't expect on Hulu, like The Batman and Joker, both of which are making brief appearances this month.

While Max has seemingly abandoned the idea of letting subscribers know which films are departing at the end of any given month, Hulu is very upfront about it. That gives you, and all of the other the Hulu subscribers, ample opportunities to catch your favorite movies before they leave. The only thing that you have to do is make time to watch them. If you go through our list of everything leaving Hulu in June 2024, then getting a viewing plan together should be the easy part. Our favorite picks for the month are in bold.

Read more