Skip to main content

The new Myspace opens up its doors – and throws in a new single from Justin Timberlake

new myspace

The new and much-hyped Myspace, resurrected with the help of superstar Justin Timberlake, has been signing up users through an “exclusive” invite-only strategy since the social network first opened its doors in private beta mode to a limited number of users starting in July. Starting today, you can join (again, for many of us) the social network sans invitation.

If you visit Myspace’s new landing page, you’ll be invited to join and listened to Justin Timberlake’s new single Suit & Tie — which is some decent incentive. Sign up for and account and you can start listening to the song before the album is released. Note that you can sign in with Facebook, Twitter, or your old Myspace account — though be wary of this latter method (we’ll get to that).

Related Videos

Myspace isn’t trying to compete with Facebook – technically speaking, says COO Chris Vanderhook. Instead, Myspace wants to take on the Pandoras, Spotify, and iHeartRadios of this world. Check out the bottom bar of the Web app and you’ll see an integrated music player, meaning that Myspace’s roots as a music platform aren’t being forgotten.

During the beta stage, the site was parted into two separate sites, but it looks like the older site has been shelved altogether with myspace.com redirecting to new.myspace.com. But appearances can be misleading. If you had an older Myspace account, there’s a thin sliver of a grey bar at the top of the screen with the link, “Take me back to Classic Myspace.” Click that and you’re back.

If you’re trying to stick to your older account, there are two things not to do. First, make sure not to click on the older Myspace logo because you’ll get redirected to the new URL. This is more of a convenience issue than anything else. The second tidbit is that if you treasure the old Myspace interface, do not sign into the new Myspace with your old account. The bottom of the sign in page is a check box next to fine print that says, “By checking the box and clicking “Join”, I understand that I am joining the new Myspace.” So if you sign in your account will be migrated to the new version.

If you’re still on the edge about joining the site when you’ve been so accustomed to Facebook already, you can check out our hands on with the new Myspace.

Editors' Recommendations

MySpace and Jimmy Kimmel partner up to stream live concerts

After its relaunch, rebrand, and overall self-reinvention, MySpace has announced what is presumably the first of many licensing deals that will see the site offering exclusive content currently unavailable elsewhere on the Internet. Well, not entirely... you might be able to find some of those content on television. Confused? Don't be; this is just MySpace's new deal with Jimmy Kimmel Live, of all places.
The ABC late night series, which moved into the 11:35 p.m. slot last summer to take on the late night heavyweights like CBS' Late Night with David Letterman and NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno, has announced a one-year deal with the reborn social portal. The agreement will allow MySpace to stream live performances of bands from the show, including tracks that won't appear on the live show broadcast.
In many ways, this partnership is a formalization of what JKL's rivals have been doing for years. Both Late Night and Tonight have offered online video of their musical acts for some time, with Late Night having run its own summer concert series - Live on Letterman - for some time.
The JKL performances streamed will be from artists taking part in the show's new summer concert series. These bands and solo musicians will perform extended outdoor sets that can last up to five or six songs, most of which are never seen by anyone beyond those actually present at the concerts themselves. Starting tonight, that will change with the webcast of Australian band Empire of the Sun's performance. The duo are expected to perform music from their new Ice on The Dune album - which will be available for streaming from a special Jimmy Kimmel Live-branded landing page on the site.All performances offered as part of the deal will be archived for later viewing, in addition to being livestreamed.
According to Scott Igoe, the music producer and booker for Jimmy Kimmel Live, the partnership between his show and MySpace is one that will benefit both parties. Not only will the newly-relaunched site gain press and, presumably, traffic from JKL viewers from the deal but, Igoe said, "with the newly launched Myspace as a collaborative partner, we’re looking forward to broadening the scope of what we can offer to an even broader audience." Or at least as broad as whatever currently makes up the MySpace user base.
Talking about the deal, MySpace Global Marketing VP Christian Parkes described the ABC late night show as "the go-to destination for the best music on late night," and pointed out that "Jimmy Kimmel Live has a great track record of recognizing new and emerging talent," something that the new MySpace is also angling to do for the Internet.

Read more
Hands on: The Myspace app is a beautiful, confusing work in progress
hands on the myspace app is a work in progress appshots  8

For a self-labeled social media butterfly, I’ve got a serious confession: I’ve never maintained a Myspace account (not to my knowledge, at least). I was too busy writing up killer testimonials for my friends on Friendster and when that got old, I turned to Facebook for some Mob Wars. The thought of signing up always nagged at me, but I never pulled the trigger. Until now.
The new Myspace is pretty sleek and shiny. It’s laden with bigger, cleaner visuals that give the site a more modern feel. The relaunch has been a much-discussed one, and now that Myspace is officially out of beta with an iOS app in tow, it's time to take yet another look at what the new Myspace is bringing to the social-media-meets-music table.
How it works
Joining Myspace is easy. Forget the irony in using Facebook and Twitter to sign in – that’s just how most sites are wired these days and using your existing login details lessens the hassle of remembering a new account. Upon signing in for the first time, you are immediately handed a short tutorial on how to navigate through the app:

Tap the create (+) button to add a status, animated GIF, or photo
Swipe up to access your music player; swipe down to hide it again
Tap the menu button or swipe right to see your profile, inbox, and the Discover panel

Read more
The new Myspace leaves beta, with a mobile app to boot

Before Facebook, there was Myspace – that is the sentiment the latter would like to prove and remind social networkers of with its brand-new facelift, along with a few new features and an iOS app in tow.
When Myspace relaunched back in January, the company’s COO Chris Vanderhook clarified that rather than competing with social media giant Facebook, Myspace would like to be recognized as the go-to site for music discovery and for artists to communicate with their fans, and their new upgrades hope to steer the attention of Pandora and Spotify lovers – as well as the vast amounts of music apps popping up like mushrooms – in their direction. Aside from putting their most famous supporter Justin Timberlake, front line and center, the company’s biggest pull is its ability to learn from their extensive past and apply newer design and technology to keep up with the times. “The magic of Myspace has always been at the intersection of creative expression, community, promotion, and discovery,” said Myspace CEO Tim Vanderhook. “Myspace aims to power a new ecosystem catering directly to the creative community, enabling artists to manage their digital presence, build an audience, upload and distribute their content, and learn from data all on a single platform.”
The recent update includes People Browse, a social function that will allow you to connect with fellow users that share your taste in music. Artists can now consider Myspace as a one-stop shop for all their online marketing needs through a new analytics tool called Insights, designed to optimize the way musicians build their fanbase and propagate their work by providing visualized data reports. For the GIF lovers out there, there’s also a tool provided for you to create and share animated GIFs – although this doesn’t really drive Myspace’s aim to be your music app of choice hard, it certainly doesn’t hurt to offer the option.

The new Myspace iOS app is something that we definitely want, and the fact that the company is finally giving mobile development the attention it so deserves illustrates how serious it is in providing users old and new a brand-new experience you would want to take with you wherever you go. You can now download the app through the App Store and use it to not only browse through radio stations pre-programmed by Myspace as well as your favorite musicians, but you can also create personalized radio stations that suit your every mood through the app’s My Radio feature. The site boasts a library of over 50 million songs sourced from small to big labels as well as acts that currently don’t have official representation.
User profiles that use the classic version of the site have been automatically upgraded to the new Myspace platform. New sign-ups can use their Facebook or Twitter accounts as well as their email address to create a Myspace profile. To cater to non-iOS device users, Myspace also designed a mobile-optimized version of the site available today.
 

Read more