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).
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.
