MySpace relaunches

The new MySpace officially launched to the public today, unveiling a revamped site focused on music. Co-owner Justin Timberlake's presence is immediate as upon joining (which can be done using Facebook or Twitter logins or through a separate sign-in process) users are offered a free stream his new single featuring Jay Z, "Suit & Tie". We would have written it off, but with Facebook’s recent gaffs, maybe the new service will claw back users - although you can't actually even look at the new service without 'joining' which strikes me as daft. Doomed anyway?  https://new.myspace.com/

Myspace bounces back

Myspace has announced receiving more than 1 million new sign-ups in the last month, which it said is as a result of the company’s recently launched Myspace Music Player. This brings the service’s monthly users to 25 million. Myspace has an “underappreciated” portfolio of 42 million songs – considerably more than competitors like Spotify (15 million tracks globally), Rdio (12 million) and Pandora (nearly 1 million). Myspace didn’t disclose the churn rate on those registrations, but comScore backs up the positive implications with a report that Myspace traffic rose in January. The revamped Myspace player has free unlimited on-demand listening, personalized radio modes, a recommendation engine and integration with Facebook.