MySpace scoops up popular Facebook app iLike

August 19, 2009 By RYAN NAKASHIMA , AP Business Writer
MySpace buying online music sensation iLike

Enlarge

Homepage of MySpace displayed on a computer monitor. MySpace on Wednesday announced it is buying online music discovery hotspot iLike and plans to expand the service to other forms of entertainment such as games and films.

(AP) -- Social networking hub MySpace said Wednesday it is acquiring iLike, a popular music application on rival Facebook, in the first move by new management to expand after a series of drastic cuts and writedowns.

The $20 million agreement to purchase iLike confirmed rumors that had circulated this week.

ILike, which has 55 million users, will remain headquartered in Seattle, and its management team will stay intact, with brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi in the top two slots. They founded the service in 2006 with $16.5 million in venture capital, mostly from Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc.

MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta, who replaced co-founder Chris DeWolfe as MySpace chief executive in April, told reporters on a conference call that iLike technology will help MySpace users share songs, videos and games away from their MySpace home pages.

For instance, iLike already has 10 million users on . It attaches itself to Apple Inc.'s music store with song recommendations, notifies fans of upcoming concerts and Twitter posts by their favorite artists and allows people to see what their friends are listening to. It began selling songs in the MP3 format on Friday.

"We believe what iLike has created isn't limited to just music and should extend to all the areas important to MySpace users, such as entertainment, video, and games," he said.

Facebook, which ranked iLike among its top eight applications and the third most popular in its entertainment segment, said it did not expect the acquisition to affect its users.

Van Natta said the iLike technology would complement its MySpace Music joint venture, a free music streaming and discovery platform it launched with major recording companies in September. The two services, however, will not be integrated right away.

He noted that MySpace Music was "doing extremely well," with monthly visitors nearly tripled since launch to 12.1 million in June, according to Nielsen figures.

MySpace is recovering from a serious of painful cuts after laying off 700 workers recently and breaking the lease on office space it no longer needed in west Los Angeles.

Its parent company, ., booked some $630 million in impairment and restructuring charges due to Fox Interactive Media, which houses MySpace, in the three months to June 30. News Corp. bought MySpace for $580 million in 2005.

Fox Interactive Media revenue, the majority of which comes from , also fell 15 percent from a year ago in the last quarter to $192 million, dragged down by a 22 percent decline in ad revenue.

©2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


Rank 5 /5 (1 vote)
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • How to tilt a object
    created13 hours ago
  • How to calculate total compressibility in liquid porous solid system
    created18 hours ago
  • Need help reading 3-D
    createdFeb 11, 2012
  • A way to send and receive wireless data
    createdFeb 11, 2012
  • Calling function with no input argument
    createdFeb 10, 2012
  • Force free body diagram problem on gym equipment
    createdFeb 10, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - General Engineering

More news stories

Ethanol mandate not the best option

Many people are willing to pay a premium for ethanol, but not enough to justify the government mandate for the corn-based fuel, a Michigan State University economist argues.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created 51 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Teaching teens safety in the virtual world

A new cyber safety program on the dangers of social networking is being developed by Flinders University, in light of an alarming report which shows children as young as 12 are meeting internet strangers in ...

Technology / Internet

created 29 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Darpa to develop mobile millimeter-wave backhaul networks

Providing high-bandwidth communications for troops in remote forward operating locations is not only critical but also challenging because a reliable infrastructure optimized for remote geographic areas does ...

Technology / Telecom

created 43 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Building a 'blind-friendly' Internet

Rakesh Babu demonstrates how a blind person uses the Internet.

Technology / Internet

created 1 hour ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Microsoft India retail site down after 'cyber attack'

Microsoft said Monday it was investigating an attack by hackers on its Indian retail website, reportedly carried out by a Chinese group called the "Evil Shadow Team."

Technology / Internet

created 3 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Transforming galaxies

(PhysOrg.com) -- Many of the Universe's galaxies are like our own, displaying beautiful spiral arms wrapping around a bright nucleus. Examples in this stunning image, taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 on ...

'Smart' microcapsules in a single step

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new, single-step method of fabricating microcapsules, which have potential commercial applications in industries including medicine, agriculture and diagnostics, has been developed by researchers ...

A continent ablaze in auroral and manmade light

The North American continent is literally set ablaze in a confluence of Auroral and Manmade light captured in spectacular new videos snapped by the astronauts serving aboard the International Space Station ...

Nanostructured electrodes for rechargeable sodium-Ion batteries

Highly efficient 3V cathodes for rechargeable sodium-ion batteries have been developed by users from Argonne National Laboratory's Materials Science, Chemical Sciences & Engineering, and X-ray Sciences Divisions, ...

New tumor suppressor gene identified

A recent study published in Clinical Cancer Research suggests that the protein hVps37A suppresses tumor growth in ovarian cancer. The work, which was funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, shows, for th ...

A lost world? How zooarchaeology can inform biodiversity conservation

A new study of tropical forests will provide a 50,000-year perspective on how animal biodiversity has changed, explored through an archaeological investigation of animal bones.