Justin Timberlake takes stake in MySpace

(AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK)

Music superstar and actor Justin Timberlake has signed on as a new partial owner of MySpace, along with Specific Media, which bought the service from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Timberlake will play a significant role in the reboot of the website, developing a strategy for a new creative direction for MySpace.

Ironically, in 2010's acclaimed film The Social Network, the pop singer portrayed Sean Parker, one of Facebook's early leaders and a co-founder of the former file-sharing service Napster.

California-based Specific Media, which specializes in online advertising, finalized its purchase of MySpace for $35 million on June 29, for considerably less than the $580 million the News Corp. paid for the website six years ago.

Despite the shrinking of the MySpace subscriber base in light of Facebook's dominance in the social media market, many musicians still maintain a presence on the site.

"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," Timberlake said in a statement. "I'm excited to help revitalize Myspace by using its social media platform to bring artists and fans together in one community."

The specific plans for MySpace will be unveiled at a press conference later this summer, but according to The Wrap, there is interest in developing MySpace as part of the "interest graph," organizing users around interests, instead of the "social graph," like Facebook - and focusing on music.

http://www.myspace.com/justintimberlake

RC