New Myspace Owners Share When They Plan Website Relaunch

Chris and Tim Vanderhook, current owners of Myspace, are hoping to revive the iconic social media platform in the near future.

In an interview as part of a documentary directed by Tommy Avallone, the brothers said that they are once again looking for ways to relaunch the defunct website. Founded in 2003 by Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, who worked for the internet marketing company eUniverse, Myspace laid claim to the title of the “first” popular social media platform. In 2005, it was purchased by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and declined in the years after. It was briefly owned by singer Justin Timberlake, as well as multiple other companies.

According to their interview, the Vanderhooks said they had to devise a strategy for their company, Viant Technology, to purchase Myspace. They were able to rebuild the site, “but it was a different company at that point.” Their efforts largely failed, particularly due to advertiser losses.

In 2019, Myspace lost all the music from its first 12 years in a server migration where over 50 million song files were corrupted, according to CNN. If you had a profile back in the day, there is no way to retrieve your data. However, you can still view some portions of the website through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

According to People, the brothers said, “We are stewards of the Myspace brand at this point, and we are going to relaunch Myspace. We’re just waiting for the right time to do it. And if that one doesn’t work, we’ll do it again.”

Myspace was unique in design because it allowed users to customize their profile’s look through basic HTML coding. It also featured a “Top 8” ranking system for your friends. Users could also choose songs to play on their profile, which many artists like Adele have attributed to their early rise in popularity as music artists. 

This is a sharp contrast to the algorithm-driven social media world we know today. Can Myspace thrive amidst short-form content from platforms like TikTok? Perhaps it can provide an alternative for people who are fatigued by addictive social media that constantly demands your attention.

Facebook was originally the main competitor of Myspace, but Facebook’s user growth has slowed. While no official announcements have come on what features the Vanderhooks might change or leave the same, some users on the Facebook subreddit are hopeful that Myspace could be a place for more authentic content than Facebook currently offers. The rise of nostalgia-driven marketing has shown that revivals like this one may in fact be a very viable business opportunity. No launch date has been announced yet, however.