Social networking phenomenon MySpace is in the process of beta testing a specific website for the Irish marketplace as part of its European onslaught, siliconrepublic.com has learned.
The company is targeting Ireland along with the UK, France, Germany and Spain as part of a number of growth initiatives that include mobile phone projects. The company has launched in Japan as part of a joint venture with Softbank.
MySpace is a social networking site that offers an interactive, user-submitted group of friends, personal profiles, blogs, photos, music and videos.
The site has ratcheted up 100 million users across the world and is being taken seriously by the record industry as a location to promote new bands.
The power of the social networking phenomenon as a business was not lost on Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp which in July 2005 paid US$580m to buy the company.
MySpace was started by University of California Berkley and Los Angeles graduate Tom Anderson in 2003. The site has evolved from being a location for personal web pages to include blogs, instant messaging and mobile features.
MySpace kicked off its European adventure in the UK and by November had 6.9 million users and ranks as the site’s largest market in Europe, according to comScore Media Metrix. It is understood that there are 2.4 million users in Germany and 1.3 million in France.
An Italian version of MySpace is due to go live in the coming months.
By John Kennedy
