The revamped Myspace attracted 31 million visitors and 995,000 app downloads in the first 14 days after its June 12th re-launch, suggesting the service was able to maintain the level of consumer interest during the week after re-launch. In that first week, Myspace had 450,000 app downloads and 16 million visitors.
The redesigned mobile app has a lot of competition. Its iOS app ranked #147 on the list of free iPhone apps on Thursday morning. To put the app’s current popularity in perspective, the music identification app Shazam was ranked #72, Slacker Radio ranked #76 and music hosting/streaming app SoundCloud ranked #103. Myspace is iTunes’ 18th most popular free social networking app. It ranks just behind Google+ and ahead of video-sharing app Keek and dating app Tinder.
The company views its early numbers as proof the service is attracting its primary millennial demographic. Although Myspace does not break down the numbers by age group, millennials are definitely the focus of its re-launch marketing.
A $20 million advertising campaign at broadcast and cable television and digital is reintroducing Myspace to a younger crowd. The advertisements emphasize music, youth, creativity and sharing. One television ad (see below) features the musician and producer Pharrell, musician and actress Sky Ferreira and the music of FIDLAR. In other words, Myspace is not pitched as a platform for soccer moms and family photos.
Yet Myspace cannot dodge controversy. Merlin CEO Charles Caldas told VentureBeat on Wednesday the company is still playing music from many independent labels without permission. Myspace explained to VentureBeat that many artists represented by Merlin have been licensed through “other distributors.”
