Not long ago, it seemed fallen social networking giant Myspace might never make a comeback. News Corp sold the company for pennies on the dollar more than a year ago and little had been heard about the new owners' plans for a revamp.
That all changed last week when actor/pop star/Myspace investor Justin Timberlake tweeted a link to a MySpace promo video, giving the world a two-minute glimpse at the massive facelift coming to the site. The catchy video, set to the infectious groove of "Heartbeat" by JJAMZ, came seemingly out of the blue – and actually made the new Myspace seem like a lot of fun.
The video's bouncy backing track was chosen by Scott Vener. Even if you don't know Vener's name, you might know his work – he's the guy who picked the music for Entourage, How to Make It in America and 90210. Now, he's the man picking the music for Myspace. As lead music editor and curator of the social networking site, he's charged with bringing music and musicians back into the fold of what was once the world's dominant social networking site.
"We all know this is expected to fail," Vener said in an e-mail to Wired, in which he discussed Myspace's latest makeover. "With those low expectations comes a lot of freedom. Cool is what happens when you get creative and have nothing to lose."
While some weighed in positively on Myspace's promo video (Gizmodo said it looks "kind of neat" and The Next Web called it "beautiful"), others offered critiques of the "makes me want to hurl" variety. Not to mention that in recent years, music fans have moved on to places like Rdio, Tumblr, Bandcamp and Spotify as Myspace's user base has steadily declined.
Wired talked with Vener to find out what Myspace, which was bought by Specific Media for $35 million last summer, is cooking up in its private beta (request an invite here).
Wired: What's your actual job at Myspace?
Scott Vener: Officially, lead music editor and curator. But this is new territory for everyone; I think we made that up. I get paid to wake up at noon, go to bed at 4 a.m. and listen to music all day. As long as I can do that they can call me whatever they want.
>"I got a text from Justin: 'I'm putting together a creative team to help rebuild Myspace and I want you to be a part of it.' Hard to say no to that."
— Scott Vener
Wired: Man, how'd you land that gig?
Vener: I got a text from Justin [Editor's note: That would be Timberlake.]: "I'm putting together a creative team to help rebuild Myspace and I want you to be a part of it." Hard to say no to that.
Wired: What can you tell us about the new Myspace? What kind of features can we expect?
Vener: A simple design with a persistent music player that allows you to create, discover and consume playlists no matter what else you happen to be doing. Easier ways to find and create mixes. Plus, I had no idea how large the music and video catalogs were prior to coming over here. The new site will make it much easier to tap into them.
The analytics. There's a lot of focus being directed to recommendations and insights. For example, there's a metric (Affinity) that shows people to what degree they'll like something, making it easier for people to discover the things they'll actually enjoy. Top 8 is back.
Wired: Do you have a hand in the new look and feel of the forthcoming Myspace or on the features it has?
Vener: I was definitely the guinea pig for the music player and some of the site's music-discovery functionalities. But, the real credit for the new Myspace deserves to go to the talented designers and engineers who built it from the ground up.
Wired: Obviously you picked out the music for the new promotional video (embedded above), which you're also featured in, but what else does your job entail?
Vener: Helping curate the artists featured in our various music programs and recruiting artists back to the site. Beyond that, as we're building the new site, my job is to speak on behalf of the unsigned, up-and-coming artists and represent their voice and needs within Myspace.
Wired: How are you planning to make Myspace cool again?
>"There's no master plan to be 'cool.'"
— Scott Vener
Vener: There are some really smart and passionate people in this building who really want this to work. They love music and respect artists and believe that the new Myspace can be the answer to the void it left behind. But, there's no master plan to be "cool."
Wired: How did you transition from being a music supervisor for shows like Entourage and How to Make It in America to what you're doing now?
Vener: I'm still working on TV, films and commercials. Those shows granted me a great opportunity to create a conversation around music on a smaller scale using Twitter and my blog. The opportunity with Myspace presented itself and it felt organic.
Wired: How is what you're doing now different than being a music supervisor for TV? Are there any ways in which the two jobs are similar?
Vener: I think the two complement one another. Part of my job is about discovering new music and sharing it with people. I can't wait to use this platform to identify emerging artists and help fans connect to their music. Who knows, maybe their stuff will end up on the upcoming Entourage movie soundtrack (shameless plug).
Wired: What's it like working for/with Justin Timberlake?
Vener: We've been good friends for a while. He made it very clear: "I'm not bringing you in to work for me. I want you to work with me on this. It's a partnership." I'm excited to finally work on something together.
Wired: When is the relaunch actually coming?
Vener: It's coming. We're in closed beta now, going out to artists to have them join the platform first and give us the feedback we need in our final stage of development. From there, we'll open it up to the loyalists who've stuck by Myspace through the years and give them invites to join as well. There won't be any billboards in Times Square. It will be less of a contrived launch. Think of us as a new band going on the road, doing shows and earning real fans.
