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Thursday, June 30, 2011
The Afternoon Report will be on hiatus until Monday, July 18.
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The Bridge Project’s RICHARD III opens to rave reviews • • • @JERSEYBOYSInfo cast member Katie O’Toole to Appear on New York Non-Stop Beginning July 1 • • • Ellen Burstyn attended last nights performance of ANYTHING GOES! • • • Kim Cattrall & Paul Gross come to Broadway in Noël Coward’s PRIVATE LIVES, opening Nov 17 at the Music Box. • • •
Exclusive: New MySpace Owner Tim Vanderhook Talks About Justin Timberlake and ‘Reinvigorating’ a Damaged Brand
Billboard.biz – by Antony Bruno
Yesterday morning, Tim Vanderhook was the CEO of a relatively little-known ad network called Specific Media. Today, he’s the owner of Myspace, after Specific Media emerged as the bargain buyer of the pioneering social networking site for a reported $35 million.
So now what? Specific Media quickly followed up on its acquisition news with the announcement that Justin Timberlake will be a part owner in the new company and creative advisor of sorts, charged with reinvigorating both the Myspace product and brand.
And what does all that mean for music and the Myspace Music joint venture? Vanderhook spoke with Billboard this morning about his plans for the company, Timberlake’s role in its future, and how the music industry and Myspace Music joint venture will operate going forward.
Billboard.biz: Why did you want to buy Myspace?
Tim Vanderhook: Specific Media is a big, global advertising business. We have 500 employees across 11 countries. We’ve developed a tremendous amount of technology around the advertising space, and we’ve been real competitive in that for about 10 years. About a year ago we decided we wanted to transform the business and do something bigger, and that was to become a digital media company — to not [just] be in the advertising business, but be in the content business as well. So we were looking for a partner that we could pair the business with, leverage the strength Specific Media has in the advertising business and mash that up with someone of equal power on the content side. Obviously Myspace brings an iconic brand with huge reach of about 70 million unique users a month, and perfectly overlaps with the international reach we have.
BBB: Obviously with Justin Timberlake involved, music will be a strong focus of this, correct?
Vanderhook: Absolutely music will be involved, but it won’t be the only thing we do. Obviously you look at someone like Justin, he’s an incredibly talented artist and musician, but he’s so much more than that. He as the ability to do TV, movies, he has an incredible photography and design sense. Music will be important to us going forward, but it’s more about being an entertainment company rather than music in general.
To read this article in its entirety, click the link below
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/exclusive-new-myspace-owner-tim-vanderhook-1005260472.story
The Billboard Charts ~ Issue Date: 2011-07-09
Billboard Top Broadway Cast Album Catalog:
#1. The Book of Mormon, Original Broadway Cast Recording
#2. Wicked, Original Broadway Cast Recording
#3. Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, Original Cast Recording
#4. Jersey Boys, Original Broadway Cast Recording
#5. How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, The 2011 Broadway Cast Recording
The Billboard 200:
#75. The Book of Mormon, Original Broadway Cast Recording
Top Current Albums:
#68. The Book of Mormon, Original Broadway Cast Recording
Internet Albums:
#15. The Book of Mormon, Original Broadway Cast Recording