The preview looks great. I just don't understand why anyone would come back to something they've already moved on from to do things they're already doing elsewhere.
That said, I genuinely wish them the best of luck! :-)
It seems to me that this might strike a very relevant and "on trend" balance between the needs of the average person, hip circles, and creative circles. Furthermore, the redesign makes Facebook's recentish redesign look very clunky and amateurish; this design is very very fresh. I think it's a fairly interesting development.
I think pushing hip will be tough whilst still under the myspace banner, Timberlake or not. Perhaps a complete rebrand would have helped.
Trouble is, often big pictures and slick graphics isn't what the average person wants - they just want it to work, and work well - it's why everyone moved from MySpace to fb in the first place.
Absolutely. As good as the redesign is, the Myspace brand seems like a total dead duck. It almost caused a sense of panicked inner confusion in me to see such a pretty design followed by the Myspace logo.
I'd argue with you about big pictures and slick graphics not being what the average person wants: I think there's been a big move towards having a sense of hipness to your online identity, e.g. instagram, tumblr, even twitter for a period, etc, and it seems like this might be an accessible route towards that for the average, unhip, user. Facebook has been uncool for quite a while now, basically. And G+ doesn't even deserve a mention in terms of hipness.
Haha yes, it would have been a whole lot more interesting under a new banner!
I think your average person and your average hipster are very different people... I suppose we'll have to see what crowd they're going after? I can pretty much guarantee this would just confuse my folks, and I have a lot of friends who religiously use Facebook, but they do so because it's not like this.
You're totally right, but i think just the fact that you've said "this will confuse my folks" (it'd confuse mine too) shows that change has to come at some stage in terms of the dominant social network. Maybe Myspace wont be it but, Facebook just isn't cool anymore.
Maybe the problem is it's always going to feel like a MySpace reboot under the MySpace banner? And I'm with you - something entirely fresh would be fantastic (whether that's trying to attract everyone or a more niche audience), the worry is this ends up becoming exactly as you said above - just another new music-sharing social site - that doesn't attract anyone (long term).
Still, my fingers are crossed and I'm looking forward to giving it a go.
There's a burgeoning disenfranchisement with Facebook IMO. People for whom Facebook is getting tired and old and for whom the interface is a drag may well be perfectly placed to jump [back].
This does look like they've refocussed back to the roots (?) of MySpace and gone tailored things towards bands/music again.
Bands was what MySpace did best. It'll be interesting to see if it can lure any back (or the audience for the bands - chicken, egg?).
Absolutely agree with the Facebook disenfranchisement. I often wonder if FB has just got too 'bitty' - would people prefer something like the super simple Facebook of yesteryear?!
It would be interesting to see MySpace really attack Facebook by having a really really good privacy agreement etc, but if it's too nice they'll have the same monetization issues that Facebook does.
It's all about focusing on the creative producers, Facebook still isn't the best place for those types, it's good because that's where fans are but it's not really the best tool.
Sure, I get that. But most of the people I know in bands use something else - bandcamp,soundcloud, whatever. Those who listen are using spotify, grooveshark, rdio, whatever. Photographers use flickr, instagram, designers use dribbble, etc etc. My friends all chat on facebook, twitter or g+ - the list goes on.
It's great that they're trying - I used to love MySpace! But I can't see why anyone would choose to go back when other services are doing it better and your friends, family, colleagues and celebrities (and where appropriate fans and audiences) are there already.
I hate being negative about it, and I really look forward to trying it - they just have a long road ahead.
"""But most of the people I know in bands use something else - bandcamp,soundcloud, whatever. Those who listen are using spotify, grooveshark, rdio, whatever. Photographers use flickr, instagram, designers use dribbble, etc etc. My friends all chat on facebook, twitter or g+ - the list goes on."""
Does it not seem though that this redesign seems to be hitting the middleground of this cluster of services? It seems like this could be a very relevant move for Myspace when, as you say, most people use either soundcloud or grooveshark or instagram or tumblr or facebook or etc etc. This redesign, even if it is a concept, seems to touch upon all of these. Which mightn't attract hardcore users who need flickr or bandcamp, but it might attract everyone else who wants to need all the above. I dunno, it all seems very relevant to me.
For most things I don't want a middle ground, though. I want spotify which beautifully plays all the albums I want, when and where I want them, and does it well. I want to look at my instagram stream in bed when I get up in the morning, use twitter at work, etc. I have no interest in mixing them.
I mean - my musician friends love bandcamp and soundcloud - why would they go back to MySpace when other sites are doing the job perfectly and the audience is there?
I just think that selling a middle ground is a lot harder than selling something brilliant.
You and I, and probably everybody on HN, know what we want though, in terms of the services we use. We're a niche, and actual musicians and artists etc are a niche userbase too, and they wont stop using whatever the hot thing is in their area (soundcloud, let's say). So without sounding too flippant, if Myspace can make the average person think that all the cool people are there, that's where the average person will go, especially if it's as accessible (in terms of the breadth of things it offers) and hip as the preview suggests.
I suppose I just think that not everybody needs, wants or cares about cool. I agree that often the average person will follow the tastemakers, but if you can't keep the tastemakers there, or it's just too out there for the average person (like crazy clothing trends, for instance), you limit yourself to just the fringe.
We may have to agree to disagree :-) It'll be interesting to follow it, though, right?
That said, I genuinely wish them the best of luck! :-)