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MySpace CEO: Profile Portability Is 'Next Big Thing'

MySpace has suffered a number of "indignities" lately, Portfolio says. The social network has faced stagnating growth while rival Facebook continues to surge ahead, now approaching the News Corp. company's perch as the No. 1 social net in the U.S. MySpace Music, its joint music venture with the major record labels, has boosted usage among existing members but "has not caught fire" with the general public. Has MySpace lost its "cool factor?"

In an interview, CEO Chris DeWolfe claims that MySpace is maintaining a strong growth position despite the economy-first quarter revenues are up 17%, he says. Profile portability is the next big thing coming from the company, DeWolfe says, adding that he'd be "fine" with MySpaceID (its distributed profile service) becoming compatible with Facebook and visa versa: "I'm not sure if Facebook would," he opines. "They're not using any of the open standards. LinkedIn and MySpace usually use open standards." This doesn't mean true profile portability is forthcoming, "but it's a conversation we would be open to having" DeWolfe says.

Five years out, you'll see MySpace "on virtually every site," DeWolfe says. At the same time, MySpace will also be your homepage, where you can receive everything from you email to your newsfeeds from aggregation services like FriendFeed. The other big growth drivers will be mobile, and a more comprehensive MySpace Music product, he says, adding that the new revenue model for music will be advertising, live events and merchandise.

Read the whole story at Portfolio »

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