Web 2.0: MySpace launches music video hub, artists dashboard

MySpace, battling to maintain relevance as it loses market share to Facebook, is refocusing on the area that brought the company early success by launching a music video hub and rich analytics for artists.

The social network unveiled an artists dashboard that gives musicians better analytics to manage their relationship with fans at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco today. Not only that, the company is building a hub for music videos incorporating content from several large record labels. It also includes music video recommendations based on what friends are watching and links to buy tracks you like.

“Nobody else is offering artists this type of insight,” said MySpace chief executive Owen Van Natta. Van Natta said he wanted the social network to be the place where content gets “socialized.”

Van Natta’s clearly deciding that if MySpace is going to be successful, it better focus on one thing, and execute it flawlessly. He told Reuters earlier today:

Candidly, when I looked at the product road map and plan, there was no better way to describe it than,… it was a mile wide and an inch deep. It was not focused to let the company execute well. We clearly defined the company mission and focused the product roadmap, and reduced the number of initiatives.

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