Myspace Spiffs Itself Up For Its Upcoming Re-Launch -- And It Looks Great!

Will a facelift and better functionality bring the site back to its glory days of prominence?

Hey, let's walk the grounds of memory lane a little bit. If you remember, before there was something called Facebook there was something called Myspace.

Before people were able to Tweet their latest thoughts or life-altering epiphanies there was still Myspace. Far before Instagram became popular and Internet radio sites like Pandora or Spotify lived on everybody's mobile device Myspace existed.

Then all of a sudden everything went black for the social networking company, and Myspace quickly went from a trendy happening-now company, to a non-trendy remember-when company.

New owners

Last year Myspace was sold to the advertising group Specific Media for about $35 million, and since then mum's been the word when it came to just how the social site would be reinventing itself. But just this week some brand new info on the site has been released.

Singer and actor Justin Timberlake, who currently owns a stake of Myspace, tweeted a video link showing the site's new appearance and functionality, and quite honestly it looks pretty darn good.

The new site allows users to have all of their information like personal music selections and Myspace friends, to be accompanied with big bright sexy pictures to provide a big dose of eye candy as one navigates.

And for musicians who post their own music, the site not only gives you listening stats, but it also pulls up a global map so the artist can see where in the world fans are actually listening. It even brings up the picture profile of the listener so you can visit their page and communicate with them if you choose.

In addition, it seems like Myspace has fully conceded to the new generation of social sites, as it suggests you log in by using your Facebook and Twitter information.

It will then suggest music and friends for you to follow based on your Facebook or Twitter profiles.

Side glides

What's also cool is that upon clicking the web pages it seems to glide from side to side, instead of the old version where pages just boringly popped open after choosing a link. There also seems to be a "discover" link that can be selected, where pages of new music and events are colorfully presented, and once you access those pages you can bring them over to your profile.

See, Myspace was a regular destination for web surfers as it was one of the first sites to successfully center around music, making it a website of necessity for music lovers, casual music fans, and musicians alike.  In fact, many people and companies used Myspace as their official website, as it contained all of the informational and visual components that a personal website needs.

But ironically, where Myspace failed is in the area of music, as that was pretty much its most used feature. As other social sites perpetually improved their music offerings and combined it with dollops of technological sophistication, Myspace kind of fell into a cavernous hole of complacency.

Of course this was slightly before the time that most people knew just how fast social network sites could come and go. And it's safe to assume at the beginning of MySpace's Internet onslaught, no one saw Facebook, Spotify or Twitter becoming what they are now.

Too late?

But is it too late for Myspace? Will people return to a site that's not really considered cool or happening anymore? And yes I used the word "happening," as the newest group of slang words which signify prominence can easily elude you as you grow older.

There was time not that long ago, where having a Myspace address made one look like a player in either social areas or in the business world, but now if you're still using the site as a profile destinations it could look like you're out of the loop and not completely up on what's hot and current.

The biggest challenge for Myspace will be to regain a bit of its cultural relevance, and it looks like the company is off to a good start with its updated and colorful look. And attaching itself to sites like Facebook and Twitter definitely can't hurt the site's re-launch.

As of now Myspace hasn't changed over to its new face and body yet, as I logged in and saw the same old page and set-up. A launch date hasn't yet been set for the new version of the social networking site either, and a video currently circulating the Internet is the first phase of the companies marketing push.

It's rumored that Timberlake is trying to recruit some of his famous chums in the music and acting worlds to sign on with the site and give it some much needed advertising push, but just which artists will be involved has been kept under wraps for the time being, which is Timberlake's idea to build levels of anticipation for the site.

"I know some artists. For me to reach out to the ones that I know, I think for now to be a beta tester, as well," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "I want them to feel a sense of comfortable anonymity to that."

But we'll see if a beautiful design and celebrity co-signers will be enough to bring Myspace back to being a popular website destination. The company certainly has its work cut out for them, but at least by the looks of it, people are already starting to once again pay attention.  

How they voted

Yes

Yes