All Things Digital

Skip to main content.

MediaMemo

Friday, October 9, 2009

Exclusive: MySpace Gets a New Sales Boss–MTV Vet Nada Stirratt (Plus, an Internal Memo, Of Course!)

Nada_Stirratt

Employees at News Corp.’s MySpace have been waiting to find out who their new ad sales boss will be. And, here she is: Nada Stirratt, who until today was running digital sales for Viacom’s MTV Networks.

Stirratt has her work cut out for her. The struggling social networking site, HQed in Beverly Hills, has been trying to reboot its image, spur innovation in its product and, most of all, pull itself out of a too-long slump, even as longtime rival, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook, has seen explosive growth.

Read More »

Thursday, August 20, 2009

MySpace Welcomes Media Link (and Wenda Millard!): The Complete Internal Memo

As Kara Swisher just reported, News Corp.’s MySpace has hired media consulting firm Media Link, along with Media Link President Wenda Harris Millard, to overhaul the social network’s sales group.

Here’s the complete internal memo from CEO Owen Van Natta, which describes Millard’s position as head of the ad sales group as an “interim” one, and announces that former sales boss Jeff Berman is out.

Read More »

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

MySpace Finishes Its AcqHire of iLike: Don’t Think Music, Think “Socialization of Content.” Plus! The Internal Memo.

ilike-group-1_198_1010_low

Now that MySpace has finished its acquisition of iLike, what is it going to do with it? Don’t think music, MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta stressed in a press conference today, think about “socialization of content.”

What does that mean? It means the social network has spent $19.5 million on engineering talent to help overhaul its site.

Read More »

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Project Playlist Picks Up Total Music Leftovers From Universal, but Hasn’t Settled Lawsuit

The music industry’s online forays have always inspired head-scratching, but this one is odd even by those standards: Project Playlist, the online music service currently being sued by Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group, is bolstering its tech staff by buying the assets of… a music service owned by Universal Music Group. But the lawsuits have yet to be resolved. Confusing? Of course.

Read More »

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

It’s Official: DeWolfe Out as MySpace CEO; Co-Founder Tom Anderson Also Moving Aside

As All Things Digital reported earlier today, MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe is stepping down from his post, but will stay on board as a “strategic advisor” to the company. MySpace owner News Corp. didn’t name a successor to DeWolfe, but we believe the company is close to bringing Owen Van Natta, the former COO at Facebook and current CEO of Project Playlist, in as a replacement. News Corp. also said that it is in talks to move aside Tom Anderson, DeWolfe’s longtime partner, from his position as president.

Read More »

Chris DeWolfe Likely to Step Down as MySpace CEO; News Corp. Talking to Facebook Veteran Owen Van Natta

dewolfeMySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe is likely to be on his way out of the company he helped found, and News Corp., which bought the social network in 2005, has a single potential successor in mind. Sources say that person is former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta, who is currently CEO of music start-up Project Playlist. People familiar with the matter tell me that DeWolfe and News Corp., specifically new digital boss Jon Miller, are discussing a leadership change today.

Read More »

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

A Win for Project Playlist: EMI Drops Suit, Signs On

EMI Music Group, which sued Web music start-up Project Playlist nearly a year ago, has dropped its suit and will start providing its catalog to the site, which offers free streaming music. The settlement, in conjunction with an earlier deal struck with Sony’s Sony Music Entertainment, means that Project Playlist now has deals with two of the big four music labels. But Warner Music Group and Vivendi’s Universal Music Group are still suing the company.

Read More »

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Facebook Bails on Project Playlist, Too

Four days after MySpace cut the legs out from under Project Playlist by disabling the music streaming service’s app, Facebook is following suit.

Read More »

Latest MediaMemo Videos

More Videos »

About Peter

Peter Kafka has been covering media and technology since 1997, when he joined the staff of Forbes magazine. Most recently, he has been the managing editor of the tech and media Web site, Silicon Alley Insider.

Read more »

Ethics Statement

Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.

Read more »