In an attempt to boost its profile among entertainment fans, online social networking company Myspace has launched Myspace Events, a new event and calendar platform that lets members keep track of events and purchase tickets for them from third-party ticket vendors.
In recent years, Myspace has lost some ground to online social network company Facebook, but Myspace has been a continued to be a destination for bands to create profiles that list tour dates and host samples of their music. And, the creation of Myspace Events is designed to repurpose and leverage that content into a new potential revenue stream for the company and a way to attract users back to the site.
In a statement, Myspace co-President Jason Hirschhorn said the initiative “is the next step in enabling them to discover, create, and socialize” around the millions of they already are posting each year. “MySpace Events allows users to find events of every size from a local concert to the next Lakers game to Jay-Z’s tour and then takes it a step further by providing the option to easily share the event and even purchase tickets.”
When users search on Myspace Events for a concert, for example, they will be able to click on a “Find Tickets” link that will take them to a third-party Web site where the tickets are for sale.
The company initially signed a deal with Live Nation Entertainment and its Ticketmaster division to provide tickets, but an employee with the company, who asked for anonymity because they are not an authorized spokesperson, told TicketNews that secondary ticket Web sites could be included in the future.
“As the product progresses, we’ll look into working with other vendors,” the source said, adding that those deals could begin to take root in the next several months.
The initiative’s calendar feature will display a user’s favorite events on their home page, even their Facebook events via Facebook Connect implementation.
“Ultimately our goal is to create a destination that allows users to manage their entire social calendar online through MySpace. Also, we’re providing artists with advanced tools to help connect with fans and promote their shows while conversely enabling fans to quickly and easily discover, share and purchase tickets to those shows,” Marcus Womack, director of events and ticketing for MySpace, said in a statement.
