Can Star Power Resurrect Myspace - Weigh In...Again

Do you still have a Myspace page? Do you even remember your log in? Neither do I. The last time I checked my Myspace page, it had to be 2005.

The story of Myspace's meteoric rise and equally meteoric demise is very well known. Justin Timberlake's and the Vanderhook brothers' acquisition of the network made headlines. And, JT's major Myspace announcement at this year's CES made somewhat of a ripple. But does Myspace have what it takes to come back?

JT is at the reigns, not only as co-owner, but as Creative Strategy lead. And he's cool. He's funny. He's talented. And, as we've seen over the past few years, Hollywood has really been the impetus for creating and curating content. So that must be an elixir for success, right?

Well, the new Myspace is supposed to be designed for social entertainment - music, TV, movies. Recently, the Myspace 3 (what I lovingly refer to JT and Vanderhook brothers as) unveiled a new music player. Later in the year, Myspace will unveil Myspace TV, its social entertainment sharing platform, available on connected TVs and mobile devices. Myspace TV will eventually expand beyond music to encompass movies, news, sports and reality channels, with a growing lineup of today’s most popular broadcast and on-demand content.

"We're ready to take television and entertainment to the next step by upgrading it to the social networking experience," said Timberlake. "Why text or email your friends to talk about your favorite programs after they've aired when you could be sharing the experience with real-time interactivity from anywhere across the globe?"

Sounds awesome - If it weren't already done.

Youtube is rolling out its premium branded content channels. We have social networks dedicated to music and there are plenty of new platforms going gangbusters on TV (GetGlue, Miso). So what is left?

Perhaps the appeal of Myspace and all of it iterations will be the fact that all of these social entertainment experiences can live in one place. Or, and it's quite possible, JT will properly leverage his star power and rally an unprecedented level of support and openness from Hollywood (with respect to content), giving fans the most intimate and immersive entertainment experience yet.

I am not sure, but if I am going to find out, I'll need to remember that damn login.

Managing the Artist Through Transmedia Storytelling

So we can all nod to the fact thattransmedia and storytelling is the future of content and that brands are the main drivers of this progression. When you begin to look at brands or media as conveyorsor a narrative, you begin to understand the intrinsic social fiber of media, audience or market behavior, sentiments and actions (including insight into the influencer segment ofyour audience) and breakdown the brand story and messaging construct across all platforms.

You will note that some platforms such as mobile and emerging media, is left out of this diagram, but should be included.

Transmedia storytelling can come across as a fairly convoluted

theory, but Gunther Sonnenfeld does a pretty good job or chopping up the Beyonce brand into cerebral bite sizes.

But how is understanding this narrative helpful when managing an artist's brand? Well, if you understand the potentiality of all the various dialogues and conversations that

can and will include your artist/brand, then you'll be able to help craft and evolve those stories and complex interactions. Being an effective steward of your artist's brand is more than facilitating album deals, branded clothing or perfume lines, or the occasional endorsement deal, its about massaging their brand narrative through intertextual dialogue between the fans and community that are interacting with the story (or creating one).

Huh?

I will once again point out Sonnefield's breakdown of the Beyonce brand, using the baby bump announcement as an example, we can begin to see how her team helped evolve her brand story (these of course are based on a her stellar management and marketing team's stewardship over the years):

Other artists doing a great job of purveying their brand narrative across transmedia platforms - Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas, and Janelle Monae.

Like I said before, it seems very difficult to understand, transmedia storytelling, transmedia branding, transmedia marketing and messaging, but if we first know that our artist's brands are going to be visible across all media platforms (whether we want them to or not), and begin to understand what drives the fan's sentiment, behavior and subsequently their actions across these mediums, we can tap into transmedia storytelling to transform their careers and brands.