The first ad you see on MySpace UK’s homepage is a cheapo text spot from a company which buys cars from people who are leaving the country - hardly on-brand with MySpace’s pitch as a hip destination for music-loving youngsters. Removing this “random stuff” and other “less salubrious advertising” was…

Is MySpace a strong enough brand in the UK to go it alone in ad sales? The News Corp.-owned social networking site will soon find out: it has severed its ties with several third-party ad networks in the country and is instead moving all of its ad sales to Fox…

MySpace today launched its UK music offering, over a year after its US launch. However tempting it is to position this as a Spotify challenger (and the BBC and many others do) it simply isn’t.  It isn’t - both out of intent (more on that later) and also out of…

It’s taken more than a year since the Septemeber ‘08 US launch, but MySpace Music is finally live in the UK and with the same features already available in the US, Australia and New Zealand, including free, unlimited streaming, DRM-free purchases through iTunes and artist access to MySpace Music analytics.…

MySpace Music has now finalized a global licensing deal with the labels represented by Merlin, according to details tipped Friday to Digital Music News.  Both companies confirmed the relationship, thanks to resolution on a major sticking point related to equity. MySpace noted that Merlin - and other indies - are…

Yesterday at the Monaco Media Forum I interviewed Jon Miller, the head of News Corp (NYSE: NWS) Digital, on stage. Below is the full video of it. I grilled him on MySpace’s future, the future of Google’s search deal, on Murdoch’s half-incoherent statements about Google (NSDQ: GOOG) (and the resulting…

Former MySpace SVP Jamie Kantrowitz has lined up advisory roles with a number of online music services, after leaving the social network in August. Kantrowitz had helped set up MySpace in Europe, with a focus on music and entertainment relationships, in 2006 as SVP of marketing and content.

—MySpace: The News Corp-owned social network is parting ways with its head of UK sales Nick Reid, who leaves at the end of October after three years. There’s no word on where the ex-Emap man is headed, but the departure is not thought to be linked to July’s restructure that…

—News International: Still keen to boost physical newspaper sales, News International has created a new head of retail strategy role: Katherine Challinor’s sole job is to make sure the company sells more copies of its four national titles. It’s no small task—only The Sunday Times enjoyed a circulation increase in…

MySpace is tapping its Spain and Portgual GM Christopher Moser as its new UK MD, replacing Anthony Lukom, MediaWeek says. The company says it is unable to comment. It’s thought Lukom is no longer with the company. Moser will preside over a much smaller MySpace - the company is shedding…

Newly slimmed-down MySpace UK is taking a leaf out of Bebo Originals’ playbook, with a teen-focused short online video drama, Freak, made by FremantleMedia.

After weeks of speculation, confirmation of MySpace international SVP and MD Travis Katz‘s exit has come in a memo from CEO Owen Van Natta (via TechCrunch). But, although MySpace is shedding 300 of its 450 international staff, Katz’s role will remain - Europe and Australia GM Rebeckah Horne is stepping…

So how will MySpace manage all of its international operations after slicing non-U.S. staff by some 65 percent? Short answer: it won’t. The social network is outsourcing its sites in Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Poland, Mexico, and Turkey to News Corp (NYSE: NWS). sibling Fox International Channels (FIC). MySpace CEO…

Missed this during my travels—Rupert Murdoch admitting to fault for the way MySpace morphed into an overgrown company in need of a massive trim. The News Corp (NYSE: NWS) chairman and CEO told TheStreet.com he hasn’t given up on global ambitions for the social network: “We’re just getting first things…

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and cofounder of HDNet, offers running commentary on Blog Maverick. This post, which follows an earlier look at Free versus Freely Distributed, is published here with his permission. The problem with companies who have built their business around free is that it is…

We knew something was up when MySpace’s UK MD Anthony Lukom pulled out of C21’s Social Media Forum last month - the following day, MySpace said it was cutting 350 of its 450 international staff. Now Lukom appers to be one of them. Europe MD Rebekah Horne will cover for…

MySpace’s cuts, announced for the U.S. last week, are spreading as expected. The company will slash its international staff by two thirds, from 450 to 150, and close at least four international offices as part of cuts that affect “all international divisions of the company.” It brings the total jobs…

Remember when UK social networking was a three-horse race? Those days are gone, my friend. In the last year, Facebook has surged ahead of its rivals, two of which in particular have gone in to reverse, according to measurement firms’ stats obtained by paidContent:UK… —Nielsen says first-place Facebook’s unique users…