MySpace Buys Music Site

LOS ANGELES: MySpace has reached a deal to acquire the music social-networking site iLike for an undisclosed sum.

Owen Van Natta, the CEO of MySpace, said the acquisition "advances our relentless pursuit of innovation and the need to create new distributed social experiences in music and beyond. We are deeply committed to bringing world class talent into all areas of the company and this acquisition demonstrates our focus on this objective.”

The site was founded in 2006 by Ali and Hadi Partovi. It is described as the largest music application across all social networks, with 55 million total users and 1.5 billion monthly impressions. The acquisition by MySpace will not result in any management changes, with Ali Partovi remaining as CEO, Hadi Partovi as president and Nat Brown as chief technology officer.

Hadi Partovi said of the sale to MySpace: "Combining MySpace’s existing platform, reach and resources with iLike’s syndication network and social discovery tools creates the potential for truly exciting innovation and commerce across any vertical entertainment category—our combined assets now span all the major social networks. I’m enthusiastic about what this combination will mean for our users, artists, advertisers and our staff. We are beginning an exciting new journey together.”