Report: News Corp Looks To Give Up Control Of MySpace

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, which bought MySpace and its parent company in 2005 for $580 million, is reportedly looking to lighten the burden of the sinking social networking ship by launching a joint venture with online music site Vevo.

Bloomberg cites three anonymous sources “with knowledge of the situation” who say News Corp and Vevo, which is partly owned by giant record companies including Universal Music and Sony Music, are in preliminary talks to strike a deal. Vevo is apparently one of several companies looking into MySpace.

MySpace is hemorrhaging traffic, dropping to 62.6 million visitors in February, down from 88 million in October.

Since any relevance MySpace still has seems to be musically based, the deal seems like a reasonable fit. How do you think it could evolve to survive?

News Corp. Said to Propose MySpace Joint Venture With Music Site Vevo.com [Bloomberg via Deadline]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.