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New MySpace opens to all as Timberlake releases new single

Only those with an invitation could lay their eyes on the new MySpace until recently, but the site has finally opened its doors to all.

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Katie Collins Senior European Correspondent
Katie a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand.
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Katie Collins
2 min read

Until recently, only those with an invitation could lay their eyes on the new MySpace -- which has been given a full Timberlake Love-Sex-Magic makeover -- but the site has finally opened its doors to all.

The redesigned version of the social network MySpace has been lingering in private beta for a while now and even has its own, separate URL, but head to the old myspace.com address today, and it automatically redirects to new.myspace.com.

To access your old MySpace account, you'll have to hit a slim bar at the top of the page, which says 'Take me back to Classic MySpace'. If, unlike the majority of the CNET team, you can remember your login details, you'll still be able to able to get into your old account.

In a crafty marketing manoeuvre, the site launch has been timed to coincide with the release of part-owner Justin Timberlake's new single. Timberlake, along with a small ad agency, bought MySpace back in 2011 for $22m from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Timberlake is literally the face of the site -- his visage is currently emblazoned across the front page, along with the option to listen to his latest anthem, Suit & Tie, featuring Jay-Z.

While Timberlake's a master of reinvention -- successfully transforming himself from a cherubic curly-haired poor man's Backstreet Boy into a suave superstar with a falsetto that makes women weak at the knees -- new MySpace is going to need more than his magic touch to reclaim its place in the hearts of the social networking masses.

I've been using it for a while now and I find its appeal limited. The design, with its big tiles and sideways scrolling is undeniably attractive, and clearly takes cues from the likes of Pinterest, Tumblr and Windows 8. It seems as though it's primarily intended to be a music-streaming site with an emphasis on discovery and social sharing, but as a Spotify addict, I find it difficult to see what MySpace offers over its more established streaming rivals at the moment.

Did you cry a river at MySpace's demise? Has JT successfully put the sexy back into the social network or have you said bye bye bye to the old dog for good? Have a tinker and let us know what you make of it down in the comments or over on our Facebook page.