Saturday, February 18, 2006

WTF: Myspace is going to charge.

In The News: MySpace confirms $5 fee rumors

Beliefs are now confirmed that Myspace.com will be soon start charging a monthly fee.

February 17, 2006: 12:00 AM EST

Radley Pingay, San Diego (Reuters) - Beliefs are now confirmed that Myspace.com will be soon start charging a monthly fee.

Fox News Corporation Spokeswoman Shiela Turner confirmed today that Myspace will soon start charging a monthly fee of $5.

Recently acquired by Fox News Corporation (News Corp) for over half a billion US Dollars, the media giant has been quite thus far about the fate of its new acquisition.

As first leaked on a pirate radio station's message board, rumors have been going back and forth as to what direction Myspace was going.

"Members can still stay on free, but with limited and lesser features. Myspace has grown to be a feature rich online community, and we feel that participants will gladly pay a fee".

Started by Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson in 2003, MySpace.com has been growing steadily over the years, now boasting more than 55 million members.

Turner explains, "By our estimates, if only 10% of the current members sign up, of which we anticipate more of course, that's roughly $25,000,000 a month, which isn't a bad position for us at all.

Stocks are expected to rise sharply on this news, and investors are already preparing for a small rally when trading begins Friday.

Not all users are happy about this of course, and some internet arguments have already begun.

Initial reports are that the long time members feel betrayed and let down by MySpace, which had little to do with the process, now that it is owned by News Corp.

Turner said MySpace would make the announcement official early next week.

No comments: