Veteran social network Myspace is undergoing yet another major redesign, this one focused on a radical new horizontal interface and a focus on photos. Invites are coming "very soon."
The redesign is the latest in a series, though the last one, rebranding the site as "My[_____]" and bringing a number of visual updates, was not popular. The property was sold by News Corp to Specific Media in 2011, which brought on Justin Timberlake to head up reinvent the site.
The new new Myspace has a very different look, reminiscent of Microsoft's Zune and Windows Phone interfaces — lots of full-screen elements, very few hard borders between items, all on a sliding, horizontally-oriented, and presumably tablet-friendly layout.
The announcement page features a spinning record in the background, indicating the site's continuing focus on music and bands. And indeed, the preview video shows off what appears to be a powerful way to find, listen to and share songs and artists:
Naturally, there are also the usual posting and photo album abilities, but it appears that they are more community-oriented, rather than being strictly about seeing what your friends are up to.
Integration of radio, playlists and other interactive elements will put Myspace's media-mixing capabilities ahead of the competition, and it may not have to take users away from Facebook to be a successful venue for artists looking for a little more Web presence. No launch date has been announced, but you can submit your email address if you'd like to be alerted whenever invites are available.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.