April 17, 2008 02:30 AM Eastern Time 

MySpace India Officially Launches

MUMBAI, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MySpace (http://www.myspace.com), the world’s most popular social network, today announced the official launch of MySpace India (http://in.myspace.com), a new dedicated community designed for Indian users. The launch will be celebrated first in Mumbai with a rock concert event and party on April 17 at the historic Land’s End Amphitheater and then in Bangalore with a MySpace Developer Platform workshop on April 21.

MySpace’s Chief Operating Officer Amit Kapur (http://www.myspace.com/amit) and Managing Director of International Travis Katz (http://www.myspace.com/traviskatz) are on-site for the official launch and celebratory concert event. Today’s announcement continues MySpace’s rapid expansion which includes a network of 29 international territories.

“We’re thrilled today to be launching MySpace in one of the world’s most vibrant cultures,” said Travis Katz, Managing Director of International for MySpace. “We will be providing the people of India the tools they need to live their lives online and empower them with a launch pad for Indian creators from developers, to musicians to filmmakers, to showcase their talents on the global stage.”

MySpace India will focus on delivering the best possible experience of content and culture through a range of industry partnerships and product innovations including an alliance with Star TV, India’s largest television network, to create an original network television program “Campus Star” featured on Channel V (http://www.myspace.com/channelv). The new show, currently airing on television in India, is a nationwide college talent competition featuring celebrity judges and the voting MySpace audience.

In celebration of the MySpace India launch, the local site will be hosting an outdoor musical event held at the historic Land’s End Amphitheater where more than 1,000 MySpace users will see live performances by India’s most popular rock bands Pentagram (http://www.myspace.com/pentagramindia), Super Fuzz (http://www.myspace.com/thesuperfuzzmusic), and Them Clones (http://www.myspacethemclones). Following the concert, MySpace will be hosting an after party featuring additional local acts such as The Raghu Dixit Project (http://www.myspace.com/theraghudixitproject), Shaair and Func (http://www.myspace.com/shaairandfunc) and Swarathma (http://www.myspace.com/swarathmamusic).

On April 21, the MySpace Developer Platform team will be on-site in Bangalore to welcome local developers onto the open MySpace platform. As one of the most innovative technical hubs worldwide, MySpace is committed to working with local developers across India and empowering them with the necessary tools to build applications for the site’s more than 250 million registers users worldwide. To date, MySpace has hosted local “devJAM” developer workshops in Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, London, Berlin, Seattle, Stockholm, and San Francisco.

“MySpace has become the largest and most dynamic social platform in the world and continues to be a leader in defining the emerging global social web,” said Chief Operating Officer for MySpace, Amit Kapur. “We will continue driving innovation and creating forwarding-thinking business models that foster a more personal, portable, and collaborative Web as we continue to grow our international community.”

The launch of MySpace India comes on the heels of the recent MySpace Korea launch which was ushered in earlier this week by CEO Chris DeWolfe and Travis Katz in Seoul. MySpace Korea, which received a 400% user sign-up increase since the official launch, features a unique user interface and product functionality including Mini Logs (micro-blogging).

About MySpace

MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the premier lifestyle portal for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making a positive impact on the world. MySpace has created a connected global community by integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, music streaming, music videos, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, college communities, and member forums. MySpace's international network includes more than 25 localized community sites in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Latin America, Mexico, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Japan, and New Zealand. Fox Interactive Media is a division of News Corp. (NYSE:NWS - News, NWS.A - News; ASX:NWS - News, NWSLV - News).