In the middle of a meditation on MySpace’s role in breaking out new bands, Syd Schwartz looked into his crystal ball…
From my perspective, the landscape shift in social networking will be primarily based on one thing–portability of the user investment. It should be easy to simply pick up your lists of friends, bookmarks, tags, blog posting, favorites and other social networking assets and move them to a NEW social network, or to simultaneously belong to several at once, with a single interface that connects all your touch points. At that point, social networks become another media outlet, with content driving membership and exclusive content as the most valuable currency. With AOL about to enter the space and companies like Google and Yahoo making investments and innovations in their social networking platforms, a shakeout is inevitable.
Schwartz is Vice President of New Media for Virgin Records America. He is responsible for managing the creative planning, technical development and strategic direction of all Virgin Records America artist websites and Internet Marketing initiatives, including artists such as Lenny Kravitz, Robbie Williams, Janet Jackson, Stacie Orrico and Ben Harper.