One of the many unsavory aspects of the hiring of Owen Van Natta as the new CEO of MySpace: the rewriting of recent history around Van Natta’s involvement in Project Playlist. The communications group at News Corp. (MySpace’s parent company) is busy spinning Van Natta’s departure as a simple transition from one job to another, but that’s far from the truth. Nor does their story take into account the sad state of the company that he ran for just a few months before leaving for greener pastures.
Here’s how News Corp spins this: This is a natural changing of the guard as a CEO of a small startup takes a bigger job. There was an orderly transition, and Project Playlist has a new CEO with great experience. Nothing to see here, please move along.
Here’s the real story: Van Natta joined Project Playlist in November 2008, just about five months ago. He told investors and employees he was in for the long haul. And he hired an executive team under him that came with his promise that he’d lead the company to a win. Bob Pittman invested in the company, he told recruits, which is true. But he also let rumors that the company raised $20 million in new funding fly. In fact the company raised much less than that. And Van Natta also underplayed the problems with labels, suggesting that deals were imminent and the litigation was going to be settled. And now that Van Natta has abandoned the company, they’ve had to scramble to find someone to run the company. That’s why John Sykes, who was already a board member, was forced to step in.
In fact, we’ve heard, Van Natta’s playing down of the music label litigation led directly to the downfall of the company. The labels complained to MySpace and Facebook and threatened to sue them as well if they didn’t ban Playlist from their social networks. Both companies backed down quickly, and Playlist lost their main channels of distribution. MySpace banned them on December 19, Facebook followed on December 23. If Van Natta had made fewer bold statements, sources close to the labels say, those threats against MySpace and Facebook may have never been made.
Project Playlist traffic has plummeted since Van Natta took over the company. In October 2008, the month before he joined, 704,000 people visited the site from the U.S, according to Comscore. In March 2009 it had fallen to just 234,000. Page views also fell dramatically, from 9.6 million in October to just 6 million in March. Here are the traffic charts (unique visitors on top, page views below):
If Van Natta hadn’t ruffled so many feathers at the labels with his promises that litigation was nearing settlement, it’s likely the pressure on MySpace and Facebook would never have materialized, say sources, and traffic would have continued to climb.
At this point Van Natta likely wants everyone to simply forget about his infamous tenure at Project Playlist and focus on his more recent jobs at Facebook and Amazon. He doesn’t list the company on his LinkedIn profile at all (although he’s had five months to update it).
I think MySpace’s decision to hire Van Natta (Van Nutter) as the CEO will be a decision in the long-term they will come to regret.
Mind you, MySpace is pretty much over now anyway. As we look at the monthly stats rolling in, in terms of traffic, they all point towards a slump towards MySpace and on the up and up for Facebook
with facebook soon to be worth $40 billion after an IPO myspace is def. doomed. Good luck.
—————–
Mind you, MySpace is pretty much over now anyway. As we look at the monthly stats rolling in, in terms of traffic, they all point towards a slump towards MySpace and on the up and up for Facebook
Wrong. Worth, $243B. Pppffff, how could you say just $40B after IPO.
In a big company competency is not always promoted. Competents don’t have too much time to fight for power…and sometimes who has a big mouth wins.
I hope Myspace won’t share the fate of Playlist in terms of traffic…but the stats are not encouraging as of today.
The only good news from all of this is that this jackass is (right?) moving out of Silicon Valley and is now Los Angeles’s problem. Good riddance.
nope, he’s commuting
didn’t this guy get fired or demoted or something at Facebook?
The problem with MySpace is the lack of product vision compared to competitors like Facebook. Owen is an excellent executive but he lacks any product experience at all. He’s a deal guy. That means he’ll have to hire someone, or a team, with serious product credentials. And it isn’t clear that anyone desirable would risk working for him given how little his word is worth.
Lets all agree that he is in dutch (get it?) for abandoning PP. Bad form.
Now, as to his performance at PP:
Isn’t almost everything having to do with internet music distribution shot through with failure? Imeem, Pandora, etc. They are all having trouble making money and negotiating with the labels.
Did anyone get my “in dutch”, joke?
How is it that in every picture of him he’s deeply tanned and has a two day stubble? I’m attracted and repulsed simultaneously.
How perceptive, cindy. The main reason he’s moving to MySpace is that he’s similarly a tan, graying, big haired douche. As for taste, there’s no accounting.
Mr Arrington,
So what? Dont hate appreciate..
So you don’t have a problem with someone trying to rewrite history and possibly lying about the status of negotiations? It sounds like this guy is is a student of the guys that broke Enron. It’s not something that everyone should just let slide.
If he was such a disaster at Playlist, why was it such bad form for him to make room for someone new? Sounds like he did them a favor. On the other hand, News Corp must recognize some talent.
you’re right. perhaps they’re popping champagne bottles at playlist over all this.
I don’t know what happened inside Project Playlist, but I’d be more inclined to believe the problems are more related to the intractable and irrational major labels than Van Natta. They want that company out of business, and have been throttling it via litigation. There was no way out for them, and there is no way out for imeem.
What have you become, valley wag all of the sudden?
Considering his mess of a tenure, internally the champagne bottles _are_ popping.
Know nothing re: OVN. However, unless there is more evidence, it seems very speculative to say:
“If Van Natta had made fewer bold statements, sources close to the labels say, those threats against MySpace and Facebook may have never been made.”
I don’t think the labels strategies are affected by the tone of anyone’s comments (save Mister Jobs). Sure, we might conclude the “…bold statments…” lead to the threats, but I’d like to hear an anonymous label executive confirm something like:
“Yeah. We were going to give Fabebook a pass until OVN made those incredibly BOLD statements.”
Oops, my bad. Shouldn’t comment while working on something else.
Playlist was a bad fit. MySpace on the other hand. needs help with strategery, and adding a voice like Owen’s to the News Corp mix is bound to help that process.
Van Natta is not a strategist.
Strategery isn’t strategy.
Michael, I think your stats are wrongly described: should be 704,000,000 visits, not 740,000 and what you describe as page views is actually unique users
You actually think ProjectPlaylist had almost a billion unique visitors? Not saying comScore would be 100% correct, but 704,000 is definitely the right ballpark.
no, they had 740M page views
Is techcrunch a platform for disgruntled investors washing their dirty linen in public with a little help from their blogger friends?
Techcrunch, to me, was a site that reported on technology. What’s with all the moral policing?
Stop judging the guy for his career decisions and move to a real story already.
Agreed.
This is the forth time Mike is writing about this guy.
The only good side of this is we got some thing new to read daily about other then twitter!
The fact that Mike overwrites about Van Natta constantly, while not having an idea about how things are going inside project playlist is part of a pattern. His only sources are senior execs who use TechCrunch to self promote themselves and settle scores with other through leaks. I’m going to guess that TC was _very_ close to ex-MySpace CEO DeWolfe, and the trashing has to do with some vendetta on behalf of his source. Or it may be a way to strike a deal with Van Natta – favorable future coverage for leaks from MySpace.
Yellow journalism, or lazy hackism, not sure which, but this is weak.
I normally keep to myself, but the unfounded negativity over the past few days is absurd, especially from those without first hand experience. Owen is very well regarded by trusted colleagues who worked closely with him at Amazon.
How much so? We made our own inquiries to have him join our leadership team after he left Facebook, but disengaged when we discovered he was on an accelerated path towards even greater responsibilities. You cannot fault the allure of running a tier 1 web property when the opportunity presented itself.
Reading all these negative comments, it’s obvious that you are all the same herd of socially-awkward melvins I see on the train every morning. Folding your commuter bikes and velcroing your Dockers with reflective tape before shuttling to your cubicle in the dredges of some failed technology company. All because your life will amount to nothing, doesn’t mean you have to be a hater against Van Natta.
Let’s see- he’s extremely accomplished, smart, outspoken, good looking (admit it!) and just landed a once-in-a-lifetime job. Hmmm, let’s pick on his beard. That’ll teach him. Your ridicule sounds like the pussified drivel that the male clarinet player in high school spills about the quarterback who is banging the lead cheerleader. At the end of the day it amounts to mice nuts.
Also, all this talk about Owen being a “deal guy” and not a leader is rubbish. Sure, the deals stand out in the history books b/c they were so effin huge and successful, but it’s like saying Lebron James is a perimeter guy. Sure, he’ll bust you up from 18 feet but he’ll also put his nuts in your face and jam the ball over your head (for all you nerds- LeBron is an excellent basketball player. Basketball is a sport).
PS- Murdoch bought Owen a Hummer as part of his welcome package. Know what the license plate reads? “Blzdeep”. Check it!
“All because your life will amount to nothing, doesn’t mean you have to be a hater against Van Natta.”
All this idol worship for someone doesn’t mean you will amount to anything either, so what’s the point in saying this? It’s like saying “my dad can beat up your dad”. You too sound like someone with an axe to grind, complaining that other people have a different axe to grind falls flat.
Mostly you sound like someone with a crush on Owen. Not that there’s anything wrong with it.
nice color commentary owen — you had me at “melvins” — but there aren’t any open spots on the TechCrunch writing staff at the moment (unless u knock off MG or Sarah)
only 3 posts today from TechCrunch….wonderful!
Obviously this guy is a tool. I doubt this guy has had an original idea in his life, so maybe he’ll fit in well at MySpace. Myspace is in inexorable decline and that will only accelerate. Honestly, I don’t think it is possible to turn around. I think all they can do is downsize and try to maxmize profit as the sun sets on the Myspace brand. The inertia of the Myspace brand is just to great to be steered in any other direction. The general public won’t give Myspace a chance to be anything other than it already is. Newscorp needs to understand this and just milk it as much as they can for as long as they can.
all they need is an different “MY” domain name that is more focused on the serious side of social and has a clean branding slate. Social search and discovery is wide open for innovation.
as for owens choice of acceptance for a job enhancement…… excellent business decision. common sense.
Dear Michael and TechCrunch,
I am a regular reader of TechCrunch. I am usually a passive reader but I feel compelled to respond to this line of journalism. I think you guys are too focused on the Van Natta witch hunt. If he has done so badly in Playlist, then its great for Playlist that he is leaving. And if News Corp believes that he is the right person for Myspace despite his performance at Playlist, then its their headache. I dont see why you should get excited enough to do a public lynching of Van Natta. There have been more than 3 posts in the last 3 days focused only on insinuating that Van Natta is worse than filth.
TechCrunch has grown bigger – its not a personal blog to vent your rants. Many people look at TechCrunch for relevant news in High-tech. If you want to degenerate into a tech-tabloid then its your call. But definitely many readers will be disappointed.
Vamsi.
Techcrunch is and should be whatever arrington wants it to be. That’s called ownership. You should seize upon what you perceive as a failing and create your own tech blog.
Interestingly enough, the person that you replied to pretty much already said what you said, just in different words.
It really doesn’t van-matter any more. MySpace is following the same path as Friendster. All that’s left is to grab as many apples as they can while falling from the tree.
Is that easy to change CEO’? Well surely it’s not.
Wow thats a shocker. One of my Board Members of MediaTrust is an investor in Playlist. Better show him this post. I dont think he has any idea.
oops, i bet the news corp folks are not very happy at all to hear this …
Any guesses on Playlist revenue run rate?
myspace is the new friendster
“Sources close to the labels”…yeah, right.
Needless to say, the fact that Playlist got hit about when every other media was hit isn’t a factor, no siree.
As for “abandon” and “scramble” — you have sources to back this up? Direct quotes? Anything at all to back up what you’re writing?
As for integrity, when has ethics ever been an item when it comes to corporate leadership? The man jumped a sinking ship to float on a much bigger, safer craft — one that will allow him to thumb his nose at his old nemesis.
He and Murdoch are perfect for each other.
What is this, cheap shots central ? Are you nervous about your traffic ?
Your Article = Not enough data and too much bile. What was represented to him when he joined PP ? Do we know of the real status of the litigation with the majors ? Did he misrepresent to his employees and partners or just oversell ? Is the relationship with the founder manageable ? Did they bring him in because they knew about the FB/MySp action ? Is there anything worthy left for him to run after both bans ?
My apologies for being so direct, but what a load of drivel. You want to pilori someone, do it well. This may or may not be accurate, could or could not be character assassination, who knows ?
In any event, it would never have made it past the editor at WSJ or the Economist (assuming we are holding ourselves up to some standards when we go heavy).
You either have the facts and take a risk with the consequences, or you only have part of the facts and you don’t have anything to publish.
Let’s move on. And grow up.
I was working with Playlist as acting CMO when Owen came in, frankly, the issues with myspace, facebook and the labels were eminent and the situation with Owen was more timing based than anything.
additionally, Owen came in and brought process, systems and structure to many aspects of the biz. as well as recruiting strong talent through his network.
He definitely made a positive impact while he was there.
I can’t speak to any negative effect on moral or other, with his leaving, but most of this article is incorrect in its speculation.
Arrington precipitated the circus by going public with rumors… DeWolfe was set to leave in august per his contract in an orderly transition after a search for a successor. But Miller was forced to respond to all the rumors that flew and close the search prematurely with Van Natta. Likely a different outcome had things run their natural course…
same outcome. different timing.
ComScore ‘bs’ metrics used as CEO performance?
What?! Cheap article.
In a big company intellectually is not always promoted. Competent s don’t have too much time to fight for power and sometimes who has a big mouth wins.
I hope Myspace won’t share the fate of Playlist in terms of traffic…but the stats are not encouraging as of today.
myspace is indescribably offensive to the eyes, hideous to behold, and hard on the ears. No real loss here.