Report: News Corp. Looking For MySpace Partner

News Corp. is in talks to hand over control of Myspace to Vevo.com, the online music website partly owned by the world’s biggest record companies, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.
According to a story by Andy Fixmer at Bloomberg, the talks are preliminary and an agreement may not be reached, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Under the scenario being discussed, News Corp. would exchange the Myspace social network for a stake in a new venture, the people said. Vevo.com is one of several parties looking at Myspace, two of the people said.

Vevo.com, which offers advertising-supported music videos, could draw on Myspace music assets, including artist and fan pages, the people said. Vevo was introduced in December 2009 and is owned by Vivendi SA (VIV)’s Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Abu Dhabi Media Co. Sony Corp. (6758) and Universal Music also are investors in Myspace Music, the part of the social network that streams songs online.

Julie Henderson, a spokeswoman for New York-based News Corp., declined to comment, as did Jennifer Press, a spokeswoman for New York-based Vevo.

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