The six-month
search for a CEO of the
MySpace Music joint venture apparently no longer includes former Amazon.com Inc. [
AMZN] and Facebook Inc. executive Owen Van Natta, according to this
report. It seems that Van Natta's stake in exceedingly
popular but legally
troubled playlisting service Project Playlist Inc. may have influenced his exit from the running, if indeed Van Natta may have attempted to engineer a sale of the venture-backed startup to MySpace while interviewing for the music venture's top job. He remains a free agent and full-time
dad. (Private equity firm KR Capital Partners is also a stakeholder in Project Playlist.)
It wouldn't be surprising, however, for MySpace Music to bring in a new chief executive via an acquisition. The JV, in which all four major labels have equity stakes, has
reportedly angled for some innovative thinkers rather than label insiders in the past. While no one's bitten yet, the prospect of a handsome payday -- even one in News Corp. [
NWS] stock, which has
suffered like everyone else's stock -- could prove irresistible to a startup entrepreneur if the cards fall correctly, especially in a market that could offer few exit opportunities over the next year or more. Joining MySpace Music could be seen as a safer move than trying to go it alone for the foreseeable future, despite all the potential
headaches that could plague a new leader. We're still watching -- and still waiting.
-- Paul BonanosSee
Aug. 11 and
Sept. 24 posts from Tech Confidential concerning MySpace Music
For more see
TechCrunch
Continue reading below
