MySpace en Español’ for U.S. Based Spanish Users

MIAMI - MySpace is using the Billboard Latin American Music Conference to launch MySpace en Español, a new Spanish-language version for U.S. based Hispanics, as well as a new pan-regional site in Spanish for Latin American residents as well as announce further development plans for localized communities in Mexico and Brazil.

“We’re moving rapidly to build communities that reflect and respect the lifestyles of our diverse members,” said Travis Katz, Senior Vice President and General Manager of MySpace International. “MySpace en Español opens the community even wider, giving our Hispanic members the choice to share their experiences, connect with family members, and plan their social lives in either Spanish or English. We look forward to getting their feedback as we build out these new cultural communities.”

The new site will spotlight content, programming, artists and users relevant to the U.S. Hispanic MySpace population, as well as a Spanish language version of the MySpace IM client.

More than 150 million residents from across Latin America will be able to access MySpace in Spanish through the new localized community. Across Latin America, MySpace will be working with local teams to develop relevant programming and unique partnerships most relevant for each country’s user base.

MySpace continues its commitment to building an international global network by revealing development plans for communities in Brazil and Mexico. The company announced today that it has plans to launch a Brazilian site this summer and will be ready to officially launch MySpace Mexico, currently in beta, in the coming months.

MySpace Mexico recently partnered with EMI Records for a compilation CD of label artists and unsigned talent. The album is currently on sale in record stores across Mexico and is found on MySpace at http://myspace.com/eldiscomyspacemexico. Additionally, MySpace Mexico is sponsoring Vive Latino (http://myspace.com/vivelatino), the country’s largest music festival on May 5 & 6, 2007 in Mexico City to encourage the community’s attendance and interaction with local artists.

According to last month’s Nielsen Netratings, 43% of all U.S. based Hispanic Internet users are visiting MySpace and the site is among the country’s top 5 most visited sites by the Hispanic Web population. MySpace’s own internal numbers show that more than six million members have indicated their origin as either Latino(a) and/or Hispanic in the United States alone.

MySpace’s global network includes twelve localized communities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, as well as beta versions of MySpace communities in Italy, Spain, Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico.

Travis Katz, of MySpace International, is on-site at the Billboard Latin American Music Conference today and tomorrow to discuss the portal’s international launch strategy and Latin American expansion plans.