Courtney Holt

Former Myspace Music Head Holt Lands as COO at Maker (Plus Cool Video!)

Kara Swisher in Media on October 31, 2011 at 11:10 am PT

As video on the Web evolves, Courtney Holt moves to the new-generation production company — which makes and distributes more professional original content to the Internet, mostly via YouTube.

Hey Kids, Let’s Put on a $4M VC-Funded Show! A Visit to the YouTube Moguls of Maker Studios (Video)

Kara Swisher in Media on June 20, 2011 at 12:02 pm PT

Maker Studios, a new-generation production company, has just gotten another $2.5 million in venture funding to help it make videos, mostly for YouTube. That brings total funding from Greycroft Partners and GRP Partners to $4 million for a studio created to bring more professional original content to the Internet.

MySpace Music CTO Dmitry Shapiro Departs

Liz Gannes in Social on April 15, 2011 at 12:06 am PT

Myspace Music CTO Dmitry Shapiro, who joined the company less than a year ago, has left to found a new start-up, he and Myspace confirmed late Thursday.

Myspace Music President Courtney Holt Leaving

Peter Kafka in Media on February 24, 2011 at 10:34 am PT

This one was only a matter of time: Myspace Music head Courtney Holt is stepping down, without a new gig lined up.

Google Goes Hunting for a Music Boss

Peter Kafka in Media on August 26, 2010 at 11:00 am PT

Anybody want to run the music division of the world’s biggest media company? Because Google is hiring: The search giant is casting about for an executive to run its music service, which doesn’t actually exist yet.

Veoh CEO Dmitry Shapiro Resurfaces at…MySpace Music

Peter Kafka in Media on June 7, 2010 at 10:39 am PT

It’s not a huge shock to see former start-up CEOs join big companies after the demise of their own. But this move is a bit more surprising: It means that Veoh founder and former CEO Dmitry Shapiro will be working for one of the companies that helped put him out of work.

MySpace Should Be Glee-ful About Hit Series Online Auditions (Plus Celebrity Video!)

Kara Swisher in News on April 13, 2010 at 12:25 am PT

The television hit, “Glee,” is one of News Corp.’s crown jewels of late, while its MySpace social networking site has struggled painfully to regain its once-hot momentum. Now MySpace is getting the benefit of the heat “Glee” is generating, by hosting the online auditions for the Fox television network show, which returns tonight after a short hiatus, as well as from a massive ad takeover of the site today. Will “Glee”–an online phenom in its own right, with more than four million song downloads so far–give MySpace a boost?

Exclusive: MySpace Gets a New Sales Boss–MTV Vet Nada Stirratt (Plus, an Internal Memo, Of Course!)

Peter Kafka in Media on October 9, 2009 at 3:35 pm PT

Employees at News Corp.’s MySpace have been waiting to find out who their new ad sales boss will be. And, here she is: Nada Stirratt, who until today was running digital sales for Viacom’s MTV Networks. Stirratt has her work cut out for her. The struggling social networking site, HQed in Beverly Hills, has been trying to reboot its image, spur innovation in its product and, most of all, pull itself out of a too-long slump, even as longtime rival, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook, has seen explosive growth.

Vevo–aka “YouTube Music”–Gets a CEO: Universal Digital Boss Rio Caraeff

Peter Kafka in Media on May 8, 2009 at 1:13 pm PT

There are plenty of question marks surrounding Vevo, Universal Music Group’s new music video site that’s scheduled to launch later this year with a big assist from Google’s YouTube. But here’s one answer: The venture will be run by Rio Caraeff, who currently oversees UMG’s digital business.

Former Facebook Exec Van Natta Set to Take Over at MySpace, as Founder DeWolfe Prepares to Step Down

Kara Swisher in News on April 22, 2009 at 3:08 pm PT

Finally, Owen Van Natta is about to win out over a founder. The former Facebook COO is poised to become the CEO of MySpace, replacing co-founder and current CEO Chris DeWolfe. DeWolfe will likely get a title as a special adviser to MySpace in a deal that is still coming together. But the die seems cast for Van Natta to take over the thorny job of rehauling MySpace, which is owned by News Corp. It’s familiar territory for him.