Project Playlist

Zynga’s Newest Deal: Snagging MySpace, Facebook Vet Owen Van Natta

Peter Kafka in Media on August 13, 2010 at 11:31 am PT

Zynga, the dominant social-gaming company that seems to spend most of its time raising money, has finished up yet another deal: It has officially brought in Web veteran Owen Van Natta, giving him the title “Executive Vice President of Business Operations.”

Owen Van Natta Out at MySpace

Peter Kafka in Media on February 10, 2010 at 5:45 pm PT

Owen Van Natta, the prominent Internet executive brought in to overhaul MySpace, has left after less than a year. News Corp., which owns the social network, has replaced the CEO with his former lieutenants, Mike Jones and Jason Hirschhorn, who have been named co-presidents.

Digital Management Musical Chairs: The Tooth-Free Edition

Kara Swisher in News on September 8, 2009 at 6:30 am PT

Longtime Yahoo exec Brad Garlinghouse’s appointment to a new job at AOL today is yet another sign of an interesting trend for those keeping score of the comings and goings of top Internet execs. As anyone who watches the digital space knows by now, this kind of management musical chairs is common and never-ending, although it seems more frantic than ever of late. In fact, borrowing a quote by IAC/InterActiveCorp chairman and CEO Barry Diller from an onstage interview I did with him at the sixth D: All Things Digital conference, and switching out Hollywood for Silicon Valley: “[It] is a community that’s so inbred, it’s a wonder the children have any teeth.”

Big Music Label Foe LimeWire’s Newest Executive: A Big Music Label Veteran

Peter Kafka in Media on June 29, 2009 at 11:40 am PT

What do you do when your job working for a big music label disappears? You go to work for a pirate-friendly file-sharing service that’s being sued by the big music labels.

Back to School: New MySpace CEO Van Natta Starts Today (Joined by Former AOL Exec Jones as COO)

Kara Swisher in News on April 27, 2009 at 12:44 am PT

New MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta starts his first day on the job at MySpace bright and early this morning, coming to its Beverly Hills HQ as he takes over for co-founder and former CEO Chris DeWolfe. Along with him will also be a new COO, former AOL exec Mike Jones, whose appointment will be announced this morning, sources said. Jones was the founder of Userplane, a social-networking application maker that was bought by then-AOL head Jon Miller in 2006. Miller is now the digital chief at News Corp., which owns MySpace. With a strong product and technology background, Jones is an excellent choice to be a partner to Van Natta–who was hired by Miller last week in a flurry of change at the social-networking site.

Project Playlist Names Former MTV Exec Sykes as CEO, Replacing Van Natta

Kara Swisher in News on April 24, 2009 at 9:09 am PT

Legendary former MTV Networks exec and co-founder John Sykes will replace outgoing CEO Owen Van Natta as CEO of the controversial music-sharing site, Project Playlist. He is a high-profile choice to take over for Van Natta, who was officially named CEO of MySpace this morning by News Corp. Sykes is well regarded in the music industry, an important criterion since Playlist has been dealing with legal attacks from some music labels. Settling with them will be key to the start-up’s survival.

Van Natta Confirmed as CEO of MySpace–The Full Press Release

Kara Swisher in News on April 24, 2009 at 8:54 am PT

Former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta has finally been officially named as CEO of MySpace, as BoomTown reported yesterday and News Corp. announced this morning. He will replace CEO and co-founder Chris DeWolfe, who stepped down from the job earlier this week. DeWolfe will remain a strategic adviser at MySpace. Here’s the full press release.

Van Natta In at MySpace: Appointment to Be Announced Tomorrow

Kara Swisher in News on April 23, 2009 at 3:54 pm PT

Former Facebook exec Owen Van Natta will be named CEO of MySpace as early as tomorrow said sources close to the situation. He will replace CEO and co-founder Chris DeWolfe, who stepped down from the job yesterday. DeWolfe will remain a strategic adviser at MySpace. No other top execs at the huge social-networking site will be named yet, as some have reported.