MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta confirmed in a press conference call today that the social networking website has purchased Seattle-based music service company iLike. Financial details were not disclosed, but the rumors surrounding the deal point to about $20 million being spent by MySpace for the Seattle startup. According to Van Natta, the company will remain in Seattle, with its 26 employees joining the MySpace team.
iLike is the most popular music application on MySpace’s rival network Facebook, with around 10 million users on the site, and around 50 million users total. The big question now, for analysts and music lovers alike, is what kind of response Facebook will have to its rival acquiring such a popular component of its website.
Van Natta said iLike will remain integrated into the various groups and networks it is part of, but the question remains how comfortable those networks will be now that iLike is an arm of a major company rather than an independent startup. For now, at least, it’s business as usual at iLike, according to a statement made by the company on its website. “The iLike.com website and applications will continue to operate as they always have—except that we’ll be working to make them even better in the weeks and months to come.”