MySpace, one of the pioneers of social media, is relaunching with a fresh new look. Now, it's not just a new skin, but a complete overhaul and redesign of what had become a tired, boring and increasingly unpopular network... and I must say that it actually looks quite good!

In an already crowded space dominated by Facebook, Twitter and increasingly Pinterest, the MySpace folk who sat around the table discussing how to get their beloved network back to the top of the tree where it once sat in the early 2000s were faced with Mission Impossible. Yet it seems that they may now be heading in the right direction after years of decline.

MySpace became popular with musicians and artists as a platform to showcase their work and reach fans. The new site still retains that core appeal and those audiences will be key to its future success. It is heavily based on video and moving content, and almost seems like a bit of a mash-up between Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Spotify and Twitter.

It looks similar to Spotify - but with more detail and shareability - users can create playlists, share their favourite tracks and videos, view trending tracks and videos, follow updates from their favourite artists, and find out about upcoming gigs and festivals. It seems a far more interactive experience compared to its predecessor.

Its design certainly lends itself towards the social commerce model that, as we've seen with Facebook, is important for long-term growth and monetisation. Only time will tell if the relaunch works and MySpace rises in popularity, but I think it may well surprise people.

@stevelspencer