As we reported yesterday, Myspace‘s parent company News Corp. was in the final stages of closing a deal to sell the once popular social network.

This morning News Corp. announced that it had signed a deal to sell Myspace to Specific Media, an Irvine, California based company.

The selling price was $35 million, far less than the $580 million News Corp. paid for the site in 2005.

As part of the deal, singer/actor Justin Timberlake will also take an ownership stake in the social network and play a “major role” in the creative direction of the company moving forward.

The ownership stake Timberlake took in the site was not revealed but rumors suggest it’s in the double digits.

Myspace current CEO Mike Jones sent a tweet to Timberlake congratulating him on the deal.

Jones also sent out a letter to Myspace employees confirming the deal and announcing his departure in a few weeks.

Below is the email Jones sent out to employees courtesy of Techcrunch.

From: Mike Jones
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 11:26 AM
To: Myspace All
Subject: IMPORTANT COMPANY NEWS
Importance: High

Myspacers,

Today, we are announcing that Myspace will be acquired by Specific Media, one of the world’s leading online media and advertising platforms. Over the next few days you will be hearing from the team at Specific, including their CEO, Tim Vanderhook, regarding their exciting plans for Myspace and how it fits in with the overall vision of their company.

In conjunction with the deal, we are conducting a series of restructuring initiatives, including a significant reduction in our workforce.  I will assist Specific with the transition over the next two months before departing my role as Myspace CEO.

I wanted to take a minute to thank you all for the incredible experience it has been to lead this company and to work closely with all of you over the past several years. While I regret we won’t be working together at Myspace any longer, I am very proud of the work we have done here and believe we have performed with excellence – even under extremely difficult circumstances.

My time here at Myspace represents the most engaging and challenging time of my professional career. I have found our team to be comprised of the best people I have come across in our industry.

You can read the press release below.  Once again, thank you for all of your hard work and dedication.

Thanks,

-M

Myspace might finally have a buyer as early as this week.

The social networks parent company News Corp. put the once hugely popular site up for sale several weeks ago and now All Things Digital reports that they are in the final stage of selling the troubled site.

Myspace was once a giant power house with millions of daily users, dwarfing a then little known Facebook, now the social networking site has become a 3rd rate site burning through cash and loosing users on a escalating scale.

News Corp. purchased the social network at the height of its popularity in 2005 for over $580 million and now the company is looking to sell it for somewhere around $20-$30 million.

According to ATD, Specific Media and Golden Gate Capital are at the top of the list to acquire the social network.

Both companies would capitalize on Myspace‘s biggest asset, music.

News Corp. hopes to close a deal as early as this Thursday, its fiscal year-end, to avoid carrying the sites debt onto next year’s books.

Back in 2008 MySpace launched, to little fanfare, MySpace Karaoke.

The site allowed users to record (video) themselves singing along to their favorite tunes (if it was available).

The service was a freemium service, allowing users to record up to 10 tracks for free but forcing them to purchase a premium subscription if they wanted to go beyond the limit.

Well now more than 3 years after its launch MySpace Karaoke has been “discontinued”.

Users who visit the site, Myspace.com/karaoke, are greeted with a message stating “Karaoke has been discontinued. If you have any questions, please contact us by clicking the “Contact Myspace” link on Myspace help…”

Considering MySpace itself is on the verge of being “discontinued” its no wonder they are trying to save some cash by shuttering little used features. [via Techcrunch]

The album, which is due out September 28, is streaming in full exclusively on Myspace.

The album is only available to preview for a limited time.

Check out the track listing for the album below.

‘Record Collection‘ Track listing:

1. “Bang Bang Bang” (feat. Q-Tip & MNDR)
2. “Lose It (In The End)” (feat. Ghostface Killah & Alex Greenwald)
3. “The Bike Song” (feat. Kyle Falconer & Spank Rock)
4. “Somebody To Love Me” (feat. Boy George & Andrew Wyatt)
5. “You Gave Me Nothing” (feat. Rose Elinor Dougall & Andrew Wyatt)
6. “The Colour Of Crumar”
7. “Glass Mountain Trust” (feat. D’Angelo)
8. “Circuit Breaker”
9. “Introducing The Business” (feat. Pill & London Gay Men’s Chorus)
10. “Record Collection” (feat. Wiley & Simon Le Bon)
11. “Selector”
12. “Hey Boy” (feat. Rose Elinor Dougall & Theophilus London)
13. “Missing Words”
14. “The Night Last Night” (feat. Rose Elinor Dougall & Alex Greenwald)

iTunes Bonus Content
15. “Bang Bang Bang (Count and Sinden Remix)”
16. “Sound Of Plastic” (feat. Nick Rhodes, Spank Rock, Jamie Reynolds, Rose Elinor Dougall & Anthony Rossomando)
17. “Bang Bang Bang (New Edit)” (Music Video)    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzE5dS6fnFk
18. “The Bike Song” (Music Video)        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVELTxKRoHA
19. “Circuit Breaker” (Music Video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO8XRVhISHI