MySpace launches magazine for Japanese market

According to MySpace Japan president Atsushi Taira, the publication is aimed at “early adopters and innovators” within the entertainment category, who are looking for information on upcoming trends not yet known by the mass population.

He explained that the initiative would also offer greater scale to advertisers looking to reach the target audience via multiple touch points.

Taira said that the magazine, which is published by Tokyo News Tsushin, would complement the site by presenting behind-the-scenes information. He added that magazines were still a “viable media format” in Japan, where the average person spends a considerable amount of time commuting to and from work on trains and buses.

Promotion for the publication will be predominantly viral, conducted through targeted interaction with creative users of the site. The magazine will be available at a range of bookstores and newsstands, as well as at outlets such as Tower Records and HMV. It will be exclusively available in Japan.

MySpace has built up a following of 1.2 million since it entered Japan three years ago. In contrast to the domestic social networking giant Mixi, it is marketed as a site enabling connection between musicians and other artistic individuals.