The ink is dry: MySpace has formalized its purchase of music recommendation service iLike.  MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta made the official announcement. Said Van Natta, “The iLike acquisition advances our relentless pursuit of innovation and the need to create new distributed social experiences in music and beyond.”

iLike has established itself as the top music application across social networks, with 55 registered million users. It has also built out MP3 sales and a ticket sale business— something MySpace Music has just begun to experiment with. Despite what it looks like, this acquisition is about more than just music: it’s about content discovery across social channels. From where I sit, content discovery-- or as Van Natta dubs it-- the "“socialization of content," is where social networks will ulitmately soar.

Paid Content’s Staci Kramer points out what she deems “the most significant aspect” of this purchase for MySpace: while iLike currently functions as a music recommendation service, in its new auspices “Van Natta says iLike won’t be limited to just music and will extend out to all entertainment.” Expect recommendation for movies, television shows, and more to roll out. At least for now, iLike’s team, including its co-founders, brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi, and CTO Nat Brown will stay on board. 

Hadi Partovi, President of iLike said, “Combining MySpace’s existing platform, reach and resources with iLike’s syndication network and social discovery tools creates the potential for truly exciting innovation and commerce across any vertical entertainment category—our combined assets now span all the major social networks.”  Source: paid Content, more