TORONTO - MySpace now has a Canadian version.
The MySpace Canada site was launched Monday in both English and French, the first time the company has launched a site in two languages in any country.
The site features different content relevant to the two audiences.
MySpace senior vice-president for International Travis Katz, who was in Toronto for the launch, said Monday MySpace has a lot of Canadian users -- six million -- but the site they have been using has traditionally been very U.S.-focused.
"With the launch of MySpace Canada, we're going to be offering a much richer experience for Canadian users. We're going to be featuring a lot more artists, whether it's musicians, filmmakers, comedians, a lot more content that's relevant to the Canadian community,'' Katz said.
Katz said the free site, which he calls a "lifestyle portal,'' debuted in January and has been tested and improved over the past three-and-a-half months ahead of its official launch.
He said in addition to the basic social networking features where people can message with their friends, MySpace Canada has a photo-sharing product that allows users to upload unlimited amounts of photos and organize them into albums. There is also video sharing and instant messenger.
MySpace Canada joins other international MySpace local sites in the United States, Britain, Japan, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Latin America _ and according to Internet tracker comScore Media Metrics, has a global membership list of more than 100 million.
Katz said MySpace also provides a tool for artists who are using the site to promote themselves and share their work. He said the site recently debuted Quebec's Patrick Watson who had a new video called "Luscious Life'' on MySpace and it had many hits.
"So you get a lot of artists who are really using MySpace to promote themselves and it's really changing the interaction between artists and their fan bases, opening up possibilities for artists that don't have backing of major studios or major record labels to actually promote and grow their art without needing major corporate sponsors,'' said Katz.
Canadian Juno Award-winning rockers Billy Talent were to be featured live in concert Monday night on the site's "Secret Shows'' section. Katz expects people around the world would log on to watch the webcast.
"It's going to be a fantastic thing for Billy Talent to help them reach audiences in new countries where they haven't received as much notoriety yet.''
Katz said the site partners with a lot of different music festivals including North by Northeast, which is being held in Toronto in June, where MySpace will have a Canadian showcase of various artists.
He said MySpace Comedy launched in Canada last year with the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal. He said that has become a global program for the site.
