MySpace is to cut approximately two thirds of its 450-strong workforce outside of the US.

The News Corporation-owned social networking website, which in June this year cut 30% of US staff has stated that international restructuring plans will cut its staff outside America by 66%, from 450 to 150.

The sharp rise and fall of MySpace delivers a blow to Rupert Murdoch, the News Corporation chief, who bought the business for $580m in 2005.

The site is apparently struggling against competitors such as Facebook and Twitter alongside the difficulty of attracting online advertisers during widespread recession. In June 2010, MySpace’s advertising deal with Google, which reportedly accounts for nearly half of its current revenue, is due to end.

MySpace has 127 million users around the world and rapidly built a reputation for being a showcase for new music and a springboard for careers. It was closely associated with helping to break huge acts such as Arctic Monkeys (pictured above) in the UK.

However, recent stats reveal that it has undoubtedly gone into decline. The metrics firm comScore shows that Facebook overtook MySpace in Britain by number of users early last year and has continued to move ahead. According to comScore, MySpace's unique users in this country fell by 18%, from 8.5 million in April 2008 to 7 million just a year later. Facebook during the same period has seen growth of 63% and as of April 2009 had 23.5 million unique users in Britain and 200 million worldwide.

Have your say: Have users of social networking sites migrated to other forms of interaction and left MySpace behind? Is it still an invaluable promotional tool for bands and a great resource for A and R, Managers etc..in hearing new acts? Or was it just a fad? Will Twitter and Bebo inevitably go the same way eventually?