God forgive me - I need to delete then retrieve a MySpace URL

January 17, 2007 11:47 AM

If I delete a MySpace profile, and wait the stated 48 hours for the account to become inactive, can I grab the username and URL again and set up a new page with the same name?

I have searched the AskMeFi archive but can't seem to find anyone who's encountered this issue. I have been asked to set up a MySpace page (God forgive me) for a music project and only after setting up the profile realised that it should have been in the music section, which seems to grant a few extra facilities special to bands.

I have already requested deletion but I have some time to make a decision, as MySpace demands that I click on a link in an e-mail to actually confirm deletion. The e-mail says: "We will cancel your account within 48 hours, after which you will no longer be able to log in. Please note that cancelled accounts may not be reactivated and all of your account information, including your friend network, will be removed from MySpace."

What it doesn't say is whether or not I (or someone else) will be able to grab the URL and username, whether it will be permanently blocked out, or whether it will be blocked out for a long time.

posted by skylar to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

Not sure what your timeframe is for this, but couldn't you just test it out with a dummy account?
posted by Doofus Magoo at 11:58 AM on January 17, 2007

If I'm remembering correctly, I did exactly this not too long ago. In this case, it was available within minutes, although the login was screwy for a day or so (sometimes I wound up logged into the music account after logging in, sometimes the regular account). YMMV.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:21 PM on January 17, 2007

I had a Myspace account that was removed (by them, I assume) and I was able to re-register the account as soon as I found out it had been removed. I did have to use a different email to register it but I simply switched back to the old email once I had everything in place.
posted by Diskeater at 12:25 PM on January 17, 2007

You don't need to delete it! You can convert a regular profile to a band profile, although it is irreversible IIRC:

First you will need to login to your account.

Then copy and paste it into your browser's address bar:

http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=BandProfile.convert

Or, at least, this worked for me a couple years ago.
posted by LordSludge at 1:31 PM on January 17, 2007

Response by poster: I like LordSludge's suggestion, and it seems to be partially working as a bunch of new boxes appear inviting me to add the band name, future gigs etc.

Ultimately however it doesn't shift me over into fully-fledged MySpace Music mode and it doesn't let me upload tracks. It shouldn't be a surprise, I guess, that MySpace's design and technology still sucks.
posted by skylar at 1:53 PM on January 17, 2007

Oh, yeah, myspace design is shiite, but unfortunately it's popular shitte. The way you have to sneak in CSS is inexcusable. And I wish you could pay $5/month to banish banner ads.

When you click on Edit Profile from your main page, you should see a screen with 5 tabs:
- Upcoming Shows < - default tabbr> - Band Details
- Basic Info
- Manage Songs < - upload songs herebr> - Listing Info

I can get you a screenshot if it'll help.
posted by LordSludge at 5:01 PM on January 17, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks - I tried this out and ultimately found that the only way to make the permanent transition from normal account to music account was to delete the original and start again. It worked fine though; MySpace did not lock up my address, username or URL.

Thanks to all.
posted by skylar at 9:28 AM on January 19, 2007

For posterity: Months after this question was first posted, I followed the advice to delete a MySpace account shortly after creating it (in order to switch it to a musician's account) and found that the account deleted immediately (despite the 48 hour warning) and the URL was also available immediately.
posted by phaedon at 2:30 PM on August 23, 2007