There’s no announcement about who will take over from DeWolfe, but that’s not stopping AllThingsD from speculating former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta will get the job.

And really, that says it all. MySpace was once the hottest social network on the planet, then Facebook had the audacity to open its network up to everyone. Say what you want about the numerous interface changes at Facebook, but it appears the MySpace rival is gaining audience simply because it doesn’t allow you to set up pages with flashing backgrounds and tacky MP3’s that auto-load.

I’ve never been a fan of MySpace–so apply your bias filter here–but it just seems to me that Facebook has grown in popularity because when you look at the interface it’s structured and makes sense–which makes it a lot easier for the 35+ crowd to dive in.

If Van Natta does indeed get the job, I hope his first task is to figure out how to make MySpace attractive to those that don’t obsess about Miley Cyrus or Zac Efron.

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Michael Arrington wrote last night, "[A] decision has already been made to terminate Chris DeWolfe’s employment with MySpace.  We’ve also been told that the core MySpace executive team will follow. . . .  [O]ur guess is that it’s the very senior team that will be terminated: cofounders Chris DeWolfe (CEO), Tom Anderson (President) and Aber Whitcomb (CTO)."

If true, this would seem to signal that News Corp has lost all patience with the current MySpace-Facebook situation and is ready to take things in some radical new directions.  It’s not every day that from-the-beginning leaders of established organizations get sacked, after all.  And the change wouldn’t just be some boardroom matter, since Tom Anderson is a component of about every MySpace user’s profile.

Still, there’s no guarantee that an executive overhaul will take place.  As Kara Swisher recently pointed out, Michael Arrington and TechCrunch have gotten a rumor or two wrong before (think Google-Twitter and Google-Digg acquisition talks, for starters).

We’ve sent a request for comment to MySpace and will update this article if a reply’s received.

UPDATE: MySpace passed along a press release that states, "MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe and News Corporation’s Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Miller, announced today that, by mutual agreement, Mr. DeWolfe will not be renewing his contract and will be stepping down in the near future. Mr. DeWolfe will continue to serve on the board of MySpace China and will be a strategic advisor to the Company.
 
"Additionally, Mr. Miller announced that he was in discussions with Tom Anderson, MySpace’s president, about Mr. Anderson assuming a new role in the organization."

Initially, MySpace Music was said to be launching sometime before the end of the month, and there is still time for that. Reports surfaced however, indicating a Monday (yesterday) launch date. That didn’t happen, but reports shifted to indications of a Thursday launch – two days from now.

Silicon Alley Insider is now reporting, however, that sources told them the launch may be pushed back even further. Speculation as to the causes of the holdup include the lack of a CEO for the MySpace Music business and the holdout of EMI, the major label that MySpace is still hoping to get signed on for the project.

Both of these could very well be factors, but if a recent conversation between MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe and TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington at TechCrunch 50 is any indication, MySpace Music will still be launching in September. That means CEO or no CEO. EMI or no EMI. It’s starting to feel like they will wait until the very end of the month, just to have a little more time for these things to fall into place, but unless DeWolfe intends to backtrack on his words, "We are launching no matter what this month," means just that.

“We’ll run out of people in the U.S.,” DeWolfe told Bloomberg’s Gillian Wee.  “Our goal is to be No. 1 in every market and the biggest Web site in the world.”

Yes.  Well . . . good luck with that.  DeWolfe recently signed a new contract with News Corp., so perhaps he’s just sort of floating along on his new funds; the evidence certainly doesn’t suggest that MySpace is about to dominate the planet.

If nothing else, one has to consider the hype – I see dozens of stories a day revolving around Facebook.  Many of them are positive, and the few articles I come across concerning MySpace are usually less glowing.

Then there’s data from Hitwise indicating that MySpace has already lost its lead over Facebook in the U.K., and isn’t looking so healthy in Australia.  These major English-speaking markets could easily lead a trend; it might be stranger, in fact, if they didn’t act as leaders.

MySpace is far from dead – in many areas, it still has more users than Facebook, and the financial backing of News Corp. should never be underestimated.  Just the same, any sort of balance between existing in seven new countries and being the biggest website in the world, is, in the long term, probably going to lean towards the smaller side.

Hat tip to Jordan Golson.

Almost four months ago, our own David Utter wrote, “Anderson and DeWolfe think they are worth $12.5 million each annually, thanks to MySpace.”  He later added, “The deal they could agree to right away would be $15 million each, spread over two years,” and it seems that this second option is exactly what came into play.

Granted, there haven’t yet been any official confirmations or statements, but people at paidContent.org and the Los Angeles Times have both heard the same thing.  Also, it’s worth noting that News Corp.’s investors will probably be much happier with this arrangement than with the asked-for $50 million.

Still, $30 million (even over two years’ time and between two people) isn’t exactly an insult.  Peter Kafka states, “Our Kremlinologists interpret the renewed, big-dollar contract as a clear message from Rupert Murdoch: MySpace, for better or worse, is DeWolfe’s baby — and if you have a problem with that, you’re out of luck.”

The salary does depend somewhat on performance, however, so the MySpace-Facebook war will still be of interest to DeWolfe and Anderson.

A report on Deadline Hollywood Daily suggested the duo have a minimal chance of seeing such a payday happen. Nikki Finke wrote:

I’m told by News Corp insiders that the chances of DeWolfe and Anderson getting what they want pay-wise is “slim to none” and “highly unlikely”. Even though the duo’s MySpace is incredibly dominant in the social networking sphere, attracting almost 80% of all U.S. visits.

Then again, Friendster was huge until next generation MySpace came along. So I think the duo had better hurry and nail down their deal because, every day, MySpace faces more huge pressure from smaller but increasingly popular Facebook, which now gets 12% of all U.S. social networking business.

The deal they could agree to right away would be $15 million each, spread over two years. That doesn’t sound too bad, considering they sold MySpace to News Corp for $580 million. The hue and cry over their sizable demand sounds a little out of order, though.

First, News Corp managed to make a $900 million deal with Google for search and advertising services on MySpace. Recently, rumors of a MySpace-Yahoo deal began to circulate. That deal, exchanging MySpace for 25 percent of Yahoo, would value MySpace in the neighborhood of $12.5 billion.

Even though the massive pay packet for Anderson and DeWolfe has been greeted dismissively, it may not be out of line with MySpace’s apparent value.