Ali Partovi

There were two noticeably absent participants in MySpace's press call today -- iLike founders and twin brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi.

Even though iLike's online music recommendation service will be a key component of MySpace going forward and CEO Owen Van Natta described the acquisition on a few occasions as a "marriage," the dynamic duo skipped the pomp and circumstance. (A MySpace spokesperson also said they weren't available for interviews).

Of course, the first question I would have asked -- or any reporter for that matter -- would deal with the reported purchase price of $20 million. So, given that less than attractive outcome (if TechCrunch's reporting is on the mark), perhaps it is understandable that the Partovis checked out.

Hadi Partovi

MySpace's new CEO Owen Van Natta -- who declined to discuss terms of the deal in the call -- said they acquired iLike for three reasons.

1.) Innovation

2.) Open Content Distribution

3.)  Talent

"We believe what iLike has created isn't limited to just music, and should extend to all of the areas important to MySpace users: such as entertainment, video and games," said Natta in prepared remarks.

The 26 Seattle employees -- including the Partovis and CTO Nat Brown -- are expected to stay on board. Van Natta said he's known the Partovis for 10 years and that they are talented entrepreneurs, noting that they have some projects in development that "we are super excited about."

Of course, one of the key questions in the deal is what this means for Facebook, where iLike has become the de facto online music service.

Van Natta side-stepped that question in the press call, saying that "iLike is an important part of a lot of different social network experiences."

"Our expectation is that the social networks are going to be thrilled with the fact that we are going to be making iLike an even richer experience within their environments," he said.