I talked to MC Hammer today about the rollout of DanceJam and also checked out the current version that is gradually growing by invitation and should soon be open to everyone. You can catch up on the back story and some of the positioning via the links at the end of this post.
The basic deal is that Hammer is working with cofounders of Flock to create DanceJam, a dance-centered social video network, and that he deserves the Chief Strategy Officer title because there isn’t really a proper title for the full range of what he brings to the table.
MC Hammer: Chief Strategy Officer
Prior to the interview I had not picked up on the fact that Hammer, in addition to being a legitimate cofounder, was being called Chief Strategy Officer. Unfortunately I think my surprise at the title showed all too clearly and I managed to stumble my way into a poorly articulated question that Hammer fielded quite gracefully.
After going over some necessary background, Hammer clarified what he does in his role as Chief Strategy Officer, a role that draws fully on his wide-ranging background in dance and music performance:
curating original premium content
sharing creative and technical insights from the world of music videos
building a relationship with the dance community that is offline as well as online
connecting with his marketing contacts and partnering with ad agencies
While some of this sounds like strategy and other parts sound like something else, it all sounds quite important to the success of an operation at a time when just opening the doors is no longer enough.
DanceJam’s Current Incarnation
The still-in-progress version I saw today featured four main categories:
Dances – information on particular dances with example videos from members. Hammer says that a how-to component is coming that will teach not just general steps but stylistic variations.
Competitions – these are set up as video battles with multiple videos grouped together for comparison and rating.
People – member pages.
Videos – featuring uploaded videos that can be viewed by most recent, most popular, etc.
DanceJam loads quickly and isn’t stuffed with bells and whistles which I’m sure helps explain the great performance. How that will work when people flood this thing and ads begin to appear remains to be seen but the current incarnation runs quite smoothly.
The site has been prepopulated not just by sending out invitations to folks that want to check things out but by making some of the first videos with dancers around the country. Hammer says they put together a team and went from city to city, setting up a comfortable space to video and getting lots of footage from talented locals.
According to Wired:
The company has already profiled 160 cities and traveled to six major metropolitan areas to gather video footage and enlist local experts.
Videos will be embeddable and such initiatives as a dance channel at MySpace are in the works so this isn’t going to be a walled garden by any means. In fact, DanceJam is participating in Google’s OpenSocial initiative.
DanceJam will also be consciously connecting on and offline worlds with events and related initiatives.
DanceJam: The Urban Dance Video Social Network?
I asked Hammer if he was concerned about the possibility of being labeled "the urban dance social network" and not being able to expand to the much broader range of dance that they clearly plan to include.
Hammer’s answer: Cheerleaders!
DanceJam is planning on connecting with cheerleaders at all levels and benefiting from the fact that they already have a deeply entrenched competitive culture to fuel their involvement. Cheerleaders and such related phenomena as dance teams connect to urban music as well as other forms while representing a wide range of social groups across the country.
Hammer also expressed hope that their how-to videos could help end what he described as the "butchering" of social dance moves on the dance floor, i.e., he’s going after the Dancing With the Stars demographic as well.
ProHipHop Takeaway: DanceJam to Stack Skrilla High
At this point I’m fully convinced that DanceJam could be a huge business and it’s their’s for the taking.
Some threads that, if successfully woven together, will produce many duffel bags stuffed with skrilla:
serious investors
solid software and a knowledgeable team
smart prepopulation of the network
the ability to customize campaigns for marketers
urban dance and Hammer celebrity juice to kick things off
overlapping dance crazes:
hip pop dances, dancing with the stars ballroom dancing
dance and related activities are an ongoing important part of people’s
lives whether or not a dance boom is happening
connecting on and offline worlds:
the events game is a big part of making money in the dance world
dancers buy specialized gear like crazy
it’s a music play that doesn’t have to directly compete with established music websites
this list could be longer
Yes, I see huge stacks of skrilla bags woven from the dance of life!
I ended my conversation convinced that, despite kneejerk responses, Hammer brings a deep set of resources to this project. Such resources could easily be the deciding factor that will allow DanceJam to avoid a potentially disappointing fate as simply the first highly visible dance-themed social video network and instead lead DanceJam to a Blue Ocean future.
PR & Back Story:
Official Press Release
Wired’s Listening Post
SF Gate [plus video]
TechCrunch
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Hammer and Geoffrey Arone Meet the Press w/DanceJam
MC Hammer Survives TechCrunch40, DanceJam Soon?
Peek at MC Hammer’s DanceJam, Dance Party 3D Launches
MC Hammer Blogs With Heart
Earlier Roundup of Hip Hop Social Networks:
Hip Hop Social Networks: XXL, Indie HipHop Online, DaHoneyHouse.com?, RapHappy, Loud.com, Global Grind?, iNTERNETS CELEBRITIES?, List of Priors
