Lupe Fiasco's Daydreamin' for AT&T: Celebrate Spring
AT&T: Celebrate Spring Commercial
1stAveMachine created the above commercial for AT&T using the opening to Lupe Fiasco's Daydreamin' featuring Jill Scott.
Related videos at Blogs Is Watching.
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AT&T: Celebrate Spring Commercial
1stAveMachine created the above commercial for AT&T using the opening to Lupe Fiasco's Daydreamin' featuring Jill Scott.
Related videos at Blogs Is Watching.
AndroidEMR
I've been keeping up with Austin Hip-Hop Scene for the last month or so and was totally surprised at Minto Tsai's announcement that he's created AndroidEMR in response to Google's Android Developer Challenge.
Android = open source "software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications."
AndroidEMR = "first Mobile P2P Social Network Electronic Medical Record application."
Best of luck with further development, MT!
Def Jam Recordings is providing content and celebrity appeal for a limited edition handset from Sony Ericsson to be offered through The Carphone Warehouse in the UK:
"As part of the deal, which is understood to be a first in the UK, Sony Ericsson will be preloading handsets with audio and video content from the record label’s artists, which incude Mariah Carey, Rihanna and Nas."
"The limited edition white and gold W910i Walkman handset and matching MPS 75 speakers in black and gold will be available exclusively from The Carphone Warehouse in the UK from 8 April."
Official Sites:
Def Jam Recordings
The Carphone Warehouse
Sony Ericsson
Prodigy is the "first urban artist" to be:
"featured in the Sansa advertising campaign for Sandisk's ShopSansa.com online etail store. The television campaign will feature the legendary hip hop artist's latest release H.N.I.C. Part 2 and cross promote the exciting new Sansa FUZE. The television commercials featuring Prodigy and promoting the ShopSansa.com store will be featured on MTV, BET, VH1 and many other Comcast cable networks."
Prodigy's a great choice given his commitment to innovation and his love of community.
Update:
Wooohah has the commercial.
Official Site:
ShopSansa.com
Available at Amazon:
Prodigy - H.N.I.C., Pt. 2
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Sansa Sessions: SanDisk microSD Card Promo for Sansa Fuze
Paid Dues Festival 2008 Powered by SanDisk
SanDisk is promoting the upcoming release of its newest Sansa Fuze MP3 Player with the Sansa Sessions, a microSD Card with over 50 tracks from a variety of artists including The Coup.
NonStop Riot put together the music and, according to the press release, is working with SanDisk to "create its content strategy and develop relationships with innovative labels and artists to distribute music on devices and flash memory cards."
Timbaland offers a backstage look at his Verizon Mobile Studio Bus and previews the first ringtone.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Corporate America Meets Timbaland's Roid Rage
Famous Stars and Straps X Lasonic iPod Ghetto Blaster
The Famous Stars and Straps X Lasonic Ghetto Blaster/iPod Dock is due April 6th.
Snoop Dogg Orange Commercial
This Snoop Dogg commercial for UK-based mobile company Orange is pretty darn funny.
The commercial is being played in theaters with the tag line:
"Don't let a mobile phone ruin your movie. Please turn it off."
Surprisingly, the white exec gets most of the good lines and I had totally forgotten that Snoop had played Huggy Bear.
On a side note, even if Snoop's opening rap is a parody, the Cristal reference is yet another blow to the idea of a successful Cristal boycott.
Via DropKick MonKey.
Here's AT&T's top selling ringtones of 2007:
1. Shop Boyz - "Party Like a Rockstar"
2. Mims - "This Is Why I'm Hot"
3. Soulja Boy - "Crank That (Soulja Boy)"
4. Nickelback - "Rockstar"
5. Akon - "Don't Matter"
6. T-Pain - "Buy You A Drank (Shawty Snappin)"
7. Hurricane Chris - "A Bay Bay"
8. Sean Kingston - "Beautiful Girls"
9. Huey - "Pop, Lock & Drop It"
10. Fergie - "Big Girls Don't Cry"
In sharp contrast to SeeqPod's top search terms, this list has the typical rap/RnB focus of most ringtone charts.
Talib Kweli - Becoming a Better Businessman
This video featuring Talib Kweli talking about using his cellphone to become a better businessman is another in the casual series of Samsung-related YouTube videos that includes such rappers as Mike Jones, Flo Rida and Webbie. If I hadn't tossed that previous post up in such haste I probably would have shown just the Mike Jones video cause he's the only one that really makes a connection between his ongoing marketing and use of the phone though I guess the other two are relatively entertaining.
In Talib Kweli's case, he discusses how his phone's becoming a core tool for conducting business:
This year I got more into the technology than I ever did and with my phone this year what I was able to do...was just consolidate all my business, man. Just have everything on my phone...and I was able to be a better businessman because I was more technological...As I become better at being a CEO I start to harness and utilize the technology to just make myself a better businessman all around.
It's funny but he also makes a reference to sounding like a dinosaur as if he's already behind everybody else though maybe that really means he just hasn't been an Internet nut. I really wish somebody who's around these guys or has access would take a look at how they're conducting business using mobile devices especially if some folks are using them as command centers.
I'm interested, in part, because it's such folks who push the limits of technology and open up new possibilities by the needs that are revealed through intensive use.
I'm also interested historically in how black people in the States have been trend setters in the use of mobile devices. Even when I was in high school in the mid to late 70s it was the black kids who were onto pagers before any of the white kids. At the time, the media was presenting the use of pagers in black communities as a device for drug dealers, though none of the kids I knew seemed to be about that.
So there's lots of interesting history there that remains relevant to understanding what's happening now.
"Mike Jones - New Years - Phone Features for the Future"
In contrast to the earlier Juke campaign, with its polished dancers and high quality production, Samsung has a more personal looking YouTube campaign in progress for New Year's.
"Flo Rida's Phone That He Would Have Samsung Create in 2008"
These are all the hip hop ones I've found on future features but there's also a things I do with my Samsung phone theme and artists from other genres are involved as well.
"Webbie's Samsung Phone for 2008"
Samsung also has a One Word for New Year's contest in progress on YouTube.
Juke: Jada vs. TJ
These commercials for the Juke music phone by Samsung on Verizon Wireless are quite cool.
Juke: Will vs. Charles
Check youtube.com/verizonwireless for more.
Swizz Beats at the Seattle Takeover 2
Microsoft's Zune music/media player is teaming with "lifestyle retail boutiques" for a series of Zune Takeover 2 events that began in Seattle November 30th with Bun B and Swizz Beats.
Zune 80 by GOODS
GOODS was the cosponsoring lifestyle boutique and designed a limited edition 80GB Zune 80.
Swizz Beats and Bun B for the Zune
Bun B and Swizz Beats discussed the Zune Takeover events during an interview in Format Magazine.
Blogs Is Watching has concert footage and a video of DJ B-Mello interviewing Swizz Beats and Bun B.
Boost Mobile Anthem 2.0 Commercial f/Jermaine Dupri, Young Jeezy & Mickey Avalon
Here's the Boost Mobile commercial featuring Jermaine Dupri, Young Jeezy and Mickey Avalon we've been expecting as part of the Boost Mobile Speaks to Youths campaign.
My only question is, "Who's the drag queen they call That Dude?"
Via Different Kitchen whose only question seems to be:
"Who the f-ck is Mickey Avalon though??"
I would so love to know the details of how this came to be. In particular, I would kill for the details of how Mickey Avalon was pitched to any of the relevant parties and especially for the details of how his presence was pitched to Jermaine and Jeezy.
Come on, insiders, give me a 2007 worth remembering!
I will say this, if they really want to take Mickey Avalon across the chasm from early adopters to the mainstream, they should shift their focus from the aspirational pitch [aspiration, that's what ties them together, duh!, i'm so slow] and connect the mutual love for white girls shared by Jeezy and Mickey. That could be huge.
But "I'm That Dude from Hollywood with my Hair in an Al Sharpton Perm" just ain't gonna make that leap. Mickey's just too easy to undermine from this angle of entry.
On a related note:
If Mickey Avalon's is supposed to be this year's equivalent of The Game [?!?], who would be a better fit with Jermaine and Jeezy?
Previous ProHipHop Coverage:
Boost Mobile's Anthem 2.0 Starring Young Jeezy, Jermaine Dupri & Mickey Avalon
Beyond the (White) Rapper: Nerdcore & Glam Rap
Young Jeezy, Jermaine Dupri & Mickey Avalon for Boost Mobile
Boost Mobile announces Anthem 2.0, a follow-up to the 2004 Anthem campaign featuring Kanye West, Ludacris and The Game.
The new campaign features "music tycoon Jermaine Dupri, hip-hop mogul Young Jeezy and crossover rock star Mickey Avalon" [crossover rock star?] together in an "innovative 3D animated music-video-style commercial. The spot also features an original track produced by Dupri with vocals from all three artists, which will begin airing Nov. 26 on MTV, BET, ESPN, COMEDY CENTRAL and other youth-oriented national networks."
First, let me make it clear that I'm actually a Mickey Avalon fan. That said, I think he's an awful fit for this commercial. It's obvious there's a big label push for Mickey Avalon and an attempt to connect him with more traditional hip hop acts but that's not where his market lies unless you think that the often homophobic fans of such acts as The Game and Young Jeezy are going to warm up to a Hollywood street hustler [in his lyrics Mickey Avalon claims to have turned gay tricks].
There's a market for this guy but it's over somewhere in the rock scene. If having him in commercials with Young Jeezy and Jermaine Dupri helps over there, then fine for Mickey, but this won't look good for Young Jeezy, in particular, unless he's developing a new queer friendly approach to reach some demographic that only the major label/mobile carrier/corporate pr geniuses have identified.
Whatever. Good luck guys.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Boost Mobile Anthem 2.0 Commercial
AT&T Kicks Commercial
A rough looking dub of an AT&T commercial is released in what appears to be an example of casual viral seeding. In any case, the sets are said to be based on various famous sneaker shops whose names are visible in the commercial so I'm assuming they have made some kind of actual agreement rather than just sneakily biting the sneaker shop style.
Here's the description from the YouTube post:
AT&T's new commercial (created by Sanders\Wingo and directed by Chris Robinson) brings sneaker culture to the forefront. Sets were created to mimic actual stores like: ALife, Undefeated, Solebox, and Motive807. Check it out.
Via Miraflor.
Update:
Considering what it might mean to have these sneaker shops in a tv commercial caused me to leave out the fact that I basically think it's a pretty darn good commercial. It flows well and, instead of the usual using technology takes me to a nutty fantasy world routine, the commercial actually does communicate a sense of the fact that networked communications have changed how we're connected to the world.
And it's done by simply playing off the shared experience of shopping online, the inevitable move to shopping via cellphone as the mobile web kicks into gear and an actor passing through a series of sets that register "cool" at every turn.
I say simply but that's not to imply that it's easy to do.
I know some people will roll their eyes at this commercial, or whatever they do at such moments, but I give it a thumbs up. It's also a reminder that the biggest sneaker freak watchers are in marketing and that sneaker freaks are practically worshipped by the marketing industry.
I would almost be willing to bet actual money that when marketers sit around discussing the summary they read of The Tipping Point that they keep coming back to sneaker freaks as a magical key of some sort. Once identified, such fetish items can then be used in turn to unlock the pockets of said marketers and the institutions they represent. And you can take that to the bank.
Aceyalone Track Featured on New Service
Groove Mobile and The Orchard have launched what they term the "first-ever full track, off-portal download available in the U.S."
Is that true? I guess the tech guys will know since this new feature of Groove Mobile's platform is debuting at the CTIA Wireless conference this week in San Francisco.
Of relevance at ProHipHop cause Aceyalone's Can't Hold Back is the debut offering. Given widespread concern over the decline of rap album sales, things like new mobile offerings are worth watching because they frequently feature hip hop artists.
Def Jam Mobile launched in 2005 and later disappeared without a trace.
What happened?
Wyclef Jean Free Mobile Video Channel from Columbia/mywaves
Columbia Records and mywaves are teaming up to offer free artist video channels via www.mywaves.com/m apparently featuring hip hop and RnB:
Consumers will be able to watch video from artists including Wyclef Jean, Bow Wow, Omarion, Three 6 Mafia, Lyfe Jennings, and Nas from their cell phones, free of charge.
No disrespect to mywaves but this looks like a big step up for them in terms of content based on what I'm currently seeing at www.mywaves.com/m though their overall offerings are broader.
Plies' Shawty featuring T-Pain ringtone goes platinum and he announces a new blog, Bidlong, to be focused on prison issues.
Plies' blog currently features a new version of the 100 Years video and an explanation of his use of the term "cracka" in 100 Years.
Plies mentions that he drops the N-word more than the term cracka and was surprised no one objected. For the record, I didn't post the video at VidRap for that very reason though I'll reconsider given what he claims to be pursuing.
Let's hope Bidlong goes somewhere serious beyond the realm of marketing though if he's marketing prison reform that's all to the good.
Update:
Ethan Brown has a supportive take on the "cracka" issue.
Since apparently people have gotten worked up about it let me say that it doesn't bother me unless it's directed at me. I know a lot of progressive white people that refer to Southern white racists as crackers so we're not tripping on it though it does bother me when used to refer to an economic class of Southern whites.
I'm happy to report that prohiphop.mobi now redirects to http://m.mofuse.com/phhmobi where you can access feeds for both ProHipHop and Hip Hop Press courtesy of MoFuse: Mobile Fusion.
I'm still playing around with the details but you'll get the idea. I do plan to offer larger excerpts but I'm running into feed issues that hopefully won't be a big deal. However since clicking through to an html site isn't the best mobile experience I do plan to improve the current offering.
Let me know if anybody actually checks it out on a mobile device and feel free to give me feedback here or via email:
clyde(at)prohiphop(dot)com
If you're interested in an invitation to the MoFuse beta hit me up. is now open to the public.
Found via Mashable.
Sit Down Stand Up attends Saturday night's Boost Mobile RockCorps At Radio City Music Hall show and has the photos to prove it.
Press Release at Hip Hop Press:
Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and More Take Center Stage at Boost Mobile RockCorps Concert Saturday, October 6 at New York's Radio City Music Hall
Bling Software is providing a mobile application for the 40/40 Club called the Jay-Z 40/40 Club All Access Pass.
Microsoft is sponsoring Zune Live at the BBQ, a series of concerts featuring:
Common, David Banner, UGK, Mos Def, Bilal, Clipse, Collie Budz, E-40, Cham, and Large Professor
More info at Zune.net.
SanDisk and Guerilla Union are teaming up to offer mobile info and multimedia content related to the 2007 Rock the Bells concerts.
The Grillz ringtone took Top Ringtone of the Year honors at the 20th Anniversary ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards.
Fat Joe's Make It Rain ringtone passes the million sales mark.
Pepsi Smash Bluetooth Enabled Bus Shelter Advertisement
Billed by Qwikker as the "largest Bluetooth marketing campaign in the U.S.", once again we see rap music as a key ingredient in a mobile initiative:
The campaign...runs for two months in outdoor advertising locations consisting of bus shelters in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Denver and Orange County, and pay phone kiosks in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
The participating out of home media networks are CBS Outdoor, CBS/Decaux, Clear Channel Outdoor, and Prime Point Media. Each of these networks has integrated Qwikker's Bluetooth content distribution technology into their street furniture. Any consumer with a Bluetooth enabled phone is able to download free video clips from a Pepsi Smash advertisement. The viral video clips being distributed are five "Pass The Mic" clips of freestyle hip hop*, provided by Yahoo! Music.
Actually, I think they mean Mic Pass clips from Pepsi Smash's channel at Yahoo Music but we get the idea. And it's a good one!
9 Squared announces the top ringtone downloads from 2006 and rap ringtones are looking strong.
Snoop Dogg joins Virgin Mobile USA's First Dibs program with ringtones from Tha Blue Carpet Treatment.
UrbanWorld Music is going from "wireless to digital" which seems to mean they're going online rather than just selling ringtones.
Promo for J Dilla on Hip Hop Official
J Dilla's Won't Do will premier on Hip Hop Official on February 7th, Jay Dee's birthday, along with some additional interviews. Hip Hop Official is a mobile channel from GoTV Networks.
Official Site:
Hip Hop Official
Today, at the Macworld Conference and Expo, Steve Jobs announced the introduction of the Apple iPhone and the February release date for Apple TV, a "video box" designed to store and stream videos downloaded from the Internet.
On the iPhone:
The phone automatically synchs your media movies, music, photos through Apple's iTunes digital content store. The device also synchs e-mail content, Web bookmarks and nearly any type of digital content stored on your computer.
On Apple TV:
Apple TV will come with a 40-gigabyte hard drive that stores up to 50 hours of video. It features an Intel Corp. microprocessor and can handle videos, photos and music streamed from up to five computers within the wireless range.
Lots of details not given here but the tech press and bloggers will be making a field day of the iPhone announcement.
Ostrich Head - Freak Show Carnival
Cingular Wireless has been diving into the social networking scene providing support for band contests and ringtone creation in partnership with YouTube and MySpace.
The winners of the first YouTube Underground music contest sponsored by Cingular Wireless were just announced and include LA's hip hop/genre mixers Ostrich Head for their video Freak Show Carnival.
Cingular has been using another contest to promote their Mobile Music Studio that allows indie artists to create and sell ringtones on MySpace. They're getting ready to announce the winners of the first Cingular Battle of the Bands, that ends today, on their Cingular Studio MySpage page.
Cingular's also created the My Video Battle site in which folks can send in videos in response to an ongoing series of contests that have included a DJ Webstar Chicken Noodle Soup Battle as well as two current Jay-Z lip sync battles.
Cingular presents: YouTube Underground Winners
I think these are really well executed smart moves on Cingular's part. They're linking up with MySpace and YouTube, the two biggest social networking sites, and they're doing it in a way that provides value on multiple levels, from publicity and ringtone creation tools for artists to opportunities to participate and be entertained for fans. Also of importance is the ongoing nature of this activity, none are one-shot deals, an approach that is crucial to becoming a part of a social setting rather than simply being a visitor.
These marketing activities of Cingular Wireless are a great example of the movement away from intrusive advertising and towards participation and the creation of marketing spaces. Nicely done!
Not sure of the date on this since the song predates ringtone madness.
Flash Concerts return with a series of rap and rock concerts sponsored by Cingular Wireless & Sony Ericsson. The free concerts will happen in 10 cities with updates and admission via Cingular Wireless text messaging.
Rap artists include Yung Joc, Chingy, Lupe Fiasco, The Game and Young Buck.
This year's concerts are produced by Sony Pictures Television Advertiser Sales.
Official Site:
Flash Concert '06
Update:
You can read about the concerts, some of which just happened, at the Flash Concerts 06 blog. Sadly, their MySpace page has been deleted.
Eminem's Lose Yourself iPod + iTunes Commercial
Since we were briefly discussing the iPod design in relationship to other forms of design in the comments on the Kenpo Jacket for iPod commercials, I thought I'd share the above.
I was looking for a video of Ludacris' Money Maker at YouTube but I guess they've all been pulled, except for the lip-syncers and remixers. However, in doing so I found out that Cingular is promoting with a video Lyp-Sync Battle and Money Maker is the next one up.
Outkast's Morris Brown is the most recent battle. They've also done one with Chamillionaire's Ridin' as well as some famous bands or singers or something.
It's a nice idea and I'm surprised I haven't heard more about it.
The Streets performed in one of a series of intimate concerts sponsored by T-Mobile in England.
Verizon Wireless Opens New Communications Store in the Bronx:
To celebrate the grand opening of the Bay Plaza store, two of the area's hottest radio stations, Power 105.1 and La Kalle, will be broadcasting live from Verizon Wireless' newest location. Customers are invited to stop by the store on Friday, August 4, between 6 and 8 p.m. to enjoy the Hip Hop and R&B sounds of DJ Cherry Martinez. On Saturday, August 5, New York's official station for Reggaeton, La Kalle, will be on hand from 1 to 3 p.m. Grand opening activities will continue throughout the weekend with fun and games for the entire family.
Virgin Mobile USA is Down with Exclusive Content from Yung Joc:
Virgin Mobile customers are now the only wireless customers in the U.S. with access to a cappella and instrumental ringtone versions of 10 of Joc's hottest tracks, including new takes on "It's Goin' Down" -- the track currently burning up the Hot Rap and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Virgin Mobile's four million customers also have the unique opportunity to hear from Yung Joc first-hand, through original interview excerpts included in the First Dibs program. . .
In addition to the 10 exclusive ringtone tracks, this First Dibs deal offers access to 20 other non-exclusive Yung Joc ringtones.
Amp'd Mobile is proud to be the official wireless sponsor of the Dub Magazine's 2006 Custom Auto Show & Concert Tour, the nation's largest automotive festival. . .
To celebrate this partnership, Amp’d Mobile today launched http://dub.ampd.com, a Dub Tour website featuring exclusive photos and videos from the tour, tour news and dates, and an exclusive contest giving entrants the chance to win a set of Dub Wheels and Performance Tires ($3000 value).
Since I wrote about Gnarls Barkley, a group that I can't really bring myself to label a hip hop act, I guess I can write about Kevin Federline, who is actually attempting to rap. In any case, there are so many bad jokes ahead about K-Fed's new Virgin campaign that I won't even go there.
By the way, it was seeing the video of Gnarls Barkley in the Star Wars outfits that was the final blow to my interest in that duo. However, I am now a fan of Cee-Lo and that's a good thing.
I wonder if this means I'll end up writing about Paris Hilton? I've really been hoping to avoid that heinous topic.
The NY Times Magazine has an extended piece by Randy Kennedy on MTV's mobile activities featuring Sway's Hip-Hop Owner's Manual. Yes, Sway Calloway and hip hop content are leading MTV's mobile initiative with their first series shot for cellphones. Up till now they've been focusing on clips from tv shows and other repurposed content.
Sway's Hip-Hop Owner's Manual is described as a "documentary- style show that deciphers the ever-changing lexicon of rap", so I guess that's more competition for the Hip Hoptionary, a mobile app from Mobile Lingo for which ProHipHop provides news and related services.
Here's why MTV went with hip hop for their first mobile series:
Sirulnick and some other MTV executives decided to focus on hip-hop for their first foray into wireless, an idea that Calloway encouraged. "Kids are on their cellphones all the time now," he told me, "in the club, at the bar, in the cab, in the bathroom — I mean everywhere." . . In many ways, the hip-hop show was a safe bet: rely on a known personality; do it on a tight budget; stick to music and focus on rap, which had sales of $1.6 billion last year.
As with most future thinking mobile projects, there was a lot MTV didn't know for sure, but:
What it did know was that the earliest adopters of wireless video, according to cellular companies, were young men, especially those in the 18-to-24-year-old bracket, hip-hop's prime audience. MTV executives reasoned that if they could score a minor hit with this group and get a buzz going, it would be a way of announcing that the network was serious about cell programming. "You aim for the cred kids, and everyone else follows," says Ocean MacAdams, the vice president of MTV's news division, which is overseeing the hip-hop show.
And there you go. While the fact that hip hop may not be the solution to all programming concerns seems to puzzle those who can only understand being in first place all the time, hip hop is still seen as a core force in developing American mobile operations. In the States, hip hop powers ringtones, one of the few truly successful mobile content offerings in the U.S., and hip hop could well power consumer response to mobile video offerings.
I should also note, there's a bit about shooting a segment with Sway and E-40 that's kind of interesting, though the points about the difference in shooting footage for tv and mobile is a reminder that an organization like MTV is full of technically proficient individuals whose absorption into a certain way of doing things can create roadblocks when trying to do something new.
I remember a theater lighting designer telling me years ago how difficult it was to explain to tv studio producers and camera people that, yes, he really did want to see actual shadows in a scene and was making lighting decisions with that in mind. Tunnel vision, even through really expensive cameras, is a painful limit and the article's description of "filming to the phone" emphasizes limits and what can't be done. Such thinking is why current shifts seem revolutionary to those working from within such industries when the concepts aren't really radical at all to those of us who have been seeking alternatives all along.
Right near the end of the article with no real warning, the author attempts to set up Heavy.com as the antithesis of MTV as a way of opposing old school broadcast media and what is now often termed user generated content. That's a topic well worth considering but there's absolutely nothing to stop MTV from creating series based on user generated content, especially since they purchased IFILM.
Though that's not the author's only point in introducing Heavy.com, it illustrates the binary thinking that currently permeates discussions of the changes now occuring in media and marketing. In particular, some of the more cutting edge folks that I follow and appreciate seem to feel that we're entering a period when all media activity will become an experience of sharing human created content in a community setting that transcends space and time without the existence of traditional stars or hits.
While I appreciate such utopian visions and have actually experienced such states of being from time to time (all these concepts predated the Internet, the Internets and the World Wide Web and affected the development of such technology rather than vice versa), in all likelihood we'll see overlaps of traditional stars and hits with new stars and hits plus lots more locally made content that can now go global on the Web. What we won't see is a total destruction of the old replaced by something totally new. That bankrupt modernist vision is what helped get us into this mess in the first place.
I imagined the headline for this post before listening to AXE deodorant's Booty Tones. I assumed the ringtones would be corny phrases or something but they're actually all well known hits from multiple genres including Run-DMC's It's Tricky (Hands Off) and Cypress Hill's Insane in the Brain (The Ex) presented in black book form.
Via AdRants.
ProHipHop has been providing news and related services for Mobile Lingo's Hip Hoptionary mobile application. After I first met with Etesh Mangray, the driving force behind Mobile Lingo, I emailed him a short note saying that I wanted our relationship to start off in as honest a manner as possible and told him that I really didn't think such a project would do all that well.
For some reason he still ended up asking me to provide daily news and has now proven me quite wrong about the viability of a hip hop dictionary application on a mobile platform. In fact, the Hip Hoptionary is currently the no. 1 app on Verizon (not sure how often they update the list but I wish they'd show number of weeks on the chart).
So much for my expertise in the matter. I asked Etesh how he knew this would work and he said that the carriers let him know what was selling and he followed his gut instincts in finding content. Now that it's doing well, we're beefing it up a bit based on the interests expressed by our customers.
Sometimes the simple stuff is what works the best!
Chuck D, one of hip hop's most special figures, is launching Chuck D Mobile with a special announcement at the upcoming Billboard MECCA 2006 on April 4th in Las Vegas where he will also take part in the "Q&A keynote series". As the press release describes it:
During this one-on-one fireside chat, Chuck D will discuss his vision of where wireless fits into the broader digital content landscape and what the wireless industry can do to entrench itself deeper into the entertainment industry mindset.
More important than his personal appearance is the news that:
Chuck will announce the launch of Chuck D Mobile, a global mobile distribution company, at Billboard MECCA 2006. He currently is also overseeing his hip hop web portal, www.rapstation.com, working on a second book, a pair of albums, and recently opened his own SlamJamz Record label, which will release a dozen albums this year.
Not everyone knows that Chuck D was early on the Internet and now has a solid web presence and base for business at Public Enemy, Rapstation and SLAMjamz. I'm not fully up on his history with mobile but last fall's release of New Whirl Odor by Public Enemy showed that he's deeply into mobile now.
I think it would be great fun to hear him speak at MECCA. I attended their conference in San Francisco last year where I decided that hard core coverage of corporate activity was not going to be a major focus of ProHipHop anytime soon, unless I bring on another writer! It's just too boring and I have a high tolerance for what many would consider boring business news details. But the interesting thing was that the only music genre discussed at MECCA with any regularity was hip hop and the only genre specific speakers at the conference were all connected to hip hop. So Chuck D will fit right in.
Maybe they'll even play some hip hop before his event rather than the relentless diet of rock at last year's conference. That's right, it was hip hop on the panels, rock on the speakers.
Billboard MECCA 2006 is a one day event that precedes and is part of CTIA WIRELESS 2006, a major wireless industry gathering. I think last year was the first year for MECCA, which I attended in San Francisco, and I think it was a really smart move on Billboard's part to make that happen.
MySpace and Verizon Wireless are Calling All [Unsigned] Bands to compete in a competition to have the first single released on Verizon's V CAST service plus some other stuff.
See the website for details but only one will win and, given the rock-centric emphasis of MySpace music, I assume the winner will be a rock band. Doesn't mean you shouldn't apply if you're a rap act. In any case, you gots till March 1.
Since I've heard good things about Duets: The Final Chapter, built on raps by the Notorious B.I.G., I can accept that the project includes some element of respect and is not simply a money making endeavor.
But I'm conflicted over whether or not ringtones based on the album are a legitimate way to extend the content or simply a crass form of business as usual. I'm probably just being a little overreactive but I shudder to think what Diddy will say in ads promoting such ringtones.
Public Enemy is following the recent release of New Whirl Odor with the announcement of related mobile content via m-Qube:
A package of exclusive mobile offerings is available immediately for download including polytones, mastertones, full tracks and wallpapers. m-Qube will manage worldwide distribution of the mobile content, releasing Public Enemy to their massive distribution network of wireless carries and content aggregators. m-Qube will also build Web and WAP Storefronts as extensions to Public Enemy's existing Web site, www.publicenemy.com.
Though not everyone realizes that Chuck D was a Web innovator, he got seriously involved with the Internet in the late 90s and then went mobile with voicetones or vocal ringtones in 2002. However, the deal with m-Qube seems to be the first coordinated mobile initiative from Chuck D and Public Enemy.
Business Week's Steve Rosenbush takes a closer look at PE's wireless plans with numerous comments from Chuck D's manager Walter Leaphart.
Official sites: Public Enemy and m-Qube
Rolling Stone's Evan Serpick looks at ringtone marketing using D4L's initial ringtone release of the single Laffy Taffy as an example. Asylum Records, D4L's label, first released Laffy Taffy as a ringtone, which they've also done for Mike Jones, Paul Wall and Bun B. The single then got picked up by radio stations and paved the way for the release of the album Down for Life.
Although ringtone marketing seems almost obvious at this point, over 500,000 Laffy Taffy ringtones have sold for around $2.50 each. That's a lot for a digital product that would sell for 99 cents as a full length single on iTunes.
In D4L's case, their style of music also fits the ringtone format:
The snap style -- spare beats, often with natural sounds like whistles and finger snaps -- seems perfectly designed for the short ring-tone format and mobile phones' inferior speakers. "We wanted to create something real simple," says Mook-B, "like going back to the days with your mama's pots and pans and paint buckets."
"It works great as a ring tone," [Asylum's Todd] Moscowitz says of the snap aesthetic. . . "Ring tones are affecting the way music is made," says [9 Squared 'sTed] Suh. "If you look at the history of music, the format determines what kind of music there is. Songs became three minutes long to fit on a single LP. You're seeing the same stuff on the mobile stage."
You know, that suggests a strong case for moving UK grime from underground status to mainstream USA via ringtone marketing, since grime artists already use cellphones as core technologies.
I got a little behind and will do the new hip hop album releases tonight. However, I thought I'd go ahead and post about the announcement that TiVo will be making it possible to transfer tv shows to video enabled iPods and Sony's handheld PSP. What strikes me as the major deal here is that it's a serious reminder that content is breaking free of platforms, whether content developers are on board or not. Tech developments can happen so fast and lead to surprising and unexpectedly disruptive changes that the details are often less important than the overall implications, though the details indicate both obstacles and further possibilities.
PaidContent.org's Staci D. Kramer gets into some of the details and implications, for example, while this undermines the paid iTunes model for individual tv shows for the iPod, TiVo does leave ads intact in the downloads.
Phil Leigh, President of Inside Digital Media, has a nice analysis that was distributed via email. I'm reprinting it here with permission because it's not available on the site but it's worth considering:
We believe that there are four reasons why the announcement that TiVo will enable recorded television programs to be transferred to the Apple iPod Video (and Sony PlayStation P