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Island Def Jam Tunes Music Fans Into New Mobile Portal

Island Def Jam Music Group is hoping you're jones'ing for some mobile content.

The label announced today the launch of a new mobile content portal featuring the latest news, photos and tour information for Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Kanye West, Rihanna, Fall Out Boy and others.

"Island Def Jam is a big believer in mobile.  Our partnership with netomat shows our commitment to giving our fans access to the latest content and the best fan community experience whenever they want, on the devices they carry everywhere they go," says Christian Jorg, Senior Vice President of New Media and Commerce at Island Def Jam, in a statement.

The portal, developed in conjunction with netomat, will be continually be enhanced with new interactive community tools to put fans in touch with their favorite artists.

"IDJ Mobile is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the convergence of web, mobile content and advertising," adds Mark Lehmann, VP of Web and Mobile Marketing at Island Def Jam.  "I am convinced that offering fans relevant and dynamic content will keep them coming back for more and thoroughly enjoying their experience."

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'Hard Candy': Madonna's Sweet New Mobile Content Promotion

The Material Girl's going mobile - again.

In BRANDING UNBOUND the book, I look at several of Madonna's mobile initiatives, including an online banner campaign that enabled consumers to enter their mobile phone numbers in order to receive a text message with links to music clips before the songs ever hit stores or the airwaves.

And, of course, she introduced her mobile era song "Hung Up" via mobile with ringtones and full music tracks.

As I talk about in the book, Madonna really was the first global brand name to make content delivered to mobile phones seem downright dope. Not just for consumers in Asia and Europe, who'd long been exposed to any number of mobile marketing campaigns, but to mobile newbies who just happen to be the ultimate arbiters of pop culture cool: America's teenagers.

Small wonder, then, that Madonna's back with a new initiative with Vodafone to distribute and promote music content from her new album via mobile.

The Telegraph is reporting that Vodafone has signed a deal with the music maven and Warner Music International to use mobile to promote and distribute content from Madonna's new "Hard Candy" album prior to its April 28 global release. The deal includes releasing seven of the songs to 250 million Vodafone customers.

As John Reid, vice chairman of Warner Music, tells the pub: "This is an innovative way to reach millions of Madonna fans around the world, building anticipation and excitement around this landmark release and helping to create a real event for Vodafone customers."

Read all about it, here.

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Timbaland Creating Mobile-Only Album For V-Cast

The Internet may have scared the pants off the recording industry, but mobile's got them coming back for more.

The Grammy's are going mobile in several different ways. And now Billboard's reporting that the Grammy-nominated hip-hop star Timbaland is working with Verizon to create what's billed as the industry's first "mobile album" - exclusively available to V Cast subscribers.

According to the pub, Timbaland will produce one song per month throughout 2008. Each month, he will work with a different artist on a track while touring the country on the Verizon Mobile Recording Studio Bus, which will also capture making-of footage for V Cast subscribers on a dedicated Timbaland channel.

Timbaland tells Billboard that the deal will let him reach more fans because "every place don't get a CD [but] everybody has a mobile phone." Plus, there's history to be made. "Just producing a mobile album has never been done. I'm the first to ever do it."

Not everyone has Verizon, but the point is made nonetheless.

The whole thing kicks off today with a pre-Grammy party co-hosted by Verizon and People magazine.

During the event, Timbaland will debut the first Verizon song, which features Mosley Music artist Keri Hilson.

If you're a Verizon V Cast subscriber, enjoy.

And while you're at it, read more about the effort, here.

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AT&T's Top Selling Ringtones of 2007

Ringtones are rocking for AT&T.

"Ringtones continue to be one of the most popular entertainment features on wireless devices, whether they're hip-hop, alternative, classic rock, pop, Latin, country or even holiday tunes,"  Mark Collins, vice president of Consumer Data for AT&T's wireless unit, tells Fox News. "AT&T offers an industry-leading catalog with tens of thousands of ringtones, and we add hundreds more to our portfolio each week."

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"

If these aren't your pace,  "Jingle Bells," "The Dreidel Song" and "Noche de Paz" as ringtones free of charge.

Read more, here.

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Island Def Jam Croons To Mobile

Island Def Jam wants to rock - and hip-hop, and R&B, and reggae - your cell phone.

The music label has announced plans to launch IDJ Radio, a mobile music subscription service, delivered via mobile phone.

The new service will feature six streamed radio stations with an eclectic mix of genres, including all of the above and more.

Apparently the service will work with a yet-to-be-announced carrier partner.

Read more about it, here.

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Starbucks Gets Into M-Commerce With iPhone Music Service

Starbucks is downloading music to iPhones for a song.

As I posted about a month ago, Apple and Starbucks have teamed up to launch a service that lets iPhone and iPod touch users instantly download a song they hear at Starbucks for 99-cents.

Today's New York Times takes a closer look at what the service may presage for mobile commerce.

“For the customer it’s an instant gratification,” Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, tells the Times. “You’ll hear the song, be able to identify what it is and download to the device.”

But with m-commerce hitting such a major brand retailer, what else is, pardon the pun, in store? Visa, for one, wants to find out. It's working with Wells Fargo on a mobile payment platform that would, among other things, enable consumers to wave a "micro card" that fits on a key chain at a reader to pay for items.

Still, if you really want to get an inside look at the store of tomorrow, be sure to pick up a copy of BRANDING UNBOUND the book, where I look at payment systems in many stores today that allow you to pick up goods and walk out the door - with the transaction handled wirelessly - without you ever swiping or waving a card, digging for cash or standing in line.

As an aside, I also prognosticate about this new Starbucks service in the book, almost exactly as it is being played out today.

Mark my words: You haven't seen anything yet.

For the New York Times piece, click here.

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Billboard: Major Labels Betting on "Ringle" - Ringtone + Single on CD

Well they had to do something.

With CD sales like they are, Billboard is reporting that Sony BMG and other labels are betting on a new format - the "ringle" - which essentially combines the moribund single format with ringtones.

Apparently, Sony and several other labels are getting ready to launch ringles, which are expected to contain three songs - one hit and maybe one remix and an older track - with one ringtone, on a CD with a slip cover, according to the pub.

The logic goes that if consumers can buy singles online, why not in-store? And if digital venues can reap revenues from ringtones, why can't real-world retailers? And lastly, why not create a bridge, linking the CD to more content online?

Plus, ringles have ridges - they're already getting store space assigned by Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy and Amazon starting this fall.

What's your take? Do ringles spell more revenues? Or are ringles just ridiculous?

For more, click here.

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GReeeeN: Japanese Pop Group Records First Song To Rack Up 1 Million Downloads Via Mobile

Mobile music's on the move in a very big way.

A Japanese pop group made up of anonymous dental students has recorded the first song ever to rack up 1 million downloads to mobile phones over mobile networks.

According to the Sept. 3 issue of Business Week, the group, called GReeeeN, has a major hit with its song Aiuta (Love Song).

Of course, we are talking Japan, where carriers have spent billions to make it possible to download songs at ultra-fast speeds. In fact, according to BW, 90% of all music downloads travel over mobile networks - and takes about 15 to 20 seconds to download a song. Here in the US, by comparison, users with iPhones can't even download songs from iTunes wirelessly. They have to hard wire their phone to their computers to do that.

Factor in ringtones and ring videos, and Universal Music Japan has sold roughly 3 million copies of Aiuta - and only about 250,000 CDs. The music video for the song is featured above.

Turns out GReeeen won't even reveal who they are. They're waiting to reveal their identities until they pass their dental exams next year.

Something tells me the student loans won't be a problem.

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EMusic, AT&T To Sell Music From Independent Labels Via Mobile Phones

I don't know how that fits into AT&T's iTunes-toting iPhone deal, but it does make sense for the mobile carrier to expand its musical repertoire.

Today's New York Times is reporting that AT&T will team with EMusic (the nation's second-largest online music seller - you know the largest) to enable subscribers to purchase from a selection of over 2.7 million songs from independent labels through their mobile phones over the air.

Sprint and Verizon have long enabled their subscribers to do this. What's different about this offering is its emphasis not on mainstream labels, but independent labels which include music from Paul McCartney's new album to the most obscure bands around. The service will cost about $8 for five songs.

“EMusic isn’t pushing top 40 on you when you get to the front page,” Allison Robertson, guitarist for the Donnas, a rock band with its own label, Purple Feather, tells the Times. “You find stuff that you can’t find on the iTunes top 100.”

Alas, the service doesn't work on the iPhone.

For the Times piece, click here.

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Sending Out An SMS: Sting & The Police Reunite In Mobile Era

Message in a ringtone: The Police are back, with a whole new act for the mobile age.

This time out, the band – Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers - have already scored the hottest tour of 2007, ranking #1 in Tickmaster sales rankings with their new North American concert tour, which kicked off this weekend in Vancouver, British Columbia, according to the New York Times.

But these '80s icons have learned a few new tricks since they last played together, in 1984. Sure, they're grayer (with a collective age of 173, in fact), but these days, synchronicity means streamed footage from their concert tour, a MySpace page and, alas, ringtones.

Any bets on whether the top selling 'tones will be "Roxanne" - or "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"?

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