Editor's Corner
Well the FierceMobileContent Oasis reception was quite the popular watering hole Tuesday night, if I may say so myself. The official head count was just over 1,200; a record for us. In attendance were representatives from carriers like Sprint, Cingular and Verizon; content companies like Disney Mobile, Fox Interactive Media, Spike TV, AOL, MusicNet and more. For those of you who missed the event, you can check out some photos from the party here.
A big thanks to our sponsors MobiTV and mBlox, who proved popular with their drink tickets. The lines at the bar were long, and a bit slow, so I apologize, but for a networking event I suppose that a critical mass of people is a nice problem to have.
In the "you asked for it" category, I was pleased that a few readers in attendance actually did show up and take me to task for some of my past rants. In particular, a good friend of mine close to the music publishing world attending Oasis presented quite a good counter-argument to my stance on the pending compulsory licensing measure now in consideration before the U.S. Copyright Office. While I still believe that there needs to be a streamlined and easier approach to selling ringtones without the need to strike individual deals each time, there are a few caveats to consider:
1) Some artists may not want to sell their work as ringtones. Truth be told, I hadn't thought of that. If Bruce Springsteen feels a ringtone diminishes the artistic value of his songs, so be it. I won't argue for forcing artists to sell derivative versions of their creations no matter what the cost.
2) Do we really want the government dictating the terms of business? Well, no. Once old Uncle Sam sticks his big nose in, the situation can easily be worsened.
Yet I stand by my original opinion that some reckoning is required between music labels and music publishers to monetize and sell mobile music. The old licensing model needs a serious tweak to address the digital/mobile future, and all involved need to be prepared to experiment with new practices.
Another juicy tidbit… it seems that the management behind such hip-hop artists as DMX, Naz, Jagged Edge and a few others have aggregated the rights to develop a reality series on the everyday lives of these rap superstars--to be aired on mobile phones. Anthony Stonefield is out searching for either a buyer for the rights or, if no sale is finalized in the next month or so, a production company to come along and start developing the series. There's been some murmuring that mobile short-form reality shows may become one of the killer apps for mobile video.
All in all, it was a very informative and enjoyable evening. Thanks to all who showed up. I hope to engage with more of you in the coming months. -Antony
PS: Make sure to check out our FierceMobileContent Top App Awards online!
- Also our apologies to Groove Mobile for misidentifying them in our email earlier today. Groove Mobile, in parntership with Sprint, won our FierceMobileContent Top App Award for Music; it was not Boost Mobile as was originally written.
