Verizon Wireless is connecting the dots in mobile music with today's announcement of an exclusive arrangement with Prince. In the industry's first artist-direct-to-mobile-music relationship, Verizon is teaming with the iconic performer to revolutionize music discovery and download by exclusively releasing his new single "Guitar". (Click Here for video). The single is from his forthcoming album "Planet Earth," which will not be released until July.
Leading up to the album's release, Verizon Wireless will promote V CAST, Song ID and Prince in print, television, radio and cinema. The first TV commercial will debut during Entertainment Tonight Thursday evening. In his first TV commercial appearance, Prince will perform "Guitar." V CAST customers with handsets featuring Song ID can hold their handsets up to their televisions to identify and make the song available for download. Alternatively, customers can go to www.verizonwireless.com/music and get the download.
"We are using a traditional media format to drive people to online where they can then interact with mobile; three screens come together in one experience," says John Harrobin, senior vice president of marketing and digital media for Verizon Wireless.
Following the TV commercial debut, the video will be available on YouTube, Revver, myspace and a number of other social networking sites, allowing people to download the song.
Harrobin says Prince isn't represented by a label right now and this relationship represents a "music breakthrough providing the complete music experience" including discovery and ownership from artist to customer.
"Customers aren't getting the songs they want when they want them," Harrobin says. Former traditional avenues for music do not offer the complete mobile experience of discovery and ownership. For instance, radio, which was once the best avenue for discovery, is ineffective because DJs don't always identify the song title or artist. From there, customers still need a way to download the song. Online music stores allow for purchase, but not discovery.
That, according to Harrobin, is where mobile comes in. Verizon Wireless offers the most complete music experience by giving its customers three ways to discover and download music: sideload, over-the-air (OTA) download and Song ID, which the carrier introduced earlier this month. He also reports that over the last 18 months since V CAST Music launched, the carrier has found that 95% of its downloads are OTA and only 5% are via the PC.
It's no secret that Prince abhors the music labels. In fact, it's widely believed that he sandbagged his last music contract album because the music label would not release him of the obligation. Prince enjoyed his greatest success with Warner Bros., which released the Purple Rain and Sign O' The Times albums. However, he had a falling out with that label in the early 1990s and performed with the word "slave" written on his face.
The singer then changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol, prompting the media to dub him The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. After leaving Warner, he released a series of albums on independent labels, including his own record label, NPG Records. He later released 1999's Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic on Arista Records and last year Sony subsidiary Columbia distributed Musicology
With the current economic climate, wireless operators face shrinking marketing budgets and reduced consumer spending.
Globally, the credit crunch is very much alive, and operators will be tightening their belts into the foreseeable future by putting off capital purchases.
