ILike Likes Social Networks

There’s an old real estate adage exclaiming the virtues of “location, location, location.”

These days the choice locations on the Web are social networking environments like Facebook and Twitter. Now iLike is stepping up to the plate with a series of new features giving artists the ability to easily integrate their iLike work with the social networking sites of their choosing.

For instance, artists can link their iLike accounts with their Twitter pages, giving them the ability to combine the folks who signed on for updates via iLike with the fans receiving tweets. In addition to increasing the number of tweet recipients, updates appearing on artists’ iLike pages will instantly be distributed to their fans on Twitter.

There’s also a new sync feature making it easier for videos posted on iLike to immediately travel to artists’ YouTube channels.

Other features include new Facebook “music” tabs where artists add music tabs to their Facebook pages and widgets that allow artists to use the iLike Artist Dashboard to manage their official Web site content via embeddable javaScript widgets.

ILike has also integrated its artist services with Ticketmaster. Songs, photos and videos to the iLike Dashboard will also appear on artists’ Ticketmaster pages.

And what may turn out to be one of the most-used new features is the turnkey system iLike has developed for artists creating and distributing their own iPhone apps. It’s no secret the iTunes Apps Store helps drive iPhone sales, and iLike’s new system allows artists to customize the look and feel of their applications as well as submit the finished apps to the Apps Store.

It would be an understatement to say there are a lot of social networking sites on the Web. So many, in fact, that artists could spend a great deal of their time updating their profiles, uploading music and sending announcements to fans registered at each site.

Or they can just go to iLike where a few keystrokes update their profiles across the social networking universe, thus freeing up their time to do other things – like create, record and perform music.

“There’s enormous value in connecting artists directly with their fans, and with today’s announcements we’ve redefined the game,” said iLike CEO Ali Partovi in a statement announcing iLike’s new features. “In an increasingly fragmented media landscape, artists need to reach fans across a dizzying spectrum of social networks, Web destinations, and mobile devices, and iLike gives them simple yet powerful tools to do it all from one place.”

Money From YouTube

It may not be a lot of money, but the music industry is seeing some cash two years after the video site implemented an advertising model guaranteeing copyright holders payment for videos viewed.

The Los Angeles Times’ Technology blog reports the income as a “relatively small but steady stream.” In other words, it won’t make anybody rich, but it does show YouTube’s potential as a revenue stream.

The model is simple enough. Labels receive a pre-negotiated fee whenever their videos are viewed on YouTube. The payouts are derived from advertising sales, such as those ads you might see when viewing a video.

But no one is extremely thrilled with receiving royalty bucks from YouTube. Despite being the go-to place on the Web for all things video, even the most-played music vids generate only a few dollars.

For instance, the Times blogger cites Pete Waterman, author of “Never Gonna Give You Up” as making only a few YouTube bucks on Rick Astley’s 1987 hit.

Surprised? You’re not the only one. “Never Gonna Give You Up” was the punch line for the Internet “RickRoll” phenomenon where people were lured into watching a video promising something worth watching but were shown Astley’s video of the song instead. Those suckered into watching the tune were referred to as having been “RickRolled.”

But despite how many folks were RickRolled during the last few years, songwriter Waterman says he’s made about $15. However, any money made on YouTube showing the vid is split among several sources, such as Waterman’s two co-writers, the label, the publisher, and – of course – Astley himself.

On the other hand, the Times points out if the song had received as much airplay as the video received views on YouTube, the royalty checks would have been much larger. Not enough, perhaps, to retire on, but definitely more than $15.

Just goes to show that, while YouTube shows promise as a revenue stream for the music industry, the big bucks are still coming from sales, airplays and concerts. YouTube isn’t going to save the music industry today. But tomorrow might be a different story.

Chesney’s Mozes Moments

Kenny Chesney is one artist who not only knows how important it is to build a fan base, but to maintain it as well. The country star also knows, when it comes down to the man’s sold-out concerts, Chesney fans just wanna have fun.

For his current Corona Extra Sun City Carnival Tour, Chesney has hooked up with mobile marketing firm Mozes to stay in touch with fans.

Like many artists, Chesney needs a quick, yet easy way to notify fans about new releases, ticket presales, schedule changes and the like. Sure, e-mail blasts and Twitter tweets can do the job, but that’s pretty much a one-way channel. A better way is to make it as fun as it is informative for the fans.

And it looks as if Chesney’s fans are having fun while staying informed. By using services provided by Mozes during this year’s tour, fans can text in for chances to win seat upgrades and “Sand Bar Passes” at the show. Other opps include joining Chesney’s mobile fan club for exclusive updates and content from their favorite country music star.

Then there’s the feature for folks snapping Chesney’s picture with cell phone cams during performances. It allows them to instantly upload the pics to Chesney’s official Web site, turning individual fans into one huge Chesney extended family. It may sound like a simple idea, but it’s sure to help turn that online fanbase into one big happy and cohesive social environment.

“Kenny Chesney and his management represent some of our most innovative mobile trailblazers,” said Chris Stacey, VP of Music Industry Sales at Mozes. “He understands how his fans want to be communicated to and sends them alerts and offers, making his fan club one of the most loyal and active in existence.”