OtoRevo has created a lot of first. OtoRevo and Columbia Music Entertainment were the first label to sign a major artist (Good Crew) exclusively from user voting. Now we have done another first, we are the first major label to release tracks from a major release under Creative Commons.
We are releasing the vocal tracks for anyone to remix and mashup. The most interesting remixer will win a Xacti camera. Unfortunately the page is in Japanese, but downloading and listening to the tracks is pretty simple. I love Kuroki-san’s voice (lead singer). The name of the album is Nippon Ha:Ski. When you hear her voice you will know why.
Even if you don’t want to remix, download and listen to the tracks. Of course if you like it, you might like the album!
The OtoRevo team has created history last week. For the first time a music label has created a online contest in which the winner gets a record deal. Not a interview, not a meeting, not a chance to be heard. But a record deal. More importantly the judges were music fans on the internet. Its a truly special moment that unfortunately will attract little attention in the USA.
From 1,000 artist internet music fans selected the top 10. Of the top ten, last week on the final day of voting they selected the #1 artist. Watching and building this process is special.
The other week I met with one of the top 10 artist. During the meeting the artist cried tears of joy for the opportunity that has been given to them. For me this project has always had a emotional significance. I love to fight against the bigger foe. For the other people attending the meeting I think they realized for the first time the importance of what we are trying to do.
The concept of giving the power of releasing artist to fans may seem obvious but I’ve had to fight for every inch needed to make this project happen. Now we are negotiating to turn the DVD project into a 13 episode TV show and other labels in Japan are interested in the OtoRevo project. That’s all great but I’m honestly a little exhausted. Now we are building a stronger management team of marketing and support staff to lighten the load on the original OtoRevo team. Hopefully it will enable me to take some time off.
We are also planning phase 2 of OtoRevo which features a long tail business model using digital distribution and on-demand CD printing. The new business model was covered in a fairly detailed article in Nikkei Shimbun (the equivalent of the Wall Street Journal in JAPAN). OtoRevo as a business will be successful, but what really keeps me pushing are the commitments I’ve made to the top 10 artist and the need to change the old way of thinking that risks crippling the music industry. Creating a business people care about has been both fulfilling and exhausting.
October 29th Jun-ichiro “Itojun” Hagino passed away. Itojun was an amazing hacker. I first met him in 1999 in Tokyo when I was working on OpenBSD. I asked “who do I need to meet in Japan” and everyone said, Itojun is the smartest person there.
When I visited Japan he welcomed me and introduced me to the world of technology there. Because of him I was able to establish a base of technical relationships in the country. He had a naturally warm heart, the type of person you immediately liked and remembered.
Since 1999 we stayed in regular contact and he helped many of my friends who visited Japan. The last time I saw him was around Sept 2007 and he told me about his new business. I told him about a problem I was having in Japan and the next day he introduced me to 3 people that could help me. That type of kindness is rare.
OtoRevo is having a live event Wednesday featuring the top 10 artist selected by the internet community. Its both nerve-racking and exciting at the same time. Everyone is a little stressed out but I feel like we are doing something historical here. If you are in Tokyo you can RSVP here for the OtoRevo party.
I was interviewed for a TV show on PBS. During the interview we went back to my old neighborhood. It was nostalgic. This is just a video of me being interviewed at my friends house.
[OtoRevo is a project I founded out of Red Dove a new group formed within Columbia Music Entertainment with Jordan Ritter, Co-founder of Napster. Hopefully you will hear of many big things from this group. Japanese first, Then English.]
OtoRevo is a campaign site to find Japan’s best artists but more than anything it’s an opportunity. An opportunity for connecting fans to fans and connecting fans to artists.
One of the best qualities of the Internet is that it’s an equalizer. Regardless of who you are your talent will always shine through.
By using the internet, we can bring back a bit of democracy to an old [music] industry.
Not everyone using this site is going to become famous.
Not everyone using this site wants to be famous.
But we all have one thing in common. We love music.
That should be enough to empower us to make a change.
That’s why this is a revolution.
Recent Comments