Saturday, June 23, 2012

[Wooz.in] The Body Shop "Beauty With Heart" Launch

Wooz.in participated in connecting The Body Shop Indonesia's Launch for Beauty With Heart last Wednesday, at XXI Lounge, Plaza Senayan, Jakarta. The event was attended by the press and select customers, who were eager to share their pictures to Facebook and Twitter through Wooz.in, using the campaign's tagline, #BeautyWithHeart.

see the pictures on the Wooz.in blog.

Monday, June 18, 2012

[Music Monday] Does The Average Consumer Care About Legal, Digital Music?

Before I go on with this article, let me be clear - most references are anecdotal; I don't have a survey or research results to refer to. But I think this will ring true to most consumers of digital entertainment - not many of us, including me, think of the legal aspects of something we want to hear/view/play. Having worked in intellectual property based-industries for some time, I avoid pirated content and always try to find legal ways to get music, movies and software. Full disclosure - I've done my fair share of downloading and torrenting, and I often download TV shows that have not aired in Indonesia, and sometimes movies I missed watching in the cinema. I'm no saint.

I'll admit that I avoid illegal music and software, because I know what goes on behind the scenes and how they make their money. I also feel less guilty (but guilty nonetheless) about downloading TV and movies because I also know how they actually make their money (and outside of the cinema, it's based on upfront royalties, advertising revenue share, cable subscription share, and so on). I'll probably write more on that later... but here's the point: I happen to have insight into these industries. What of the average consumer who does not?

Read the rest of the post on Dailysocial.

Monday, June 11, 2012

[Music Monday] Musiklegal.com And The Fight Against Piracy

Piracy remains a sensitive issue for music labels. Efforts to curb piracy on the national level in Indonesia remains in full steam, with the Ministry of Communication and Informatics blocking 20 illegal mp3 download sites end of May 2012. I tried some of the addresses announced in the article and sure enough, the sites could not be accessed. This action was the result of a lengthy lobbying process by ASIRI (the Recording Industry Association of Indonesia) to the government, while at the same time they also had active discussions with the Phone Credit Theft Task Force appointed by DPR to alleviate and soften the impact made by the government's decision to reset all mobile services dependent on subscription charged by SMS.

The effort to curb the spread of illegal music copies being spread through the internet would not mean a thing if the music industry did not offer something in its place - sure enough, music download stores have been around since 2009 but they have yet to achieve significant user traction and all-important revenue. Illegal downloads are said to be the cause of  low user traction, and even before that ASIRI has been lobbying the government to start blocking illegal download sites. Since the latest administration seems intent on blocking pornography sites, the same technology could be used to block these illegal music sites. So it was just the matter of political will. Now, the government seems to want to listen to the plight of the music labels, despite only taking action online and not taking care of the equally damaging pirate CD stores.

Read the rest of the post on Dailysocial.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

[Music Monday] Music Site Dotuku - Just Another Portal... Or?

Making money from music used to be relatively straightforward - major label signs band, band records album, label promotes and distributes album, album sells well and money all around. Well, more or less. And the traditional music scene's idea of a startup, if we were to compare how a startup sits compared to other established companies, was the indie label. An independent label literally meant a music label that operated outside of the 'big five' major label group (now down to four, almost three: Universal Music (in process of buying EMI), Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music. And the more extreme indie labels went for 'alternative' album distribution, avoiding the traditional record store route. And that was that.

Fast forward to the 21st century. Technology enabled tech-heavy startups to dabble in music - and they succeeded in making money from mobile in a market where smartphones are just a sliver of the total mobile subscriber base. I would say these startups would have continued making money if it weren't for the lack of regulations protecting the consumer, and the greed of a few companies seeking to abuse the system. Whether or not charging by SMS for services will make a comeback, only time will tell - but for now, the music industry - starved of income from the disappearance of CD sales, and now RBT sales - has yet to find a new 'silver bullet' to quench the thirst.

Enter Dotuku. Dotuku was developed and launched without much fanfare earlier this year, by the tech team behind Redtree Mobile, and serves initially as a content and news site for music content by Seven Music. Seven Music itself is an indie label in the traditional sense, and it is one of a few Indonesian music labels that have managed to transform itself to be more adaptable for the 21st century (I will cover other notable music companies in other articles). Redtree Mobile and Seven Music are basically siblings as they operate out of the same building, with one providing the technological expertise, and the other providing the music industry expertise.

Looking at Dotuku's site at a glance, though, you'd think it was just another music/entertainment portal. The design looks like a modified blog template, and it's not exactly clear on which section Dotuku wants visitors to focus on first. But the site is obviously a music site, as it has a top downloads and recommended section, has music videos, and you can listen to music as well. The 'Songs' section offers 40-second previews, and a link to download the song. The song download is not free - you need to purchase points called Tuku to get the song, by either upgrading your membership, reloading, playing Dotuku games (only listed as 'coming soon' on the site), write music blog posts or receive transfers from other Dotuku members. Downloading a song by using your Tuku will earn you Dots, which you can use to buy items at the Dotuku Store.

Now, between the design and the Tuku and Dot system, I'm feeling a bit confused, as both things are a turn-off for me, as it would be for a lot of internet users. A front-end design that is not appealing might pass through with the right content (Detik's homepage a year ago comes to mind), but it still needs to have focus. And when you manage to still keep site visitors, the initially confusing Tuku and Dot system might scare potential users away (not to mention the page that explains how Dotuku works is pretty long; even for writing this article I didn't bother reading the whole thing). Wawan AEC, the head of Seven Music and the Dotuku project, admits that the site still needs a lot of reworking, especially regarding the front-end design. But he has grand visions for the site, as it is a tip of the iceberg to a larger strategy that he was unwilling to disclose.

For one thing I'm curious on where a label-specific music portal and store would achieve as opposed to a cross-label solution, but I applaud them for trying to figure out the best solution for themselves. Let's see when that larger strategy becomes more apparent, eh?

Monday, June 4, 2012

[Music Monday] NKOTBSB: A Great Impulse Buy For Digital Music

For weeks and days heading up to the NKOTBSB concert in Jakarta last Friday, longtime fans have been racking up YouTube views of their videos, and radio stations have been playing songs from NKOTB and Backstreet Boys to prime everybody up for enjoying the concert. Needless to say, on June 1 evening Jakarta time, Twitter was awash with people tweeting from the concert and sending whatever pics they can to share with their friends. The show was a success, but what can we learn and exploit from it?

One of the most basic principles of music marketing is to increase awareness and raise sales, a band or musician should do live shows direct in front of audiences. This applies to new or established artists - pushing a song for increased awareness is sometimes not enough through tv, radio and the internet; but a live show (especially if tied with met-and-greet sessions with fans and autograph sessions) would do a lot to reward fans, retain loyalty, and generate awareness and interest for people who have not previously heard of the band/musician. Bands would tour tirelessly around their country - and around the world - as a way to promote themselves and their most latest album. The music labels in charge would also arrange time for the band/musician to meet with the press, to make sure they get more exposure.

Read the rest of the post at Dailysocial.

[Wooz.in] Smirnoff Ice: Nightlife Exchange Project

Mulai bulan Juni sampai bulan Juli 2012, akan ada rangkaian acara Nightlife Exchange Project dari Smirnoff Ice. Program NEP ini akan berkunjung ke beberapa lokasi di seputar Jakarta, mulai dengan membuat acara di 7 Eleven Pejaten pada hari Jumat, 1 Juni 2012 kemarin.

NEP mendatangkan DJ Leo untuk memberi dentuman nada di 7 Eleven Pejaten, diperkuat oleh permainan visual pada DJ box.





Pengunjung juga dapat ikut lomba untuk menjadi DJ, atau bisa juga foto dengan turntable dengan photobooth Wooz.in.











Setiap pengunjung yang mendaftar untuk program Smirnoff NEP ini akan mendapatkan Smirnoff Passport, yang bisa digunakan untuk datang ke acara-acara Smirnoff NEP berikutnya. Kalau mau ikutan acara Nightlife Exchange Project berikutnya, bakalan ada lagi di 7 Eleven Teluk Betung (dekat Grand Indonesia) tanggal 6 Juni 2012, dan di 7 Eleven Senayan tanggal 15 Juni 2012. Nanti kita umumkan lagi lokasi-lokasi berikutnya ya!

[repost dari blog Wooz.in]