What’s In a Name?: Jay-Z &Beyoncé File “Blue Ivy Carter” Trademark
Remember when Beyoncé and Jay-Z lost the battle to trademark the name of their baby daughter Blue Ivy back in the fall of 2012? Well, the pair allegedly filed a trademark again with the U.S. Patent Trademark Office, but this time they are using her full name– “Blue Ivy Carter.” Now, recall that a trademark is a name used for goods and the rule is that you get rights in a mark by actually using the name and having it associated with you in the mind of the public. So, what’s in a name? Well, if you’re little Blue Ivy Carter, your name could be representative of a whole slew of products from: cosmetics, skin care products, lotion, eyeglasses, baby strollers, scrunchies, key rings, playing cards, video games, etc. etc. You can do your own search of “Blue Ivy Carter” and see for yourself here.
The couple have three years to prove they are indeed using the name “Blue Ivy Carter” for products. One can only guess what the BILLION DOLLAR (they officially entered Oprah territory) mogul couple will decide to do with the name, but I’m sure it’ll be another lucrative source of income.
All I Want For My Birthday… D’banj & 2 Chainz Head for Lagos
D’banj and 2Chainz are linking up on June 23rd, 2013 in Lagos for what they say will be a stellar event. They both appeared on the track, The Morning, from the “Kanye West Presents: G.O.O.D. Music – Cruel Summer” album, but I didn’t realize they were buddy-buddy. 2 Chainz, known for several hit songs including No Lie and Birthday, is one of several artists named by D’banj that will rock his “D’Kings Men” Concert. The concert, which is occurring around D’banj’s birthday, is a collaboration between DKM Media and Ndani TV.
The concert will be at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos and is expected to witness performances from: Fally Ipupa, Kay Switch, J-Sol and Olamide. It will be the first visit to Nigeria for 2 Chainz and he is looking to have a great time and party like it’s his own birthday. Watch the pair talk about the upcoming visit here.
Calling All Artists: Star Africa Contest!
In order to promote new African music talent, StarAfrica.com has launched the second edition of the StarAfrica Sounds music contest, in partnership with Deezer and Zimbalam. The contest is open to all and its aim is to give maximum visibility to artists coming from the African continent, notably through the distribution of their songs on the main streaming and downloading streaming platforms. The first stage of the contest will be held between April 15th – May 31st, 2013, so get in those submissions! The candidates will have the opportunity to register on StarAfrica.com, proposing an original song, representative of their musical universe. The second phase, will be from May 31st – July 1st 2013 and this phase lets the public vote and decide who the favorite candidates are.
The top 5 candidates collect the highest number of votes will then be selected for the final stage. In a third and final stage, a jury composed of music professionals will designate the overall winner from the five finalists. His/her identity will be revealed in exclusivity on StarAfrica.com on July 8th, 2013. Most notably, thanks to the partnership with Zimbalam, the finalists will have the possibility to sell their music on streaming and downloading platforms all over the world, receiving 90% of the generated royalties, without exclusivity or time commitment. Also, they will remain independent, free and owner of their music. You can apply to be Africa’s new star here.
And Another One!: New African Streaming Service
There is a new streaming service on the market called Orin and it was launched to help you discover new African music and share with your social sphere. Finbarrs Oketunji, a Nigerian product designer based in the UK, founded the service using the name “Orin” (pronounced Oh-rin; which is a Yoruba word for song). The design interface is very, very similar to Ex.fm, a music discovery site that allows developers and music lovers to build upon the Ex.fm social music platform. I am currently a member on Ex.fm (and now Orin) and I could not help but notice the similarities. One genre that I do feel Ex.fm seems to be lacking is in the African music/World genre, so Orin could possibly fill that void. However, I do hope that Orin will make strides to distinguish itself as time goes on so that it can stand out. As of late, you may not find most of the songs you’re looking for on Orin as the music streaming service just launched and is said to be adding more songs and albums to its catalogue. However, there are a good helping of songs already in the database. You can join and check it out by using the above link.
(Source Tech Loy)
iROKING Showcased at Stanford Africa Forum
This year, the annual Stanford Africa Forum focused on changing the dialogue around business in African countries, from visions of the future, to action toward turning those visions into reality. This meant bringing the architect visionaries that typically dominate conference rhetoric, together with investors and builders who have delivered results and have tangible plans behind business development in Africa. The Stanford Graduate School of Business hosted the event, and among those on the panel was 32-year-old Michael Ugwu. Ugwu, who always had an interest in music, specifically Nigerian music, moved to Lagos to help build iROKING. Clearly Stanford found him worthy to be on this panel seeing as though iROKING now has 120 employees on 3 continents and is helping bring digital distribution to the thriving Nigerian music and movie scene. Ugwu gave a very insightful interview about his experience building and doing business in Nigeria, which he says isn’t for the “faint-hearted.” Read the full interview here.
Are Concert Ticket Prices Highway Robbery?
Jay-Z. Justin Timberlake. Beyoncé. The Rolling Stones. What do these musicians have in common besides being insanely popular? Their concert ticket prices will surely break the bank (at least for the average working citizen)! I shudder to think what the going rate is now for Beyonce’s Mrs. Carter World Tour and Jay-Z and JT’s Legends of Summer tour. I’ve heard that some Rolling Stones tickets are going for $1000! I’ve been to my share of concerts, but luckily, they were all free courtesy of my undergrad, UC Riverside. Kid Rock’s recent interview with Piers Morgan had me thinking about some of the crazy ticket prices on the market for today’s big artists. I also wondered whether I would have been able to see any of those artists that I saw during undergrad on my own dollar.
According to reports, prices of concert tickets are rising faster and higher than those for movies, theater, and even sporting events! Some blame musicians by calling them greedy, while others blame the fans and say that due to heavy music pirating, ticket prices increased because that is now an artist’s major source of income. Now, without pointing the finger, it’d be nice if these super rich artists considered some of the points Kid Rock made in the interview below.
Other artists are aligned with Kid Rock’s view that ticket prices have got out of hand. On the subject, Lenny Kravitz remarked that: “I can’t sing ‘Let Love Rule’ and then, you know, charge people, you know, 500 bucks to get in. It’s not what it’s about.” Regardless, as long as people are willing to pay huge sums to see their favorites sing live, prices will keep going up.
Kid Rock Calls Ticket Prices “Garbage” & “Highway Robbery”. Check on it, do you agree?
-Udeme Uwan
Twitter: @UBUwan
