- Location-based social networking (Google Maps meets Facebook with Socialight opening up its tools to mobile developers - Michael Sharon, Socialight's CEO, will be a speaker at the Ypulse Mashup in July!) (Mashable)
- Aniboom goes mobile (the ugc animation site also happens to be a Mashup speaker) (Media Post, reg. required)
- Rapping about 'The Economist' (the song, along with a new "Economist" Facebook group, is bringing an unexpected young surge of readers to the periodical) (Guardian)
- 'Truth' ads are a tad out of touch (claims AdRants citing ancient quotes from now-deceased tobacco bigwigs has little sway with teens)
Real Teen Secrets (another teen confession site -- with no moderation or resources)
- To stream (or not to stream? More discussion on The CW, "Gossip Girl" and cannibalizing TV. Plus Channel One goes digital) (AdAge.com, reg. required) (Media Post, reg. required)
- More Miley redux (parents outraged, tweens don't care) (AdAge.com, reg. required)
- 'The Death of the Record Store' (new doc on the survival [or demise] indie record stores featuring Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and Ian Mackaye of Fugazi) (WireTap)
- Seventeen music widgets (Hearst teams up with Jango to create co-branded celebrity music widgets)
- Drinking virtual Pepsi (appears to work, according to an MTV case study. Look for more integrated content on every conceivable digital platform aimed at teens) (AdWeek)
- The true story (of a bogus blog -- Coach sponsored a class project that backfired.) (AdWeek)
- Back to school May 1? (ok, I know this isn't the focus of this piece about Staples and DoSomething joining up for a cause marketing initiative, but they are launching their annual back to school campaign before school is even out) (PR Week)
- Slurpee rocks out (7 Eleven's classic drink sports Aerosmith on its cups in a Rockband Guitar Hero promotion)
- Grand Theft Childhood? (cool looking panel at Berkeley on violent video games - thanks Jennifer!)
'iCarly' star to record (Miranda Cosgrove has signed a deal with Columbia Records. Plus Disney Radio launches a mobile site to reach tweens) (press release) (MediaPost, reg. required)
- 'Baby fight club' (Channel 4 doc about kids' ultimate fighting) (via MTV Sticky)
- 'Gossip Girl's' genius (New York Magazine on how "Gossip Girl" is a new kind of hit. Problem is the network needs it to still be an old kind of hit. We'll find out if not being able to watch online helps or hurts ratings)
- Remember Corey? (the Australian MySpace party boy? He landed a role on "Big Brother" Down Under) (Daily Telegraph)
- Edelman goes Hollywood (yes, the PR firm, launches a competition to identify young filmmaking talent) (USA Today)
- Reaching young Latinos (means understanding "bi-dentity" -- brands that do? McDonald's, Pepsi, Univision and Rocawear) (BrandWeek)
- The Fashion-Y Blog (run by teen blogger Kori Perten, who was profiled in the Boston Globe Plus new research says "teenage girls who dress in their culture's traditional clothing may fare better mentally and emotionally than their peers who try to assimilate.") (Reuters)
- Volunteer vacations (teens traveling the world to do "good") (Washington Post, reg. required)
While I love music, I'm not really enough of a fan to be a regular reader of music magazines. Just as some people would say they read Playboy "for the articles," I read Rolling Stone and SPIN for the non-music political features. Crains just ran an article about the sketchy state of music magazines and how many of them have seen sharp declines in ad revenue. From the article:
Ad pages for the three biggest music magazines slid 26% in the first quarter. Jann Wenner's Rolling Stone, the category's iconic publication, saw a 33% drop, according to just-released numbers from Publishers Information Bureau.
The magazines are reeling from the same seismic shift that has rocked the record labels -- and which has made popular music more available to consumers than ever before.
Young fans are filling their iPod and Zune libraries straight from the Internet, which is also where they can listen to music and catch the latest news and reviews.
What I found interesting was this notion that even though things are bad, they're not as bad as what's happened in the teen magazine space (i.e. magazines closing). Still, in some ways, I think there is way more competition from online for music than from celebrity/fashion blogs or other sites that have been eating away at teen magazines' readership.
Blender's publisher Ben Madden argues "They need a credible guide. Nothing online can be that guide." I'm not buying it. Between the top music blogs (that are able to break news faster), especially those in the indie space like Stereogum and Pitchfork (which both launched video content recently), I think there will be a teen magazine-like shakeout in the music mag space. It's not just blogs, you have all the social networks wanting to launch music services, which will link artist pages with fans and their own ugc around artists. What do you think?
The CW pulls 'Gossip Girl' from the web (OMFG. This seems like a bad move to me. It's never good to give people something for free online and then take it away. Teens know how to watch TV using Torrents, too, ya know) (L.A. Times, reg. required)
- Bebo announces its 'Gap Year' winners (including one from Chicago who will join the globe trotting twentysomethings for this online reality series)
- 'Beyond the Rave,' ctd. (danah boyd commented yesterday that the series is vampire/horror and asked, "if you find out why the age marking, I'd love to know." I asked MySpace and got this response: "MySpace has strict policies in place to ensure that younger users cannot view mature material on the site. Due to content that is designed for mature audiences in MySpaceTV's new Beyond the Rave series, MySpace has implemented specific safety precautions so that the delivery of the content is limited to mature audiences." My cynical side, says it's really to make it even MORE appealing.)
- Rock The Vote & Wiretap (looking for youth reporters to cover the election...Plus the United Nations Foundation and Better World Foundation running a video contest asking youth to advise the new president on what he OR she should do on their first day at work. And download this compilation of Latino artists from iTunes for $3.99 to benefit Vote Latino)
- Eating disorders (can be contagious. According to this study...) (Reuters)
- Alicia Keys (in WeeWorld! Plus loads of brands lining up for WeeWorld's Prom -- you know your WeeMe needs whiter teeth, right?)
- Playboy snowboards (I wonder what female boarders will think of these...) (Jossip)
- Want you to want me (not the Cheap Trick song, but a very cool data visualization of what people are saying on online dating sites. Plus SubwayCrush - "missed connections" on the NYC subway system) (danah boyd) (SubwayCrush via Fimoculous)
P.S. Happy Passover to all of you in "the tribe" and anyone else who likes this holiday!
Scream queens (still rule with teens even though Brittany Snow is no Jamie Lee Curtis. Plus the in-theater publicity stunt that became a viral ad campaign for the flick. And the multitude of Sarah Marshall virals) (Detroit News) (USA Today) (Pop Candy)
- 'I Love Chieftown' (new MySpace series from the makers of KateModern [on Bebo]) (Alley Insider)
- The 'Rap on Rap' (The Parents Television Council attacks MTV and BET in a new report. Plus parents more disgusted with sex in video games than violence. And on the other side of the spectrum, one parent blogs about letting her kids go "free range" - thanks Andrea!) (Media Week) (Ars Technica) (Boing Boing)
- Speaking of teens, phones & driving (NPR's beloved "Car Talk" hosts are getting their own animated show -- where you'll hear zingers like this in response to teens using cell phones while driving: "As a parent, you have to threaten to kill them." Added Tom: "What also works are punishments that disrupt their social lives. I found, with my son, that writing 'LOSER' on his forehead in permanent marker was somewhat effective.") (CNN)
- RAINN launches online hotline (The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network goes online offering even more anonymity and encouraging young victims to reach out for help.) (USA Today)
- It's the plunging, padded... (Pre-teen bra! Plus the fashion industry trying to make runway modeling more like driving - 16 and up) (Telegraph UK) (Reuters)
One of my favorite movies of all time is "Almost Famous." I loved that a teen got to tour with the band, that it was inspired by Cameron Crowe's real life experiences and that the "groupies" including Penny Lane played by Kate Hudson (why has she not had a great role since?) were portrayed as being motivated by the music, or being true fans, instead of as "sluts."
That said, when I read this article (thanks Casey!) about "The Plastics" and their quest to break through the groupie stereotype and "help restore the glamour that surrounded groupies in the '60s," I began to worry. As we saw in "Almost Famous," yes there is glamour, but there's also quite a bit of heartache when you realize you will never replace the girlfriend or wife of your beloved musician. Yes, I know, once of their tips is to never expect them to leave their wife or girlfriend. But even Plastics are human, too.
While I can definitely see the appeal of The Plastics for teen girls who are very into music, I'm not sure that being a groupie is something girls should aspire to. I had my own experiences being a "groupie" of a popular local punk band as a teen -- and I think it had more to do with my own low self esteem at the time than being a real fan of this band's hard core sound. Though I did fantasize about being a Bowie groupie as well as hooking up with the late Michael Hutchence (INXS) back then, too.
The Plastics don't say they are developing their brand for teens -- but let's be real, that's when most groupies get their start. Even Plastics founder and president Lexa Vonn "first made her way backstage at 14 to meet Poison." Sleeping with band members as a teen is, well, illegal, but it's also just risky behavior. And as much as The Plastics want to expand the definition of "groupie" beyond sex, as the article states:
But here's the thing: It's not about sex.
No, really. Groupies do sleep with musicians -- a lot. But sex is not the reason those who think of themselves as "real" groupies want to hang out with rock stars.
I sense The Plastics injecting their own brand of feminism into what they're doing -- and if adult women decide to follow (and sleep with) the band as an expression of their love for the music, more power to them. I just don't want to see this series on The CW.
'MTV's Baby Woodwards' (The New York Observer on the teens behind MTV's new reality series "The Paper," which I can't wait to watch. Plus MTV attempting to reclaim its music roots with an "I Want My Music On MTV" contest? And the competition heats up online - Pitchfork.tv joins Videoogum in the indie music online video space)
- 'HSM 4' will happen (most likely without the original "High School Musical" cast "in tact") (MediaPost, reg. required)
ourWorld (another virtual world for tweens -- with lots of games. And speaking of games or advergames, Double Fusion is teaming up with Doppelganger's teen virtual world vSide to add...more brands! It's just like real life)
- Facebook launches chat (in "a few networks." Plus Virginia schools now teaching Net safety lessons...and it sounds like it's primarily focused on predators) (Inside Facebook) (Associated Press)
- More video content going mobile (like Hannah Montana...but not so many young people, at least in the 18-34 age range are watching) (Multichannel News)
- Speaking of age and watching (evidently you don't have to be young on TV to attract a young audience according to this article. Still the tweens will be more likely to watch Nick's new "Dance On Sunset" than Sam Waterston in "Law & Order") (Seattle Times) (New York Times, reg. required)
- Boob tube in the bedroom (breeds unhealthy habits for teens. I was shocked that 62 percent of teens in this study had a TV in their bedroom. I want to see a similar study on computers in the bedroom - thanks Andrea!)
- Game on... (too long? This story argues it's a fine line separating fun and "addiction" when it comes to video games)
P.S. I wrote these Sunday night so if I missed something big and obvious, that's probably why. Though sometimes I just miss big and obvious stories anyway. Remember, Ypulse will be back on Wednesday.
P.P.S. I've been getting these interesting comments on my old interview with Gaia's CEO Craig Sherman. Evidently there are some unhappy [older] Gaians.
OMG! The Pope just texted me! (Pope Benedict will send inspirational messages on "World Youth Day") (via Yahoo! News)
