The signs at the Warner Music Group-MTV concert party the first night of CTIA warned that anyone entering was giving permission for their images to be used. What most partiers at Hard Rock’s Body English didn’t know was they were taking part in MTV’s first made-for-mobile concert. Streaming video featuring Sean Paul, The Veronicas and Lupe Fiasco were on MTV channels on Verizon, Sprint and Amp’d by the next day; a performance by T.I. is exclusive to Sprint. In the past, an event like that might have been limited to the few hundred folks lucky enough to get invites. With this, phone viewers will have to mix their own drinks but they still get to enjoy the intimate club performances. The folks at MTV take their mobile seriously. That’s because they know it holds the key to global revenues, particularly for a company with instant access to millions of teens who feel naked without their cell phones. Take Van Toffler’s description during today’s keynote of the mobile handset as the “Holy Grail of devices.” He explained, “While global youth spends $16 villion on music they spend $106 billion on mobile. Teens rank it as more more desireable than their laptop computers, mp3 players or their video game consoles — and that should be music to all of your ears. … Being the world’s largest television network is simply not enough for us. We have now become the world’s largest content provider for mobile phones.” In addition to its carrier deals, MTV is an investor in and content provider for MVNO Amp’d Mobile. Some stats from Toffler:– MTV works with 63 mobile providers worldwide — MTV reaches two-thirds of Eurpoean 3G subscribers — In January, MTV became first V Cast provider to reach more than 1 million stream per month. By February, that number was at 1.5 million and it reached nearly 2 million in March — MTV delivered more than 2.5 million streams across carriers in March, an all-time high. Oh — the obligatory surprise guest? LL Cool J. His comments on the importance of mobile to his career are included in the keynote audio. I’ll have more on MTV in the next day or so from a lengthy interview with Toffler and MTV digital chief Jason Hirschorn, including an update on upcoming music service Urge.
In the meantime, you can listen to the keynote here
Or you can stream it here..click on the arrow:
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