Kylie Minogue Sets Up Mobile Social Network
Kylie Minogue has launched a mobile social networking site to coincide with her new single, at www.KylieKonnect.com (although when I checked it wasn’t up). The site will let fans “register on their mobile phones, blog, communicate with other users and upload images and video” reports Reuters. “The whole thing is set up so that Kylie can update her blog and have a closer connection with fans,” said Julia McNally, business development director at New Visions Mobile. She thinks setting up her own service is more flexible than going through MySpace and Facebook. It’s a good way to promote her music and get the phone numbers of her fans — I expect to see more artists doing similar things.
Not a bad idea from Kylie since mobile is all about personal space and niche marketing. Stateside, a company called Mozes allows any artist to create their own social network ("mob") and deliver "one to one" content to fans (i.e. wallpaper, ringtones, SMS). Pretty cool.
The idea that fans can now have their own world in which to meet and socialize makes sense and seems very marketable. Even on MySpace and Facebook, people join groups and make “friends” with other users who have similar taste in music in order to discuss the artist, get concert updates, etc. The Kylie Minogue social network will cut out the middle step of finding other fans, because anyone on the site will be one. This would be appealing to many fans of artists who already seek out web forums and fan sites to discuss certain artists. If an artist, like Kylie Minogue, has her own official social networking site where fans can get legitimate information from the artist herself plus other fans, it seems like an ideal situation for both parties. Minogue can advertise her music and upcoming concerts, and fans can get the latest and best content.
The mobile phone aspect of the website is also interesting. Users will be able to download ringtones and other content for their phones directly from Minogue via her website. While I am not sure how big this market is beyond preteens and high school students, downloading customized ringtones might not be the website’s main draw for most people. I feel like the social networking aspect with other fans will be the most beneficial.
Thank you for writing about this in your blog, and I look forward to other updates about happenings in the mobile world.
I’d prefer a site where I have access to more artists than just one, however exclusive the site may be. I am registered with http://www.mozes.com and I get updates on a bunch of artists about their music downloads, info about their latest albums and the tour dates. I like the fact that I have access to so many artists I like from one place.