Black Eyed Peas star Will.i.am brought a bit of pop star glamour
to this week's
Blackberry
developers conference, by demonstrating how he was using the
Blackberry smartphone platform to update his music website.
Will.i.am is now using the Java-based platform to send immediate
news, pictures and other content to his
DipDive music site.
He demonstrated the usefulness of the Blackberry in his online
business operation by taking a picture of a bunch of glamourous
Blackberry Storm developers in the audience, and immediately
posting it on his site for all to see.
How long it will stay there is anyone's guess, as it probably
will not do much to sell extra tracks of Will.i.am's music.
DipDive is used to promote a number of acts in addition to the
Black Eyed Peas, including Fergie and Macy Gray.
Will.i.am told the Blackberry delegates, "DipDive gives acts
more control over what is done to promote them and what type of
music is on offer to the fans.
"Record companies are still using old fashioned technology to
package and sell music, but the use of DipDive supported by the
Blackberry platform is a move in the right direction."
Will.i.am predicted that in about a year's time many high street
stores would give up selling CDs, as music fans preferred
electronic music they could download in the way they wanted.
He said he could not see the point of spending long periods in
developing and recording traditional 12-track albums, when most
fans now preferred downloading single tracks from services such as
iTunes.