Black Web 2.0

It is time again to welcome in another year and say goodbye to the current. 2007 was full of redesigns, launches, and growth for sites that target Blacks and in 2008 we can all expect to see even more growth and intriguing launches. Here are some specific trends from around the web and Black Web 2.0 to keep an eye out for and help you get prepared in 08:

Social networking gets condensed.
In 2007 the number of social networking websites that were launched was overwhelming. Navigation Arts, a user experience firm based in Washington D.C., expects to see this area contract in 2008 with only the most popular sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook remaining. While I agree with this predication on a mainstream scale I think social networks that target Blacks and/or the culture will be safe for now. This is primarily because the market in this space is not yet saturated with quality properties that pull significant traffic. Those that currently exist will remain, however in 2008 we will see many existing properties and new properties continue to refine their niche within the demographic.

(User) Content is King
Web users will continue to rule in 2008. Not only will user-generated content continue to reign supreme, users will demand a better overall experience. Expect to see engaging experiences online, which is a vast difference from the minimalist and overly cluttered sites that we see today. This trend will not only apply to the Big Boys but to smaller web publishers as well. More Black web publishers will take note of their overall user experience and correct or refine as necessary. The result will be, “websites organized around user behavior, rather than relying on a traditional, hierarchical navigation…” as stated in another ‘08 prediction from Navigation Arts. This leads us right into our next 2008 prediction….

The Black Ad Network
Many of you are aware of niche advertising networks that seem to cater to every demographic except ours. In the later part of 2007 we saw a spurt of Black advertising networks launch. In tandem with creating an enjoyable user experiences web publishers in 2008 can look forward to serving more relevant ads. This new web ad niche will allow Black web publishers to make more profit from their websites in 08, and we ain’t talking Google AdSense dollars either. In 2008 Black web publishers will see a plethora of options when it comes to advertising. In addition to benefiting from mainstream ad networks Black web publishers will also have the option to join ad networks from Black brands that you already trust such as BET. Publishers will have the option of “shopping” multiple networks to see which works best for their site and of course which will serve the most relevant ads. And the more relevant ads served to your sites will in turn result in more ad revenue for you. Now these ad networks won’t come without problems in ’08, expect for lots of refinements to be made, even right out of the gate.

On the mainstream web we will also see experimentation with different ad metrics. Over at ReadWriteTalk Sean Ammirati predicts, “Non-search advertising on the web will increase in value significantly. This will be done through a lot of innovation in the ad targeting systems (both behavioral and contextual) and new metrics being adopted by Madison Ave beyond CPC and CPM” while Marshall Kirkpatrick at ReadWriteWeb predicts, “Most ad networks will start producing their own content to advertise against; and some content companies today will get acquired by ad networks.”

Black Celebrities continue to move into the Internet space in 08.

In 2007 we saw many efforts from Black celebrities to extend their brands and even some spread their entrepreneurial wings onto the web. Damon Dash’s BlockSavvy, Russell Simmons’ investment stake in GlobalGrind, MC Hammer’s DanceJam, and Kanye’s Kanye UniverseCity to name a few. With such adoption among celebrities growing even more in 08 we can expect a few things to happen. The first will be the creation of a Digital Celebrity or as my boy Digital Media Mobster over at Media Mafia likes to call them, The Black Digerati. In ‘08 we will see that these Black Digital celebrities are not just your typical celebrity featured on YBF or Bossip they will also include internet entrepreneurs and other influentials in the internet space. As more Black Celebrities get involved in internet ventures we can likely see a cross pollination of celebrities and internet execs.

Well that’s all folks. Have a Happy and Safe New Year. See ya in ’08!

Additional forecasts and trends not mentioned in this post but may be of interest to you can be found on MediaPost Emarketer and TrendWatching.com.

Sources:

Navigation Arts

MediaPost Search Insider

ReadWriteWeb

Another site for the independent artist crops up in a partnership between Chuck D and DMC of Run-DMC. Though I’ll probably write a more thorough post about the site at a later date, and perhaps even hook up with Chuck D for a podcast, I wanted to let you in on the news as it was offered in a press release (early).

First a little background on Chuck D and the digital future of music:

Chuck D, a co-founder of hip hop’s Public Enemy — and one of the first high-profile musicians to adopt MP3 and online distribution — said the Internet is causing a top-to-bottom shift in the music industry.

“What you’ve got is not an eradication of the middleman, but a balancing out … everybody will have to share a little bit more,” he said. [Wired: 10.18.99]

“The majors are never going to go away, they’re like the NBA,” said outspoken rap artist and MP3 activist Chuck D. However, he added, MP3 could provide something like an alternative league.

The occasion was a panel discussion, “Convergence: The Future of Media,” held at the Silicon Alley 99 conference. [Wired: 02.24.99]

As for the future, Chuck D said the recording industry has to change. He suggested that record labels could become the “modern day record clubs” of the Internet, where people pay for a subscription to their “wealth of material.” He also suggested that artists’ material should be sold in smaller units, such as a five-track album for five dollars online, or promoted by giving away certain songs to sell others. [Wired: 03.07.99]

Editor’s Note: Let it be known that Chuck D and Public Enemy and Prince and his New Power Generation were likely two of very few “first” artists to embrace the digital future by luanching some version of their own online music club or digital store, and thereby cut out the middleman (in other words the big dogs of the recorded music industry).

At the end of last year, Chuck D stepped into a different kind of spotlight when his then-record label sent him a letter threatening a lawsuit after he posted audio clips from the still unreleased Public Enemy album in the MP3 ( 1, Audio Layer 3) format on his Web site.

In December, Chuck D parted ways with Def Jam to focus on his own production company, dubbed Creamwerks. Through this venture, Chuck D will use the Web as his distribution channel as well as for promoting new and existing talent. [CNET News.com: 03.09.99]

Music biz icon Al Teller broke ranks earlier this year by founding online record label Atomic Pop. Now Teller’s new label has signed its first big Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, a champion of online music distribution.

Teller’s Atomic Pop will represent both Chuck D and Public Enemy, and release the band’s upcoming album, “There’s a Poison Goin On.” [The Industry Standard: 03.16.99]

Now that the past is in perspective, on the the future. Chuck D’s is another case (Russell Simmons and 360hiphop.com and Pseudo’s 88hiphop.com were others) of someone who dreamed up a digital future way ahead of its time. Whether this effort will make a big splash has yet to be seen. But I’ll let the press release speak for itself, for now.

Las Vegas, NV - January 6th, 2008: Hip Hop legends Chuck D of Public Enemy, DMC of RUN-DMC and DJ Johnny Juice Rosado team up for one night only at the Hard Rock Hotel to launch BEYOND.FM and to kick off the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) being held from Jan. 7th through the 10th at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“Chuck D is my favorite rapper of all time!” said DMC. DMC was also instrumental in Public Enemy getting signed to Def Jam. Chuck D, arguably one of the most revered of Hip Hop elder statesmen echoes DMC’s statements. “Run DMC is one of my favorite groups of all time! This will be incredible!” Joining them will be legendary DJ/producer and BEYOND.FM program director DJ Johnny Juice, long-time Public Enemy associate and Emmy nominated composer. Says Juice, “It will truly be an honor to share the stage with Chuck D and DMC. I’ve been on stages with both but never at the same time. The catalogs that those two have are just plain ridiculous. It will be like one big party and the fans not able to make it to Vegas can enjoy both Chuck D and DMC’s music on BEYOND.FM 24/7.” BEYOND.FM president and co-sponsor Norm Levy agrees, “This is phenomenal! Two of Hip Hop’s greatest legends joining forces on stage for the first time! It will be a historic event and I’m just happy to be able to help put something like this together! What better way to launch BEYOND.FM and our 2008 showing at CES?”

Public Enemy is celebrating their 20th Anniversary with the release of their new album, How Do You Sell Soul To A Soul-less People Who Sold Their Soul? DMC has just released his solo EP The Next Level. Both are available for immediate download at BEYOND.FM.

Editor’s Note: I’m just especially happy that the music of The Cold Crush Brothers will be available. I popped all my cassettes from back in the days, and it will be awesome to have access to that music once again.

During CES, Chuck D and DMC will be on hand to sign autographs and discuss the revolutionary new Music Business Model of BEYOND.FM at the Media Street Booth #37023 in South Hall 4 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. They will also be showcasing MediaStreet’s newest innovations in electronics that tie all of the legendary content together. MediaStreet award winning eMotion electronics will be on display including MP3/MP4/PM/DVD players as well as their latest line of Digital Photo/Art/Music frames. BEYOND.FM is powered by its parent company Media Street, Inc.

About BEYOND.FM: a fresh, inspiring and well-timed concept for exposing digital content to the masses and allowing artists, musicians and photographers to create awareness and new-found revenue streams. As the entertainment industry aggravates the consumer, offers discouraging DRM techniques and finds new ways to make the music enthusiast feel like a common criminal, the time is NOW for a paradigm shift bringing the personal, social and meaningful music purchasing experience BACK to the consumer. BEYOND.FM is a destination to discover and purchase (for personal use) or license (for commercial use) music, music videos, photography and podcasts/radio programming.

For each song, video, photo and podcast sold through BEYOND.FM, the musician receives 80%. All music purchased from Beyond.FM downloads in CD Quality (320 kbps) MP3 format. The Musician takes the business model into his/her own hands and goes “beyond” the traditional record label model and markets their full assets directly to the consumer including music, ringtones, videos, photos, stories, podcasts, live events, charity events, electronics, etc.

BEYOND.FM content includes music by Chuck D, DMC, The Cold Crush Brothers, entire Strong City catalog courtesy of the Original Jazzy Jay, Crew Grrl Order, DJ Johnny Juice, Busy Bee, X-Vandals, Masters of Ceremony, Ultimate Force and more plus photos by Ernie Paniccioli. Be sure to check the James Brown Tribute album by Chuck D and the Peeps of SOULFunk as well as radio shows by DJ Tony Tone, Wildman Steve, DJ Johnny Juice and more.

Happy Holidays All!

You can have fun tracking Santa’s where-abouts on NoradSanta.org. This year NORAD uses a mash-up of Google maps and YouTube video’s of Santa around the world. If this isn’t impressive enough for you try tracking Santa in 3D by using Google Earth and downloading NORAD’s Santa Tracker. NORAD also has an official trailer on YouTube:

Feel free to share any cool Holiday links you may have found this season.

If your like me you are always looking to expand your skill set. Whether its learning System Modeling, , Business Management, or Japanese, why spend your hard earn money on expensive college courses when you can access some of the most comprehensive college courses for the comfort of your living room, and the best part about it… it’s free! Education Portal has compiled a list of the universities with the best free online courses.

[via Lifehacker]

free online class courses

Fresh off the release of the AskEraser, Google has gone an extra mile to ensure your privacy. With the release of the YouTube Privacy Channel, Google includes tips on how to remove your phone number from the Google search engine, removing chat logs from Google Talk, and privacy settings in Picasa.

Today Digg released a new way to view it’s newly added photos category. Digg’s new picture visualization application allows you to view streams of photos as they are Dugg. Images are grouped by topics in separate rows (technology, offbeat, world & business, science, entertainment, gaming, lifestyle, sports). Highlighting the images will give you the Digg count, and clicking on the thumbnail shows more details . The default view shows all of the images, but you can also point to upcoming to discover new ones as they roll in.

In a joint press release today, Viacom Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have announced a strategic partnership in which Viacom will supply Microsoft with movies, videos and games, and in return Microsoft will sell advertising for Viacom’s Internet sites. The agreement is for five-year and worth up to $500-million.

Under the deal, Microsoft will license, on a nonexclusive basis, entertainment content from Viacom’s MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures movie studios and BET Networks, for use on its MSN website and on its Xbox 360 game system.

Microsoft also will buy advertising on Viacom sites, and the companies will collaborate on promotions and sponsorships for award shows on MTV Networks and BET Networks, they said.

The agreement makes Microsoft the exclusive seller of remnant display advertising - or unsold ad inventory - on Viacom’s U.S. websites. Microsoft’s Atlas division will become the ad server for Viacom’s domestic websites as well, the companies said.

Information Week reports Apple on Monday released security updates for its Mac OS X and Windows customers that repair vulnerabilities in a number of Mac operating system components, as well as Apple’s Safari Web browser and the Flash and Shockwave browser plug-ins. Mac versions of the Security Update 2007-009 update are available for Mac OS X 10.4.11 and Mac OS X 10.5.1. The Windows version, Safari 3 Beta Update 3.0.4 Security Update, is available for XP and Vista users.

“Several of these issues are rather serious, so we strongly advise installing these updates at your earliest convenience,” said Maarten Van Horenbeeck, an Internet Storm Center handler and a security consultant for Verizon.

If exploited, the listed vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution, denial of service, data exposure, cross-site scripting, privilege escalation, and file deletion.

The patched applications for the 10.5.1 update include CF Network, Core Foundation, CUPS, Flash Player Plug-in, Launch Services, perl, python, Quick Look, ruby, Safari, Samba, Shockwave Plug-in, and Spin Tracer.

According to VentureBeat Digg has hired Allen & Company, a tiny but influential private investment firm, to help broker an acquisition deal. Digg’s reported asking price, a whopping $300 million. According to Valley Wag one possible suitor is media mogul Barry Diller’s IAC.

IAC, which had previously expressed interest but has backed off before. One reason for the renewed interest now: We hear that Barry Diller’s online conglomerate is secretly working with Digg on some kind of project — possibly a white-label version of Digg’s social news site.

In a report released Sunday, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said 47 percent of U.S. adult Internet users have looked for information about themselves through Google or another search engine. That is more than twice the 22 percent of users who did in 2002. However, few monitor their online presence with great regularity. Just 3% of self-searchers report that they make a regular habit of it and 74% have checked up on their digital footprints only once or twice. About 60 percent of Internet users said they aren’t worried about the extent of information about themselves online, despite increasing concern over how that data can be used.

Click here to see the report in its entirety.