Black Web 2.0

These days it seems like it is hard to get away from all the talk about Radio One’s interactive play. This weekend was no exception, while visiting family in the DC area I opened the Business section of Monday’s Washington Post and what do you know! Another story about Radio One, this article took a much more insightful spin on all the buzz the company has been getting. It focused on its stock prices and executive compensation instead…or at least that is what stood out most to me. In an article by Washington Post staff writer Anita Huslin titled “Radio One CEO Prepares for Shareholders” many intriguing statements were made by Alfred Liggins III, some of which include: (more…)

The Internet has been buzzing about the possible demise of Global Grind, the Digg-like Social bookmarking site targeting an urban audience. It’s unclear whether or not the rumors will be confirmed, but as one of only a few venture capitalist funded websites targeting an urban niche, I wonder what impact Global Grind’s failure could have on the urban web space. (more…)

We recently reported that Allhiphop.com signed a 5 year multi-million dollar exclusive ad deal with Radio One’s Interactive One. On the surface the ad deal looked like a win win for both companies. AHH, gets rid of the burden of searching for ad inventory by teaming up with Radio One’s well connected urban radio ad sales division, while Interactive One further extends their internet ad reach. Sounds like a perfect match right? I am not convinced. (more…)

Seems Comcast has been busy lately, as reported a few days ago with the Plaxo deal. I noticed today that Seattle-based GridNetworks on Monday said that Comcast would make an unspecified investment in the company and collaborate on developing so-called peer-to-peer file-sharing techniques that are “friendly” to Internet service providers.

That’s a step in the right direction and a good move seeing that Comcast is under investigation for blocking peer to peer traffic, (more…)

+

We love to network online, and we love cable TV, but what the hell does the nation’s largest cable company want with a social networking tool? The acquisition of Plaxo by Comcast, could quite possibly revolutionize the effort to converge the digital living room with the PC. (more…)

Super news takes a very funny look at the battle of the social networks.

Discovered via Baratunde

Interactive One, the digital division of Radio One, has announced a 5 year multi-million dollar advertising deal with AllHipHop.com, the top online destination for Hip-Hop news. AllHipHop now joins the recently acquired Blackplanet.com, and Interactive One’s collection of web properties, including Newsone.com, Tvone, Giantmag.com, and 50+ urban radio station websites across the country, creating one of the largest online advertising networks targeting African-American consumers.

“We firmly believe that the future for the African-American consumer and those dedicated to communicating with them is in new media, and as such, this relationship extends our commitment to being the online leader in the African-American space,” said Alfred Liggins III, CEO of Radio One, Inc. “Our relationship with AllHipHop.com is another example of our ability to enable blue chip advertisers to reach African-Americans online, whether it is across social networks, online news outlets, or digital content providers. AllHipHop.com is the leading site for all things relating to hip hop and their editorial vision and product innovation is a great complement to our sales and marketing expertise.”

This deal makes Interactive One the exclusive sales agent for AllHipHop.com, who as you may recall has had an arduous past relationship with internet ad sales. AHH will now leverage Interactive One’s sales staff and relationships with advertisers, allowing them to focus on building upon their brand. In return Interactive One’s combined online reach will now exceed more than 4 million (mostly African-American) unique users and over 500 million monthly page views instantly making them one of the top players in the African-American Internet advertising space.

Source: TechWhack

Over time we’ve profiled social media’s impact on the music industry, covering artist including RadioHead and Soulja Boy, but not to be out done is Grammy award winning rapper and record label CEO, Chamillionare. The north Houston underground mixtape giant, boasted over 3.5 million hits on his personal website prior to his major label deal with Universal Music.

Chamillionare talks with Mashable’s Pete Cashmore after the Digital Hollywood Conference in Los Angeles. In the interview Chamillionare discusses how social media sites contributed to his success in ringtone and album sales, as well as how the current music industry metrics don’t accurately reflect the popularity of an artist’s album. Chamillionaire also discusses how Weird Al’s YouTube parody of “Ridin” (White and Nerdy), help propel the 2006 single to #1 and his subsequent award of Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

I had the pleasure of being able to talk with Brett Wright of UptownLife.net. UptownLife recently relaunched, a little over a couple a weeks ago, and is more or less the online version of Uptown magazine. See below for the full email exchange: (more…)

During an interesting conversation today the topic of “Young, Black, and…” sites came up and how many of these sites do we really need? How minute can it be before it becomes irrelevant, or does relevancy of a site with Black in its name ever die simply because of the niche nature of the internet today? A simpler and more direct question may be “How many of these sites will be developed before it gets old?” Maybe it never gets old since web users are in general younger in age, or a completely different and possibly more accurate take on it: (more…)