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Thu, June 17, 2010
F3 Technologies Signs Major FargoTube Agreement With Country Music Label
ALPHARETTA, GA--(Marketwire - June 17, 2010) - F3 Technologies, Inc. (
Nashville-based Strange Celebrity Entertainment is the first significant media company to use FargoTube, a cutting-edge platform that combines online social networking and video distribution, allowing musicians, filmmakers and other content owners to stay in touch with their fan base while profiting directly from music videos, tour footage and other online video content.
The Strange Celebrity Entertainment partnership is expected to spur others in the music industry to sign on as they discover FargoTube's potential to monetize their online video content for the first time. Up to now, musicians have posted only limited video content online. Virtually none of it produces revenue directly, instead aiming mainly at keeping fans engaged and supporting sales of albums, digital music files, concert tickets, t-shirts and other paraphernalia.
"We believe that with partners like Strange Celebrity Entertainment, we have the opportunity to introduce what this stagnant industry has been seeking -- innovative new business models and a revolution in how artists produce, market and sell their content to the masses," said Paul Campbell, F3's chief operating officer.
F3 and Strange Celebrity Entertainment signed the agreement Tuesday, June 15, 2010.
Strange Celebrity Entertainment distributes the music of 4 country musicians: Coles Whalen, Sherrié Austin, Jacob Bryant and Joshua Black Wilkins. The artists have a combined fan base of about 500,000. F3 will work closely with Strange Celebrity Entertainment and its musicians to enhance relationships with their current audiences and significantly expand each artist's fan base by delivering rich new content through this unconventional platform.
Strange Celebrity Entertainment owner and President Kendall Bard said FargoTube is crucial for her plan for Strange Celebrity Entertainment's musicians to release music more frequently, in smaller batches, and mostly online.
"Fans want it, and they want it now," Bard said. "They're tired of paying a lot of money for an album with one good song and 10 mediocre songs, and they don't have to anymore."
Bard said Strange Celebrity Entertainment is bundling songs, videos, t-shirts, autographed pictures, and other types of merchandise into packages of various sizes that sell for $25 to $100, and then selling those packages through FargoTube. Her musicians will continue to sell USB memory drives at concerts, but FargoTube will have smaller distribution costs for her, she said.
FargoTube is at the forefront of the video's evolution from tapes to digital discs to digital files accessed via the Internet. Record labels and other digital content owners can upload digital content to their own customized "Tube" marketplaces, or utilize the FargoTube platform as a behind-the-scenes solution on their preferred social networking sites. In both cases, FargoTube technology will stream video content and collect revenue from users.
More than 60 percent of country music's core fans listened to music online last year, up from 48 percent in 2008, according to an annual survey for the Country Music Association.
"Building industry partnerships with these key purchase pipelines appears to be vital to ensure the future health of consumer spending," CMA said in [ announcing ] the results in February.
ABOUT F3 TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
F3 Technologies ([ http://www.f3technologies.com ]) is a software innovator that creates niche social networks for groups ranging from homeowners associations to music fans. Its products include Interaction Community Systems ([ http://www.interactioncs.com ]), an online tool for homeowners associations and other member groups; Interactive Defense, for police and other municipal departments; and FargoTube ([ http://www.fargotube.com ]), a platform for profitable online distribution of video and other media.
ABOUT STRANGE CELEBRITY ENTERTAINMENT, LLC
Kendall Bard founded Strange Celebrity Entertainment in 2008 in the belief that the concept of 'celebrity' is strange. But the word 'strange can also be defined as "not previously known, seen, heard, or experienced," and THAT is the music and artistry it represents.
Strange Celebrity Entertainment is dedicated to representing and creating opportunities for performing artists by working with enthusiastic singers, bands, and musicians to help develop their innate talents to the fullest. Strange Celebrity Entertainment is selective about who it aligns itself with.
Read more: [ http://www.myspace.com/strangecelebrityentertainment ]