Capitol Records and Radiohead Create First Instant Message 'Buddy' in Music History
Record Label Partners with ActiveBuddy, Inc. to Market Music
And Interact with Fans Through Instant Messaging
NEW YORK, April 24 /PRNewswire Interactive News Release/ -- ActiveBuddy,
Inc., the messaging industry's foremost provider of interactive agent
technology, and Capitol Records announced today an agreement to build branded
interactive agents. Capitol Records will deploy the technology to promote its
artists and new album releases beginning with a Radiohead-branded interactive
agent. Capitol Records plans to launch the Radiohead agent as part of its
global marketing campaign for Amnesiac, the Grammy Award-winning band's fifth
album due for release on June 5th. Through Active Buddy's technology,
Radiohead will be the first band to provide exclusive Radiohead content
directly to its fans through Instant Messaging. The Radiohead agent will be
the most thorough and comprehensive source online and offline for accessing
exclusive information and services related to the band and to the album.
"The Radiohead custom buddy is a fun, new and compelling way to deliver
exclusive Radiohead music and information to their fans," said Robin Bechtel,
head of New Media for Capitol Records. "By doing it through Instant
Messaging, which is already an incredibly popular way to communicate, fans can
get information about their favorite band as easily as chatting with friends."
In direct contrast to the band's notorious press-shyness, Radiohead has
long been one of the most proactive musical entities on the web, especially in
terms of fan outreach. Prior to the release of last year's platinum-plus
Grammy-winning KID A, band site Radiohead.com would feature spontaneous
recording and tour diary entries, and even the occasional unannounced
streaming audiovisual performances of new material. With the creation of the
Radiohead interactive agent, the band once again takes advantage of technology
to enhance and expand its relationship with its fans.
The Radiohead agent will reside on a user's Instant Messenger buddy
contact list. The agent will be able to recognize and respond to natural
language questions and requests for information about the band and Amnesiac.
Tour dates, song lists, artists' bios, album credits, purchasing information,
contact information, current web site information, and other album related
material will be available. Capitol Records has also enlisted Radiohead's
fans to determine what other content should be included. Additionally, the
service will provide other entertainment related content areas such as music
news and horoscopes.
"Capitol Records is the first to benefit from using ActiveBuddy's custom
built interactive agent technology to market one of their artists through
Instant Messaging," said Peter Levitan, CEO of ActiveBuddy, Inc. "The
Radiohead interactive agent is a great early example of how companies like
Capitol Records can leverage IM to extend their relationships with their
customers into the fastest growing segment of the Internet."
About ActiveBuddy, Inc.
ActiveBuddy, Inc. develops and markets interactive agents that deliver a
wide range of personalized content and applications via PC-based instant
messaging and wireless messaging platforms. ActiveBuddy(TM) interactive agent
technology is designed for use by instant messaging networks, advertisers, the
enterprise, and content and service providers across all platforms that
support instant messaging. Founded in March 2000, ActiveBuddy is based in New
York, NY, and Sunnyvale, CA. Principal investors are Wit SoundView Ventures
(Nasdaq: WITC) and Reuters (Nasdaq: RTRSY).
About Capitol Records New Media
Capitol Records New Media, founded in 1993, creates and implements online
marketing strategies, Web sites and enhanced CDs and DVDs for its artists.
Early pioneers in Internet marketing, in 1994 Capitol Records New Media
created the first website destination called Megadeth Arizona, which won
numerous awards and was the first website to garner major media attention.
The department also broke new ground by developing the Web's first digital
postcard and first real-time chat room. The Capitol Records label site --
Hollywood and Vine -- was nominated "best music site" by Yahoo! Internet Life,
and was called "one of the best music-related Web sites to be found," by the
Los Angeles Times. Hollywood and Vine received more public recognition when
they became the first major recording label to enter into the world of
e-commerce by offering the sale of the first digital single for Capitol artist
Duran Duran. The department's innovative, worldwide campaign for Radiohead's
KID A was credited with "helping the band scale new heights" by Inside.com.
