Mozes provides mobile marketing miracles for mobs.

Last week I attended the “Detroit” (read: Auburn Hills) stop of the Martina McBride & Trace Adkins Shine All Night Tour, which was, as any country fan can imagine, a helluva show, to say the least. Of course, it wouldn’t be a show in the Metro Detroit area without a special appearance by everyone’s favorite local concert crasher, Kid Rock, who did a duet of “Picture” with Martina in her encore and then a song of his own.

This is not a review of the show. (I’ll write one of those later if you want.)

This is a post about a cool service that I signed up for a few weeks ago that I finally got to see in full action at the concert. It’s called Mozes, and it’s a mobile marketing powerhouse of awesome.

When I first discovered it a few weeks ago, I signed up as a fan to receive mobile marketing content from some of my favorite country artists, like Brad Paisley, Sugarland, Lee Ann Womack, and yes, Martina McBride. When you sign up, you join a “mob,” which is short for mobile list. It’s totally opt-in and since I signed up for all those things it was never once spammy. From the Mozes site:

When you sign up for a mob, you receive exclusive announcements, offers and content from your favorite band, brand, team, event or organization via the mobile phone. You can communicate back using either text or voice messages and can opt out of a mob at any time.

When I signed up for Lady Antebellum’s mob, I received a wallpaper for my phone and the option to hear a special voice message from the band. I thought that was pretty nifty, but I didn’t think much beyond Mozes until the Martina McBride show last week.

That’s when I saw the true power of Mozes. There were screens on either side of the stage that you could text messages to, using the Mozes service. If you texted the word “shine” plus your message to 66937 (that spells “Mozes”), as long as it got by the invisible moderator, your message would appear on the screen. Every text you sent also entered you in a drawing to win front row seats or something else. (I didn’t win anything but my date won a free 3 month subscription to Martina McBride’s fan club — which he’s giving to me.)

As you can imagine, people had a lot of fun with this. Aside from a lot of “pick me! pick me!” texts, there were a lot of cute messages like “Our kids got us these tickets for our anniversary … and we’re in the nosebleeds!” and “Hi Mom!” type things. (Unsurprisingly, my own message: “how about that $15 parking fee? Now I can’t afford a t-shirt!!” didn’t make it up to the screen.) There were also a lot of marriage proposals, such as “Kristie, will you marry me?” which got me wondering how many Kristies were there that night with their boyfriends who were not the intended recipient of the proposal and accidentally said yes, thus creating a lot of awkward moments.

But I digress.

Mozes is not just for music.

Yes, musicians seem to be the ones embracing it most, but there are endless possibilities for this service. On their site, they list a few ideas on how it could be used with sports, such as sending text updates with game stats; for brands and agencies, such as running in-store promotions such as text-for-info providing consumers with additional product specs; for causes and non-profits, such as integrating data captured, including issue and opinion data or extended contact information, into your supporter database; and my favorite, live events, where you could connect with attendees via pre-event announcements, poll the audience and see live voting results on-screen in real-time, and even send post-event thank you messages, coupons or links to images and videos … really, the possibilities are endless.

Of course, like everything these days, Mozes is integrated into all the major social networks and sharing options, and what I think is the coolest about it is the ability to target your messages very specifically by age, location, gender, likes and dislikes, and more, PLUS you get instant analytics on engagement/ROI.  Above the standard level, which is free for a month and then only $10 a month after that, all pricing is custom depending on your needs.

Example of real-world application for non-real rock stars

Most people are not real rock stars (or country stars, for that matter). So let’s say you were a person in charge of marketing the conference du jour, and you were aiming for people from all over the region to attend. You’d go with the Group Edition, which allows up to 25,000 messages and many more features and options than the basic. Once people signed up for your mob, you could send them a text or voice thank you, custom ringtone, and/or wallpaper of the conference’s brand.

Then, closer to the conference, you look at your stats and realize you’d really like more people from Ohio over 30 to attend. You could narrowcast to everyone in your mob over 30 about a promotion that if they referred two colleagues to buy tickets, they’d be entered to win something special – a conference package upgrade, hotel discount, whatever.

And then, at the event (which would have plenty of people over 30 from Ohio, thanks to your previous efforts), say you had a Q&A session with your keynote speaker. Attendees could text questions that could appear on a screen (or not) and there wouldn’t be any need to pass the mic, or have them stand in line, nor would there be any loose cannons that end up on CNN spazzing out and getting tased.

Or maybe you wanted to have a poll. Instant results could appear on your screen.

Or maybe lots of people at your conference were taking pictures with their phones. You could have them send those pictures to your screen at the event instantly.

My point is that this service is absolutely, amazingly flexible and the possibilities are endless. Have you used Mozes before, as a fan or as a business? What were your experiences like? I’m curious to see what kind of creative ways people are using it!

Musical Monday Edition | Show review: Amy Millan at Pike Room

Keeping true to my obsession with semi-obscure Canadian independent music, last week I was lucky enough to find myself on the guest list for one of my favorite alt-country/folk artists, Amy Millan, when she was in town at the Pike Room, a swanky dive upstairs from Pontiac’s Crofoot Ballroom. Now, it should be said that playing in the Ballroom downstairs that night was this angry-guy band that sounds like every angry-guy band — extremely loud, obnoxious, and with a cool sounding name like Five Finger Death Punch, which was was so loud that we could both feel and hear it over our nice, intimate, folky show of about 60 attendees.  Oddly enough, in my Harley Davidson jacket I could have easily slipped into the other show and not looked out of place, but any band whose name sounds more like a concoction prepared by a goth mom at a Halloween party and whose album is entitled “War is the Answer” can safely be assumed to be the very antithesis of the very Canadian, very folky music that I love and came to see.

Opening the show was an interesting fellow named Afie Jurvanen, who also goes by artist/band name Bahamas, for what reason I have no idea except to perhaps convey sheer irony in being a Finnish guy from Canada. I was pleasantly surprised, however, as he opened with a beautiful ballad called “Hockey Teeth” and instantly won me over. His drummer was missing, but his goofy demeanor and commanding stage presence made him make going solo look easy. His vocals are reminiscent of Jack Johnson but he can play a mean stratocaster.  Always one to support the opening act, I bought his CD, Pink Strat (affiliate link), and encourage you to check him out and support him, too. He’s really, really good.

Now, onto Amy Millan. The best way for me to describe her sound is the bastard child of musical Williamses – Dar Williams, Lucinda Williams, Victoria Williams, and Hank Williams – somewhat folky, somewhat breathy, somewhat twangy, somewhat depressing, but everything she plays sounds instantly classic. She opened with a strong “Losin’ You,” the lead song off her first solo record, Honey from the Tombs (affiliate link), followed by a steel guitar-infused cover of Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.” From there she played a mix of songs old and new, this tour to promote her latest album, Masters of the Burial (affiliate link), which has a slightly sad tone but is nonetheless beautiful. 

Any band who can play live with a steel guitar, an upright bass, a mandolin, a ukulele,  and a trombone and make it sound AWESOME earns MAD RESPECT in my book. (The only thing that could have made it better would have been a successful accordion accompaniment, but they can’t all be like Cowboy Junkies.)

Highlights of the show had to have been a spunky version of her Rolling Stone acclaimed hit “Skinny Boy,” and a bluesey, almost-jazzy “Bruised Ghosts,” which is her first single off the new album. For her encore, she played my request of the song that made me first fall in love with her music years ago, a very country-esque “He Brings Out the Whiskey in Me,” that rings like a classic country song a lá Hank Williams or Loretta Lynn.

Having been disappointed with my new iPod Nano video’s lack of ability to record well in loud, dark spaces, I decided to try shooting some video with my BlackBerry instead, and surprisingly, the quality wasn’t too bad, save for my obviously-shaky hand. Below is my shaky capture of “Bruised Ghosts” from Amy Millan at the Pike Room, October 15, and you can find a few more at my YouTube channel.

Musical Monday Podcast Edition: What I listen to on the road.

Since I posted the last post announcing my new gig, I’ve been so busy I haven’t been able to keep my head on straight, let alone blog. People ask me how it’s going, and I won’t lie – the commute is kicking my ass.

My schedule is not one to be envied — I leave for work by 7:30 a.m., around the same time most of my coworkers are just waking up. Both morning and evening rush hours are a pain, and now BOTH expressways I could take to Detroit have major construction on them. I drive over 120 miles a day, and spend a total of at least two and a half hours on the road daily. I’ve found myself staying after work many times because it wouldn’t matter if I left at 5:30 or 6:30, because of rush hour traffic I’d get home at the same time either way.

When I get home (sometimes not until 9:30 or later), I am so exhausted from everything that I’m ready to collapse. In fact, many times I have. The ironic thing is that I haven’t even had a chance to look for a place in Metro Detroit because of all this.

When I told a friend of mine how much time I spend on the road, he replied with, “Wow, I’d be totally catching up on audiobooks.” I’m not much of an audiobook person, but I am a long-time podcast addict, and I told him that I’ve been listening to a lot of those. We then got in a discussion about our favorite podcasts, and I thought I’d share a few of my favorites here. I’m going to split this up into two posts, music podcasts and non-music podcasts. I’ll start with music since it’s Monday (or a pseudo-Monday because of the holiday).

Dave’s Lounge -  Podcasting the best in chillout, trip hop, and downtempo electronic music. For some reason, people are surprised when I tell them I’m a big fan of this kind of music. I have no idea why, as my musical tastes are as diverse as they come. I’ve been a loyal listener of Dave’s Lounge since 2006, and it’s through Dave that I discovered some really incredible artists, like Natalie Walker, All India Radio (they’re actually from Australia), Edison Gem, and the awesomeness that is The Atomica Project. I can’t say enough good things about Dave’s Lounge. Oh, and you can follow Dave on Twitter at @permanent4.

Idyllic Music -  In the same vein as Dave’s Lounge, Idyllic Music features songs by indie artists working outside the mainstream, likely people you’ve never heard of before but can’t get enough of once you do. It might be trip hop, ambient, jazz, dub, downtempo, or even something more in the “world” category. I highly recommend visiting the site not only for downloading back episodes, but they’ve got a great store and a nice list of links to other podcasts like this and Dave’s Lounge. You know, if you’re into this kind of thing.

The R3-30 - Weekly countdown of the best in independent Canadian music from CBC Radio 3. Another one I’ve been a loyal listener to for a few years. This is hosted by Craig Norris and Pedor Mendez, a duo of shenanigans not to be reckoned with. These guys are hilarious, and I look forward to it every week. Oh yeah, and the music’s great, too. In fact, it’s through listening to CBC Radio 3 that I discovered many artists that most people in the states don’t discover until I’ve been listening to them for at least a year or more. People like Tokyo Police Club, Amy Millan, Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton, The Handsome Furs, Thunderheist, etc. One the one hand it’s been really cool to listen to a lot of this stuff years before most people have heard of them. On the other hand, it’s really annoying when friends are all ga-ga over “this new artist” that I’ve “got to hear” who is actually old news to me. All I can do is sigh.

NPR: Live Concerts from All Songs Considered - Contrary to popular belief, NPR isn’t all talk radio. Their music coverage is incredible.  There are few things I love more than live music, but since I don’t get a chance to go to many shows anymore, this is the next best thing. I’ve discovered a lot of new artists through NPR music, and relived some old times listening to some live shows of old favorites. A few favorites include Liz Phair’s “Exile in Guyville” Live, Björk, Cat Power, Tom Waits, and a couple mentioned above, like Emily Haines.

So there ya go. A few of my favorite music podcasts that keep me company on the road. In the next installment I’ll share my favorite non-musical podcasts, a.k.a. “the ones that talk to me.” If you’ve got any recommendations of music podcasts you think I should check out, please leave them in the comments. My ears are always on the lookout for new music!

Photo by akeg.

Will the real rockstars please stand up?

I’ve noticed that these days, the word “rockstar” is thrown about pretty darn freely. There are social media rockstars, rockstar scientists, rockstar entrepreneurs, even rockstar baristas. Essentially, anybody who is popular and good at what they do is anointed the title of “rockstar” by consensus of others in their field. I encounter this in my world of geekery so much that it’s obvious that the true meaning of “rockstar” is completely lost.

This bothers me.

Why? Because I have friends who really are rockstars. Award-winning, touring, genuine rockstars. Who play music. In bands.

And now I don’t know what to call them.

Someone in my geek world asked me not long ago what I did the past weekend, so I said I was “hanging out with my rockstar friends.” They responded with, “Really, what do they do?” So I had to clarify, “They’re musicians. In bands. You know, rockstars. Literally.” The person I was speaking with seemed absolutely astounded that I could say “rockstar” and actually be meaning rockstar in its original context.

This entire situation seems so ironic, especially since the majority of the time I hear “rockstar” it’s referring to somebody who is good with computers or social media or something along those geeky lines.

I’m not suggesting that people change their lexicon and not use the term “rockstar” for people admired in their field. That would be impossible. What I would like, however, is another term to call my real, literally rockstar friends so as to clear up confusion.

So, what should we call real, genuine rockstars now? Nerds?

Photo of Dana Forrester by Michael Spleet.

Musical Monday Highlight: Hayley Westenra

One of the many reasons I love Twitter is that I discover some pretty awesome things because they discover me first. Heck, it’s because of Twitter that I discovered WildEarth.tv and was able to share it with you. I always take a look at each new follower when I get a notification because I never know when I’m going to find somebody or something truly remarkable.

One such instance was last week, when I was followed by @HayleyWestenra, whose bio says:

Purpose is to further the distribution of information about singer Hayley Westenra, her upcoming events and albums, and her family.

I have very diverse (if not obscure) musical tastes, and until then, had never heard of her. Intrigued, I followed the link to Hayley Westenra’s official site and was floored by such an amazing voice that loaded on the site’s auto-loading audio player. If you’re a fan of Sarah Brightman, Lorena McKennitt, or other “pretty music” of that vein, you’ll totally dig her.

My first thought was, “HOW is it possible that I haven’t heard of her before?” then upon reading that this 21 year-old soprano New Zealander already has a “Best Of” album, I realized that she’s pretty big all over the world, yet has yet to catch on here in the States.

Here are a few snippets from her official bio:

Hayley Westenra began performing when she was just 6 years old and made her first recording in a professional studio at 12. She was still only 16 when she released her debut international CD, Pure. It rapidly became the fastest-selling debut album from a classical artist, and reached the Top 10 of the pop charts in 11 countries. Her albums have sold more than four million copies worldwide to date. “Pure” was certified by the official UK chart compilers as the best selling classical album of the 21st Century. . .

Hayley has performed for Her Majesty the Queen on a number occasions, President Bush and Tony Blair, Prince Charles, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and in July 2007 Hayley was asked to perform for the Dalai Lama. . .

[She] has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Wembley Arena, Royal Albert Hall, The White House and Kensington Palace. Hayley sang at Capitol Hill, Washington as part of 2008 official Fourth of July celebrations.

Hayley has duetted with Andrea Bocelli, José Carreras and Bryn Terfel. She has also appeared as a special guest with the World’s leading orchestra’s including the Moscow Philharmonic, The Boston Pops and the RPO.

Not bad for 21, eh?

I promoted Hayley in my Facebook stream because I knew a few people in my friends would like her, and commented that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of her until now. To my surprise, neither had my “vagabond actress friend” Phyllis, and she’s the person I usually rely on to introduce me to stuff like this. Good to know I wasn’t the only one living under a rock. If you haven’t heard of Hayley Westenra until now, take a listen to the widget I’ve embedded and welcome to your newest musical obsession. If you’re moved enough to purchase a piece of her music, here’s an affiliate link to her “Best Of” album at Amazon.

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