Our prank placing a "Major Labels Are Obsolete" ad on the front page of ColumbiaRecords.com to illustrate the problems with ads on a major label web site has drawn strong reactions including in the offices of Columbia’s parent company Sony BMG.
A source inside Sony BMG’s Global Digital Business division tells me that "the Hypebot ads are the buzz of the moment" inside the company. The source went on to explain how the practice of ads on Colmbia’s sites evolved, "We innovated the advertising on artist sites and it’s revenue stream was
successful enough to gain the notice of the labels. Obviously someone at Columbia wanted to realize some revenue
from their site based on our example and put ads without thinking of the
possible results."
"Our group grew very large very fast," the source continued. "The money we generated got the attention of management and we are now responsible for over 50% of the sites. Things change when your group starts making money though…They are throwing everything they can at us to try and get revenues up."
