June 21, 2003
Ricky Martin's Album Debuted on Cellphones in S Korea
From blog-wiz Rafat Ali on Moco.News: "The new Ricky Martin album, released on Sony Music, was debuted not in US or Puerto Rico, but in South Korea, on cellphones. On May 13, six days before the release worldwide, South Koreans downloaded cuts from the CD to their mobile phones. So far, a total of 100,000 downloads of Ricky Martin's music, videos and photos have been made in Korea, according to Sony Music".
In an article entitled A new role for phones as promoter of pop music published in the Joogang Daily, the Ricky Martin downloads were touted as "heralding a new age in entertainment promotion" but just as a reminder, Nylon Beat, a top Finnish girl band, was the first group in May of 2000 to release their new title, "Not Guilty", as a ringtone before the CD was available on the market. The teaser played over the radio proved so effective that it became No. 1 the first day it hit the stores. cf Nylon Beat, releases first ringtone teaser.
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