VEVO LIFT KICKS OFF WITH JESSIE J

The internet’s top music video site VEVO (which is a somewhat deceiving claim to make by the article since VEVO is directly connected to the YouTube) has introduced a new feature of their site called “LIFT,” which is getting the official launch with an announcement tonight at The People’s Choice Awards. The first artist to be featured as a part of LIFT will be The Brit Award’s Critic Choice Jessie J.

If you take a look at the upcoming layout of LIFT with the image on the left, you can see that this launch is music taking social networking to a completely new level. What is particularly exciting for music fans is how new music will be premiered through the site; a first for a video site (I’m particularly excited about hearing “L.O.V.E.” a song originally meant for Christina Aguilera!) Additionally, through the use of Twitter and Facebook, fans can ask Jessie J questions which she’ll post responses on her LIFT page via Twitter.

The most interesting part of the campaign is a Facebook application made to help spread the word. The more clicks and viral activity generated created from each user translates into points which users can then use to reap the rewards ranging from fly-aways, meet & greets to giveaways & downloads.

LIFT truly is the first of its kind by using new media to help support a traditional form of media. And while it can provide key information to the labels and radio stations, it is still a very political system. How did someone like Jessie get to be VEVO’s first LIFT artist? Well, because she has a major record deal (Universal Republic). It’s not as if VEVO searched the country for the biggest undiscovered talent, and came up with a way to bring them to the masses–Jessie has already had a Top 20 hit in The UK with “Do It Like A Dude,” and been songwriting for big artists. She is not the type of artist that necessarily needs such a huge push like LIFT.

What is good though will be to see the effects and how the different aspects of LIFT work for Jessie. A lot of artists and labels can learn a ton from this, and we may see social media affecting being a part of music even more. Such as how Britney Spears’ team recently sent out an e-mail asking fans to be a part of a huge social media campaign where after 2 million fans send out the message about her new single, it will be made available for the public. You can read more about that here.

Social media is once again proving its importance with yet another music campaign, one that is truly going to be very helpful when it comes to looking at the best promotional strategies for future artists.