(AllHipHop News) Last month BitTorrent, Inc and Jet Life Recordings founder Curren$y announced that the two brands were joining forces to present an inventive way of providing content in support of the Jets upcoming “Red Eye Tour” through a BitTorrent bundle.
“Jet Life Recordings together with BitTorrent, we will be able to introduce new music in new innovative ways while changing the perception of the torrent site,” says Curren$y.
The multimedia package features a Red Eye Tour poster and the new single “Right Now” by Curren$y and Young Roddy. Users that provide an e-mail to unlock the Bundle also get the entire The Red Eye mixtape, cover art, and back cover as well as the 8 minute documentary Chef Menteur. Other features include a chance to win a trip to New Orleans to hang with the Jet Life crew and a discount coupon for merchandise at Jet Life shows
“Today we are dropping a bundle package with BitTorrent, and we’re changing the way music is digitally delivered. In order to stay on top of your game you have to stay ahead of the circle,” added Mousa Hamdan, Jet Life International president.
[ALSO READ: Curren$y’s Jet Life Crew Announce Innovative BitTorrent Mixtape Bundle & New Tour]
AllHipHop connected with Matt Mason, Vice President of Marketing for BitTorrent, via e-mail to discuss the new Jet Life Bundle.
AllHipHop: How did the deal with Jet Life come together?
Matt Mason: Full credit goes to Austin Briggs, Curren$y, and the Jet Life guys, they had the vision. We’ve been working on creating a new format, or as Curren$y and Jet Life see it, the next evolution of the mixtape, called the BitTorrent Bundle.
You can think of the BitTorrent Bundle as a new social object that helps artists to connect with fans. The idea is that rather than creating another walled garden, or content store, we can put the store into the content. You can also think of the BitTorrent Bundle as a giant container that can hold any file type, any number of files and size of file then distribute that quickly to a massive audience of over 170 million fans.
They had the idea that this could help bring a new vision for what a mixtape could be. So Austin reached out to us and told us what they were looking to do in support of the Red Eye Tour coming up this fall. It was such a good fit, we had to do it.
Why did BitTorrent decide to do this deal with Curren$y and Jet Life?
When you look at what they are doing as a collective, the Jet Life guys are rewriting the rules. They have the star power of Curren$y, and he’s working with a roster of exciting new talent bringing all brand new material to the table and rich, engaging fan experience. It was something we had to be a part of.
Do you think this bundle will set a precedent for future deals with other artists?
We certainly hope so. Our program is still in it’s infancy, in the world of technology we say that the BitTorrent Bundle is still in Alpha. But we’ve been working hard with Jet Life to deliver the ultimate fan capsule, something that will deliver real value for both fans and for the creators and something that will make people stop and take notice.
Our long-term vision is not to be a content store, or another walled garden. Our vision is to create the technology that puts the store into the content and to let the artist decide what the exchange should be. They know best what the value of a fan is and can judge that better than we can. Our job is to create the best possible tools for creative people, and then get out-of-the-way of them and their fans.
Do you think providing free music content is an inevitable advancement for the music business as album sales continue to stagnate?
It’s definitely one route. We’ve been talking with artists for a long time now. It’s especially true that rap artists understand that a track or a remix can serve as a flyer for your show and a way to build a fan base. That’s what the mixtape culture has been about for decades.
But it’s important to understand that “free” isn’t the only model with the BitTorrent Bundle. There is going to be a different business model for every type of content. We don’t want to impose that model on the content, that will be up to the content creators and rights holders.
What has been the response so far from fans and people in the industry?
We’ll know better once we go live. But since we announced the Jet Life Bundle was coming a few weeks back, the response has been very positive. The fans see this is an evolution of the mixtape. It’s no longer just about a CD on a blanket on 125th Street. It’s a rich, multimedia fan experience.
From the industry side, the response has been overwhelming. Our biggest problem has been to try and find a way to work with all of the people who are reaching out to us. We’re working toward a way to make that happen and we definitely want to hear from people out there with crazy new ideas. But for now we have to be somewhat selective with who we work with.
Jet Life’s BitTorrent Bundle is available at bundles.bittorrent.com.
[ALSO READ: This or That: Curren$y Talks Live In Concert, Next Joint Project, & Preferred Brand Of Kush]
Watch a video explaining the BitTorrent bundle below.
