Don't be the annoying guy at the party

 

RCRDLBL has got loads of nice grabable widgets on it.

Most are branded, useful and have a right to be there - not least because they are what pays for the free music (the 3rd party model that's been in place since commercial TV began. Consumer has relationship with channel and gets stuff for free - stuff is paid for by a third party: the advertisers) 

Then in addition to these widgets there are some more traditional ad formats - presently monopolised by Microsofts' zune. They just about get away with this because of zune's obvious relevance to the site. So, in the most part RCRDLBL hosts brands which are behaving responsibly - mixing nicely with the other party guests and being generally cool to hang out with as opposed to acting like the loud-uncomfortable-to-be-around-guy-who-wants-to-be-the-centre-of-attention-and-should-never-have-been-invited. 

We should see / demand this more and more - brands only appearing if they are being useful - hosting useful services - or being informative or entertaining. Or at the very least highly relevant. This means advertisers have to look at context more than ever and obsess about creating things that are going to truly turn people on within that context. 

For example - there used to be a gig finder from Virgin America which let people know where and when gigs were - and then offered the cheap flights to get them there. At the moment Nikon have a widget that hosts photos of and from artists and fans. In fact the only brands on there that don't quite justify themselves are BMW and Puma - I'm not sure what they're adding other than hosting playlists - which all feels fairly off the shelf. In such a rich context this can only come across as - just a little bit - lazy.

Comments

[henry chilcott]

Don't get me wrong - what BMW and Puma are doing here is far better than most brands are doing on most sites. It's just that they're a step behind the Virgin America and Nikon ideas. I know all the widgets are off the shelf but those two don't feel that way because the fit's so tight. The idea and the site's awesome by the way - hope it goes well for you.

[Peter Rojas]

Hey, thanks for getting it! We're trying to work with brands that understand that the point isn't to interrupt and annoy people, it's to be integrated in smart ways that actually support the whole experience of free music.

Puma and BMW don't have as much of a direct connection to music, but both brands wanted to support fans getting free, legal music and playlists seemed like a straightforward way to do that. We're definitely open to suggestions, though often times it's harder than it should be to get brands to take risks and do new things.