Chuck D Starts Mobile Music Distributor

[MOTOhooligan]

I think this is fantastic. It's about time someone did this and I'm glad it's Chuck D behind it so you know it will be done correctly.

from full article at RCR Wireless News

Chuck D behind new mobile music effort
By Colin Gibbs
Apr 5, 2006
LAS VEGAS—When it comes to mobile, at least, Chuck D believes the hype. The driving force behind the iconic hip-hop group Public Enemy is going wireless as a mobile music aggregator, launching a distribution company to hawk ringtones, voice tones and other clips from urban artists. And he’s hoping to give young wireless users an alternative to rap tunes that glamorize guns, ____s and hookers.

“We hope this distribution platform will really give an opportunity to other musicians (who produce) more positive urban music,” Walter Leaphart, Chuck D’s manager, said last week. “Kids are force-fed when to buy, where to buy and how to buy. The labels are only caring about the quarterly bottom line, and they say (gangsta rap) is what sells. If you take all that bull**** off and put on healthy stuff, you may change a kid’s perspective.”

The mobile distribution business will sell content through both carrier decks and a consumer-facing Web storefront, and is powered by m-Qube, a Massachusetts-based mobile media company that is being acquired by VeriSign Inc. for $250 million. The business will likely offer content from both established acts and lesser-known performers—Leaphart declined to disclose any specific deals—and will allow artists to bring wireless offerings directly to consumers instead of having to go through their record labels to distribute mobile offerings. The move underscores the growing trend of artists making deals directly with mobile music publishers instead of working with traditional record labels to produce ringtones and other wireless content.