Press we7 joins UK countdown to Rihanna’s new album
Oct 20, 2009
Free music streaming service, we7 has joined forces with Mercury Music Group UK and a host of major media partners to count down to the release of Rihanna’s upcoming album. In a unique worldwide marketing strategy, we7 has facilitated the digital showcasing of the first single from the singer’s fourth studio album in the UK.
The new single has now been finally revealed via a series of we7s widgets which showed a countdown clock until the track went live this afternoon at 4.23 UK time. At this point, fans were able to listen via a we7 widget on the partner’s page. The track has been circulated to fans via online press and major radio partners including Capital, Hits, Galaxy, Choice FM and Kiss.
The live time with we7 of 4.23 was synched to co-ordinate with the first global radio plays of the track for UK, US and worldwide stations including Radio 1. This meant that fans worldwide were able to hear the first play at exactly the same time, whether listening via widgets online or local, national and digital radio.
Multi-platinum selling star, Rihanna has a reputation for keeping fans guessing. The intrigue began last week with a mysterious tweet from the star, stating simply: “The Wait is Ova” although, the official album title is yet to be released. The singer’s highly anticipated album features Justin Timberlake, Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects, Drake, Ne-Yo and Akon.
Azi Eftekhari, Head of Digital, Mercury Music Group said “Russian Roulette” has been one of the most anticipated singles of the year, and we wanted to get as many people as possible involved in the global first-play at 4.23pm GMT. The We7 widget was all about marrying up all the excitement online with the incredible support at radio and beyond. It’s the first time a streaming service was used in a first-play like this, and by doing this we were able to give websites the chance to have the single play on their sites at the same time as radio.”
Clive Gardiner, SVP Digital Music of we7 said “we7 is delighted to be hosting the UK exclusive online premiere of global superstar Rihanna’s last single both on we7.com and through numerous media partners via we7 widgets. This pioneering promotion clearly shows the benefits of we7 as a “play button for the internet”, and demonstrates that promotion and exposure on streaming websites can work hand in hand with the traditional radio route. As soon as people know about exciting new music they want to be able to play it online – if they can do this legally and immediately, they won’t have to look elsewhere; and labels get paid-for promo.”
Press contact
Hannah Emanuel
Hannah@we7.com
07984622808
