Yahoo officially launched their Music Unlimited music service today with a multimedia ad campaign called “This Is Huge” and it features a lot of music and the “Mini-Pop” stars that sing them.
The testing got started back on May 11th and Thursday the opened the service for nationwide usage. The price point comes in at $4.99 a month paid in one annual fee or $6.99 paid monthly. Major competitors like Napster and Real Rhapsody charge $9.95 a month for there services.
If you pay for the monthly fees, the songs are tethered, you can put them on your portable players and run with them as long as you have the service. If you want to keep the songs, regardless of the monthly fees, most services including iTunes run for 99 cents. Yahoo goes for 79 cents while you have the Music Unlimited service.
“We are committed to building Yahoo! Music Unlimited into the standard online music service for digital music fans,” said David Goldberg, vice president and general manager, Yahoo! Music. “Yahoo! Music Unlimited gives consumers access and control of their music experience, coupled with unique personalization and community features that will help them discover even more music.”
The ad campaign itself comes from Soho Square and OgilvyOne, San Francisco and features Mini-Pop Stars, tiny little depictions of popular musicians including Green Day, Missy Elliot, Big&Rich and Ciara as well as quite a few others. The campaign will kick off at the MTV Video Music Awards on August 28th keep going through December.
Yahoo! will also take advantage of the Miami locale during the MTV Video Music Awards with guerilla street teams to help educate consumers on the benefits of Yahoo! Music Unlimited. Teams will be using Segways, including, for the first time, audio Segway XTs for the beach throughout South Beach and Miami Beach to promote the service. In addition, a branded Yahoo! Music Penthouse will open its doors for a series of private events with celebrities and influencers, where invited guests will be creating playlists and sharing music using Yahoo! Music Unlimited.
“We are very excited to partner with the music industry’s hottest talent in a way that will energize our youthful target market through a wide range of media,” explained Cammie Dunaway, chief marketing officer, Yahoo!. “This campaign allows us to spotlight our unique music product offering, while continuing to build Yahoo!’s leading brand with breakthrough online and offline creative.”
A television ad featuring Green Day will show the band losing their heads while playing “Holiday.” The super reads: “Lose it to Green Day – Over A Million Songs – 5 Bucks a month – This is HUGE.”
“What makes this campaign really work is that it’s built on a big idea,” explained Soho Square managing director Alda Abbracciamento. “That ideal enables each individual execution, from print to TV to online, to take the mini-pops into the world of entertainment, delivering highly enjoyable experiences that go well beyond what traditional advertising alone could deliver.”
John Stith is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
