DANCEHALL producer Donovan Don Corleon Bennett last week launched an iTunes application to more effectively market his music on mobile devices.
Downloaders of the free app will be updated on news, music and shows from Corleon direct to their iPhones, iPads and iPods. The move signals that Jamaican producers have began to embrace mobile music marketing, as iTunes is the largest Internet music store controlling some 70 per cent of legal music purchases.
It helps with the visibility of Jamaican music in at least a most basic sense. Don Corleon Records is, hopefully, the first of many Reggae labels refusing to be left behind in the technology revolution, stated Bookman Ink, publicist for Don Corleon Records, in a written response to a Sunday Observer query. Every Don Corleon Records song in the iTunes database can be found through the new application, which itself is free to download. There are a lot of extra goodies for users to become a part of Corleons world. His biography, photos, YouTube videos, Twitter account and blog are all included in the package.
The Corleon Records application was released August 20 and created utilising MobBase, a website that customises iPhone applications. It takes up to six weeks to get approval for such an application on iTunes but the benefits can include increased sales. MobBase applications are free to set up but costs start once the application is launched. For example, 10,000 installs will cost about US$65 per month, stated MobBase online adding that there is also an initial fee of US$20 to launch the application.
Corleon has produced various Billboard-charting albums including Sizzlas Rise To The Occasion, Sean Pauls The Trinity, Rihannas A Girl Like Me and Gentlemans Confidence. His musical career took off in 2000 with the launch of the Vendetta Sound System alongside cousin, Protojé. He would soon make his name in music production, debuting with the Mad Ants Riddim in 2002. His next major project is Protojés album, The Seven Year Itch.