“This is something that we’ve been looking to do for a while,” says Edgar Andino, Ozuna’s manager. “We’ve been looking at what gaming has been doing for artists, the masses and the unique engagement within the gaming community. We understand that this is the future. We realized this could be an interesting opportunity for not only gaming but also fashion and music.” In the upcoming months, Ozuna’s now-iconic teddy bear logo will be incorporated on the professional jerseys worn during XSET’s competitive games. “That’ll be a first for a team to have a musical logo presence,” says Selkoe. Future initiatives include an NFT dropping mid-May, and gaming will play a major role at Ozuna’s Cancun Fest scheduled for Nov. 4-8. ...
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: SOPA Images / Getty E3 is back, well, sort of. The organizers behind the event confirmed after its COVID-19 induced hiatus, the event that gamers look forward to annually will happen this year. Gamers mark your calendars, June 12-15 are the dates we will learn about the newest game titles that we can look forward to playing on our PS5, Xbox Series X, or Nintendo Switch. Organizers announced the event’s return in an all-virtual capacity and confirmed that it would be free thanks to unannounced global media partners’ involvement. The “reimagined, all-virtual” event will feature presentations from Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games, and Koch Media, the ESA revealed in its announcement. Game developers and publis...
Record companies and music publishers want this partnership to work and are proud to help power Twitter’s success. We recognize artists and songwriters benefit greatly from being able to talk to their fans, share their work, and generate excitement and interest in great music in this way. However, the viral immediacy and global reach of the Twitter platform presents a double-edged sword – one that cuts especially deep for artists, songwriters, and music rightsholders who see their work leaked, copied, distributed, and monetized on the platform with almost no recourse. Last year music creators sent more than 2 million notices to Twitter of unlicensed and infringing appearances of copyrighted music on the platform – more than 200,000 of which dealt with the especially harmful presence of not...
“Someone might have a little bit of financing. They may have a deck. They may have an idea scribbled on a napkin. In order to support the ecosystem, it’s not just going to the top,” he notes. “You’ve got to support the little guys, too.” Without giving specifics, Oseary says he has already invested in “a lot of the greatest NFT platforms on the marketplace.” Applications are open from Monday (April 5) to April 12. Finalists will be notified on April 16. Then on April 21, 30 finalists will join the judges for virtual pitch sessions. Some number of winners will share a pot of about $1 million; the size of investments and terms given will vary. NFTs are “non-fungible” tokens — unique, unlike a cryptocurrency or fi...
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Theo Wargo / Getty Bruno Mars and silky smooth dance moves are coming to Fortnite. Epic Games announced Silk Sonic crooner’s dance skills would be coming to the game as an Icon Series Emote. Bruno Mars shared the news with a post on his Instagram account featuring the singer, masked-up, dancing alongside a Fortnite character to the Anderson .Paak assisted single “Leave The Door Open.” In the caption for the post, Mars wrote, “Yo @fortnite let ya uncle Brunz teach ya how to swang to this thang.” Bruno Mars’ emote joins the likes of the Fornite floss which is considered one of the most well-known Emotes of all time. According to a press release, Mars partnered with Epic Games exclusively for Fortnite players. The union between the two artists was in t...