Texting With the Jonas Brothers: Band Launches New Smartphone-Based Fan Club

Scriber, a subscription-based texting and digital fan club service, announced its launch Tuesday (May 31) along with its first artist partnership: Jonas Brothers. Through the new texting platform, the band will be offering their fans exclusive content, including behind-the-scenes videos, early ticket access and other updates directly from the trio. More creator partnerships are slated to be announced next month.

Fans who opt into the Jonas Brothers texting service, powered by Scriber, will also gain access to enter contests to win rewards and exclusive experiences. As stated in the launch announcement, Scriber’s first contest offers a chance to win a spot at the Jonas Brothers Authentic Memorabilia Pawn Shop Dollar Store in Las Vegas. 

There’s also a charitable aspect to the Jonas Brothers’ Scriber partnership; according to a press release, more than half the band’s proceeds ($2 per subscription) will go to yet-to-be-announced charitable organizations selected by the group. Scriber is also donating of portion of its own proceeds to carbon reduction efforts via its payment processor Stripe.

“There’s no app to download, no website to visit, no email to have to find,” said Scriber CEO Brian Goldsmith in a statement. “We cut through the clutter to deliver subscription videos and rewards in a way that captures the attention of subscribers.”

Creators can choose how much to charge their subscribers, with rates starting as low as $4.99 per month. The press release notes that Scriber distributes subscriber rewards using the blockchain and has a patent pending on its “one-click playing” technology. Creators retain copyright ownership over the video content they distribute using the service.

The concept of connecting creators, artists, politicians and brands to their audiences via direct message has been gaining prominence over the last few years, as companies like Community and Laylo have partnered with notable figures in multiple spheres, including Stacey Abrams, McDonald’s and Dixie D’Amelio. Though Scriber is entering this space later than its competitors, its business model differs in one key area. While Community and Laylo are paid for by the celebrities who utilize those platforms, Scriber asks fans to pay a monthly fee (7-day free trial, $4.99 per month) to gain exclusive access to their favorite stars as part of a quasi fan club.

Scriber’s focus on exclusivity, fan building and finding new revenue sources for artists also echoes messaging previously popularized by Web3 start-ups. Blockchain-based companies such as Rally ask fans to buy crypto tokens from their favorite celebrities in exchange for access to gated Discord servers and special fan experiences. Scriber, however, keeps its technology humble: Anyone with a cell phone number and a credit card can join. Also, unlike popular forms of token-gated fan clubs in Web3, Scriber provides a much simpler connection to the artist — no community building involved.

In a statement, Nick Jonas described Scriber as a way to “share something truly special with [fans], while also finding even more ways to give back to causes close to our hearts.” Joe Jonas added that they love “surprising fans” and that the fan club will be “a win-win” for everyone, while Kevin Jonas said it’s always “so special” to “connect directly with our fans” — a feat now made easier with Scriber’s texting-based platform.

“Having been in the media business for years, I’ve seen the powerful connection between creators and their fans,” added Goldsmith. “We’re proud to provide artists a new way to share the content that they love to make –and that their most passionate followers want to see before anyone else. The subscriber experience can include special access and rewards to help build a community of superfans. We’re also happy that Scriber can support causes meaningful to our creators.”

U.S. residents can subscribe to the Jonas Brothers on Scriber by texting GO to 1-844-228-4544.

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Nicki Minaj Named ‘Maxim’ Creative Director & Global Ambassador of Sports Gambling Brand MaximBet

Nicki Minaj shared the news Tuesday (May 31) that she’s become the global ambassador for MaximBet, the sports betting lifestyle brand launched by Maxim last year.

As part of the collaboration, the superstar rapper will become creative director for Maxim magazine and collaborate with MaximBet on merchandise, events, fan experiences, other partnerships, branding and more. She will also advise MaximBet’s current board of directors.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of a collaboration,” Minaj said in a statement. “Merging business savvy power moves with my natural, creative, sexy, fun, and fashion-forward expression is just so spot on as it relates to this partnership. I’m ready to fully step into my potential as a young, influential queen and owner and open doors for others to dream big. Get ready for the sexy parties and remember: scared money don’t make NO MONEY!!!! HA!!! Place your bets!!!! Let’s GO!!!”

After making the announcement, the “Do We Have a Problem?” rapper posted multiple carefree TikToks posing in a hot tub while wearing a pink swimsuit emblazoned with the MaximBet logo. “Global Ambassador of @maximbetusa & creative director of @maximmag – let the games begin,” she captioned the first, and she set the second to “We Go Up,” her recent collab with Fivio Foreign.

Earlier this month, Minaj arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the 2022 Met Gala in a black leather Balenciaga baseball cap and connected with Katy Perry at the A-list party, with her “Swish Swish” collaborator admitting in a behind-the-scenes video that she’s a self-described Barb.

Check out Minaj’s flurry of MaximBet announcements below.

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A$AP Rocky Says He Hopes to ‘Raise Open-Minded Children’ With Rihanna: ‘Not People Who Discriminate’

A$AP Rocky is sharing his thoughts on fatherhood.

The 33-year-old rapper, who recently welcomed a baby boy with partner Rihanna, opened up about his relationship with the Barbados-born superstar and discussed the type of father he hopes to be in the summer 2022 issue of Dazed & Confused.

“I will always remind my children to never lose their imagination, even as adults, no matter what,” Rocky told the magazine. “I actually love to watch cartoons — I’ve watched like Teletubbies, Blue’s Clues, Yo Gabba Gabba, Peppa Pig and Baby Shark.”

The hip-hop artist added that he hopes “to raise open-minded children. Not people who discriminate. And I’m not trying to describe a saint, but realistically, I just want a cool child with cool parents.”

RiRi first announced her pregnancy at the end of January, exposing her baby bump while out on a walk with the  “Fashion Killa” rapper in New York City. Since then, the Fenty Beauty mogul rocked some high-fashion maternity looks at Milan Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week and out on date nights with Rocky.

A$AP Rocky also touched on his relationship with Rihanna during the interview. “I think it’s just natural. We happen to look good together naturally,” he said. “You know, it would take a lot of work to have us forcefully match before we leave the house. Sometimes we match to a T, or we just wear the same clothes. If I buy a shirt that she likes, I expect to get it stolen… but then I gotta steal it back.”

A$AP confirmed his romance with the “Umbrella” singer in a May 2021 interview with GQ, following months of speculation that the two were dating. In the interview, he called Rihanna the “love of my life.”

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Pink Floyd Is Officially on TikTok

Pink Floyd has joined TikTok, the band announced on Monday (May 30).

After just one day on the app, the veteran English psych rockers have have amassed more than 7,500 followers and shared two different videos. The first features a hypnotic spinning pyramid set to “Breathe (In the Air)” to commemorate the pending 50-year anniversary of their seminal album The Dark Side of the Moon, which turns half-a-century old next spring.

Posted just hours later, Pink Floyd’s second video is more straightforward in heralding their arrival on the popular social media platform. Text appears on the screen reading “PINK FLOYD NOW ON TIKTOK” over “Another Brick in the Wall” from 1979’s The Wall. “We don’t need no education/ We don’t need no false control/ No dark sarcasm in the classroom/ Teacher, leave…” the late Syd Barrett intones before the clip abruptly cuts off.

In April, Pink Floyd released “Hey Hey Rise Up,” their first single in almost 30 years — with surviving members David Gilmour and Nick Mason (sans Roger Waters) recruiting Ukrainian vocalist Andriy Khlyvnyuk for the charity track. Proceeds from the song are being donated to the Ukraine Humanitarian Relief Fund.

In protest to Russia’s invasion of its neighbor, the band has also scrubbed all of their music released after 1987 — as well as the entirety of Gilmour’s solo catalog — from DSPs in both Russia and Belarus.

Last month, Billboard did a deep dive around the ongoing auction of Pink Floyd’s recorded masters and other rights to analyze its potential valuation and why potential buyers are eager to get their hands on the catalog.

Watch Pink Floyd’s first two TikToks below.

@pinkfloyd

#pinkfloyd #TDSOTM50 #TDSOTM #fyp

♬ Breathe (In the Air) – Pink Floyd

@pinkfloyd

Pink Floyd has arrived #pinkfloyd #anotherbrickinthewall #fyp

♬ Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2 – Pink Floyd

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Elvis Costello Reunites With Old Bandmate Allan Mayes for ‘Rusty: The Resurrection of Rust’ Album

Elvis Costello announced on Monday (May 30) that he’s reuniting with his old bandmate Allan Mayes to release, as he calls it, “the record we would have cut when we were 18, if anyone had let us.”

That album will be titled Rusty: The Resurrection of Rust, and will be based on songs the duo played 50 years ago as part of Rusty, the first band Costello was ever in. (Back then, he was known as D.P. McManus.)

The album will drop June 10 and feature six songs from the band’s 1972 set lists, including “Surrender to the Rhythm” and “Don’t Lose Your Grip on Love” by Nick Lowe; Jim Ford’s “I’m Ahead If I Can Quit While I’m Behind”; a mashup of Neil Young’s “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” and “Dance, Dance, Dance; and two originals titled “Warm House” and “Maureen and Sam.”

“By the summer of ’72 we were playing up to five or six nights a week,” Costello reminisced in a lengthy letter posted to his official website. “I was still at school, supposedly studying for my A‐Levels. Once I got a job, we had to schedule our Rusty gigs around my shift work as a computer operator until early in 1973, when I decided to leave Liverpool looking for something and took to this long and crooked road.”

Five years later, the singer-songwriter would release his debut album, My Aim Is True, under his stage name, led by his debut single “Less Than Zero.” Nearly five decades later, Costello has most recently dropped his 32nd studio set, 2022’s The Boy Named If and signed a publishing deal for his entire catalog with BMG.

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The Rise Of Vegas Residencies | Billboard News

With more and more residences popping up, we took a look back at the different residencies that changed the game for Vegas.

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