New Cell Promos Jazz Up Music Retail

According to Digital Music News, "The vibe has long been flat at many traditional retailers, prompting Warner Music and Tower Records to concoct a new, traffic-driving twist. To spark excitement at the massive retailer, the pair recently tapped into new mobile technology from Mobot, which can instantly recognize images snapped by a camera phone. Those that recently sauntered into a Tower outlet were encouraged to take snapshots of a specific in-store promo piece. Mobot then recognizes the image and sends back a message to the phone confirming entry into a flyaway sweepstakes. Winners will grab a trip for two to New York City on August 13th to see Transplants and My Chemical Romance, part of the Vans Warped Tour. The "Snap and Win" campaign ends today after a three week run."

Other music initiatives could be on the way from Mobot. The company can also recognize a long list of album covers and music-related images, leading to subsequent purchases of CDs, ringtones, and other content. That could provide big labels with an entirely new revenue stream, with more than 215 million camera phones in use throughout the world. That is part of a new crop of innovative mobile music technologies surrounding recognition, with companies like Shazam offering the ability to identify an audio clip simply by using the handset. Those new tools could help to spark more impulse buys, with many consumers motivated to purchase within narrow time windows."