Battle Of The Beamz: Deadmau5 vs. Flo Rida
Beamz by Flo is an attempt to take the Beamz dj tech and bring it to a larger audience with the support of Flo Rida. Beamz appears to be a party toy though its makers are finding more serious applications including its use by djs. Unfortunately for Beamz a commercial featuring Flo Rida caught the eye of Deadmau5 who immediately began a tweet takedown campaign that eventually made its way to Instagram and YouTube as well. Beamz responded at one point with a smart commercial parody but Deadmau5 has won the battle to date.
In September Beamz by Flo began a campaign featuring Flo Rida and a branded version of Beamz, aka The Beamz, an electronic instrument that works like this:
Beamz by Flo 2 Minute Commercial
While reactions ranged widely, a Twitter rampage by Deadmau5 sabotaged the campaign, once again showing Deadmau5's ability to hijack publicity to his own ends:
Round 1 to Deadmau5
Deadmau5 took the first round and then continued to take periodic shots at Beamz by Flo such as this dreamy attack episode of Coffee Run. But the next round clearly went to Flo Rida and the Beamz crew:
Beamz by Flo – Even A Mouse Can Play!
In terms of a social media/web battle, this video is a nicely done response that clearly provoked Deadmau5 into losing his cool:
Round 2 to Beamz by Flo
Deadmau5 got punked on that round and ultimately reminds us that, though he can be quite funny and refreshingly honest, life in the battle lane ultimately undermines your best qualities.
And then, late last week, Deadmau5 gave the best response of all, one that needed no reference to Flo Rida nor to Beamz:
Techmology! (via inthemix)
It's hard to beat a beautiful little demo of elegant software under development.
Round 3 to Deadmau5.
It's hard to say what this all means for Beamz by Flo Rida or parent company Beamz which is reaching out to djs as well as finding applications of the tech in education and health care.
Forbes' Natalie Robehmed reports that Beamz is losing millions annually. She says they are currently seeking $5 million in debt financing and seem to be pinning their hopes on breaking through to consumers and djs via Flo Rida's involvement.
I doubt they've enjoyed Deadmau5's performance one bit.
More:
- Deadmau5 Says 'All EDM DJS Are Button Pushers', Peter Kirn Sets Him Straight
- One Tweet Later, Deadmau5 Finds A Collaborator
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at Flux Research and Crowdfunding For Musicians. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
