Sherri L. Smith, BlackWeb20.c0m

You don’t have to be a big name producer or a media mogul to see that things have changed in the music game. Gone are the days of spending millions to push a new artist. Hell, it’s hard for an established artist to get that kind of promotion now. And with the stations that were formerly music television turning into barren wastelands of reality shows, the video stars that hunted the radio star into extinction are also going the way of the dinosaur. Music needs a new business model — stat.

Enter Diddy and his new program P. Diddy’s Starmaker. At first glance, it looks like nothing more than an American Idol clone. 14 hopefuls perform for the chance of a lifetime — a recording contract with Bad Boy Entertainment. As they put their all into their act, 3-4 judges surgically pick them apart from their wardrobe choice, to the actual singing, or to the lack of the x-factor — star quality. And here’s where the show, takes a left from the norm. According to Diddy, he’s not just looking for the next great performer. The multi-talented, jack-of-all-trades mogul is looking for someone that can keep as many balls in the air as he can. And for Diddy, the road to stardom begins with branding and social networking.

“You have to understand how to be able to brand yourself,” he said. “Before, it was just at live shows, now you have to be able to do a great live show, you have to be able to do a great online interview, you need to have a great Facebook page, you have to have a great television performance.”

And hate him or love him, you have to respect Diddy’s acumen on where to find the that next big thing. It’s not enough to be able to riff a few notes –it’s all about can you engage the audience where they live. Soulja Boy, Priscilla Renea, Drake, and a number of early adopters have realized that the music video is no longer the center of the musical universe, now viral is king. Can an artist keep the audience coming back for more via sites like YouTube and Twitter where Diddy, coincidentally got rave reviews for Diddy TV and hit the million follower mark respectively.

So while winning a Bad Boy recording contract might be the biggest booby prize out there (just ask Cheri Dennis, Elephant Man, Loon, G-Dep, Craig Mack, Dream, Da Band, and the others that signed to Bad Boy never to be heard from again), one thing is for sure: Diddy knows how to spot talent. We’ll have to tune in to Starmaker and see which of the contestants has the chops to be the next big star of the digital generation.

BlackWeb20.com covers website and application launches; culturally relevant Internet industry news; and mainstream Internet industry news from an African-American perspective.  They also analyze emerging web trends and how they apply to web properties that target African-Americans or African-American culture.

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