Friends,

Thanks for being so patient with me while I continue to work on the development of an incredible music video product for Entertainment Media Works web property, StarStyle.com. It’s been six months and a great deal of hard work and dedication, but now it’s finally here.

I’m pleased to announce to the world that StarStyle has launched it’s music video player with contextual commerce engine. Please visit http://www.starstyle.com and click on Music Videos. You should have the Flash 8 plug-in for your browser in order to view the player properly.

There continue to be a few minor tweaks and we’re planning to scale the player in various ways that will make it even more fun to use.

There has been so much dance music news that I’ve been neglecting, but now that the player is live and functional, I can start to focus on the blog again.

In addition to leading development of this player and securing the rights to music videos with my trusted biz dev consultants, Steven Gottlieb, Kim Kaiman, Lou Mann and Madsol Desar, I also moved from Brooklyn to Yonkers, NY, where I now have beautiful views of the Hudson River and the New Jersey Palisades from my window.

Needless to say, I’ve been mad busy! Thanks again for being patient!

Here is our press release, which was posted to Yahoo Business among hundreds of other web sites around the world.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060620/latu059.html?.v=62

Joan Jett Featuring Carmen Electra, The Faders (’Veronica Mars’), Nickelback and More

NEW YORK, June 20 /PRNewswire/ — For viewers who love the apparel and accessories in their favorite music videos, but until now have had little chance to identify it, StarStyle today announced the launch of its Music Section. Distinguished by a unique music video player with built-in contextual commerce engine, the section launches with videos from Universal Music Group, the world’s leading music company. Entertainment Media Works created StarStyle (www.StarStyle.com) as a groundbreaking “supersite” that already enables viewers to identify and purchase the apparel, furnishings, gadgets and music featured in their favorite TV shows and now will incorporate music videos to their roster of media partners.

StarStyle’s online player allows users to watch the latest videos while browsing an adjacent section with photos of fashions and other products featured in each video. Registered StarStyle users can either choose to purchase desired products immediately or add them to a tool called “myStyList” which acts as a virtual locker that can be accessed and sorted by artist, title, brand, price, etc. Each user’s “myStyList” page can also be shared with friends resulting in a viral marketing opportunity for the artists and brands.

“The intersect between fashion and music has never been stronger, and our goal is to make it easy for consumers to identify, share and buy all the latest products that are used by their favorite artists,” said Ashley Heather, CEO of Entertainment Media Works.

“The pace of music videos often prevents people from identifying products they are interested in,” added Tony Zeoli, Vice President, Music Services for StarStyle. “The decision of music video networks to purposely ‘wash out’ some brand logos makes it impossible for fans to know what those products are. Not only does StarStyle allow brands to be seen clearly onscreen, but viewers don’t need to pause the video to identify them, helping to maintain the music video’s artistic integrity while providing an enjoyable shopping experience.”

StarStyle recently finalized an agreement with Universal Music Group to provide video content of UMG recording artists via the Internet. Additionally, UMG — whose artists include trendsetters Lindsay Lohan, Gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peas, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Shania Twain, Trisha Yearwood and the Pussycat Dolls — will work with StarStyle staff to identify branded products featured in the music videos. Until now, many apparel brands have given their clothes to music videos to reap free product placement and generate buzz, especially for new lines. StarStyle benefits brands by allowing them to clearly identify themselves and to give consumers a direct purchase opportunity, while also helping labels and artists by creating new revenue streams. Artists also benefit by creating a deeper one-to-one relationship with their fans.

On June 20, StarStyle will launch with videos from such artists as Urban Mystic, Ben Lee, Tre Hardson, known for his work with the hip-hop group Pharcyde and Fredalba, led by “Six Feet Under” star Eric Balfour, and the new video from The Faders featuring the cast of the popular television show “Veronica Mars.” Also included will be Joan Jett’s new video “A.C.D.C” from her new album, “Sinner.” Featuring Carmen Electra, “A.C.D.C” is provided to StarStyle courtesy of her label Blackheart Records and produced by KanDoKid Films in New York. Among the items available from the video will be select pieces from Carmen Electra’s wardrobe and a replica of Jett’s Gibson Melody Maker guitar.

About StarStyle

Since its launch on March 20, this groundbreaking “supersite,” allowing viewers to identify and purchase the apparel, furnishings, gadgets and music featured in their favorite TV shows, has attracted over one million viewers. The privately capitalized venture, which is building the premier destination website to sell products seen and discovered via myriad entertainment platforms — from traditional media to the Web and mobile devices — aims to be the most comprehensive in a nascent field. To date it has signed deals with such content partners as Sony, Warner Bros., ABC, Procter & Gamble, TeleVest, Bunim-Murray Productions, FremantleMedia and 19 TV Ltd. Through these relationships and others, StarStyle includes such popular series as “American Idol,” “What I Like About You” and, imminently with the debut of their new seasons, “Real World Key West” and “The Simple Life.” StarStyle’s trove also holds popular daytime dramas including “As the World Turns,” “Guiding Light” and “The Young and the Restless.” StarStyle also features community areas and unique, 360-degree virtual set tours as well as advice and the inside scoop from experts in-the-know.

About Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is the world’s largest music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the industry’s largest global music publishing operations.

Universal Music Group consists of record labels Decca Music Group, Deutsche Grammophon, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Geffen Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor Records, Universal Music Latino, Universal Motown Records Group, and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, a new media and technologies division, and Universal Music Mobile.

Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.

Media contact:
Carrie Simons
310.248.6104 Direct
csimons@bwr-la.com

Kevin Aviance, the flamboyant and popular singer who is one of the most recognizable dance music artists in the genre, was attacked on Saturday night in the East Village. This horrible hate crime has no place in New York City, where all of us gay or straight, black or white, American or immigrant should have the right to walk down the street without fear of violence. Let’s hope these two 20-year olds and the 16-year old learn a hard lesson about hate crimes and violence when the judge sees them on Monday morning.

Here is the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/nyregion/11drag.html

I’ve pasted it as well. NYTimes ususally moves articles to their paid section after a couple of days, so I’m posting here and giving the paper the proper attribution so that my readers can access an important article such as this one for free. Although, I’m sure the Village Voice’s Michael Musto will weigh in shortly and that paper is always free.

3 Arrested in Attack on Singer on East Side

By KAREEM FAHIM
Published: June 11, 2006

A Manhattan singer was taunted and beaten early yesterday by a group of young men who shouted anti-gay slurs and then broke his jaw as he walked in the East Village, the police and the singer’s publicist said. During the attack, the singer said, no bystanders came to his aid.

The singer, Kevin Aviance, 38, who has recorded a number of popular dance songs, underwent surgery for a broken jaw at Beth Israel Medical Center last night, said his publicist, Len Evans, who said he talked with Mr. Aviance after the beating.

Two 20-year-old men and a 16-year-old boy were arrested in connection with the beating last night. The men, Akino George of Townsend Avenue in the Bronx and Sears Jarell of Newark, and the 16-year-old, who lives within blocks of where the police said the attack took place, were charged with first degree assault as a hate crime, the police said.

According to Mr. Aviance, Mr. Evans said, he was heading to his Chelsea home about 1 a.m. yesterday after leaving Phoenix, a bar on East 13th Street, where he had been relaxing with friends. As he walked on East 14th Street near First Avenue, Mr. Evans said, Mr. Aviance was approached by six or seven young men who shouted anti-gay slurs and threw objects at him, including a spray can that one of them had fished out of a trash bin.

One of the young men punched Mr. Aviance, and the others attacked him.

“They dragged him to the curb,” said Mr. Evans, adding that Mr. Aviance said that the men threatened to kill him. “There were pedestrians everywhere. No one helped him.”

The young men stole Mr. Aviance’s cellphone, Mr. Evans said. After the singer passed out, some bystanders apparently came to help him, Mr. Evans said.

Mr. Aviance performs in drag but was “dressed like a boy,” before the attack, according to Mr. Evans. “They kept using these words. They said, ‘You’re not diesel.’ He didn’t know what that meant.”

Mr. Evans said that the singer had planned to take part in next week’s annual Gay Pride parade and festivities. “He won’t be able to perform now that his jaw is wired shut,” Mr. Evans said.

“Din Da Da,” Mr. Aviance’s infectious remake of a 1980’s song, reached the top of the Billboard dance chart in August 1997, and another song, “Alive,” was No. 1 on the chart in 2002.