perfidy

GeekLethal put me on the trail of a Yahoo(!) news piece on a new fad: fantasy record labels. Universal's distribution arm, UMVD, has launched the program among retailers whom they deal with with the aim of raising awareness of new Universal product. Sure it's a cynical ploy to earn retail footprint, but what a concept!

Here's the deal. Much like with fantasy sports, you do research into bands, tour schedules, bios, etc., pick a roster, and compete against your peers for fabulous prizes. The team who charts the highest and sells the most units at the end of the 36-week season wins. But unlike my fantasy baseball league, in which I stand to win a few bucks if I win the season, winners in UMVD's SMASH (Scoring Music and Selecting Hits) program get consumer electronics.

This sounds like an idea that has found its time. A friend of mine had this idea a few years back but, lacking programming acumen and overweening ambition, we never got it off the ground. I suck mightily at A&R, but I always thought it would be fun to see if I could pick the winners out of a crop of upcoming releases.

The most interesting stuff will happen when UMVD takes this to the public. I'm willing to bet that SMASH will become something like an Iowa Electronic Market for music, except with less war and more exposed thongs. I can't wait to sign up.