Today I had the great pleasure of chatting with Josh and Zane, two of the guys behind AmieStreet, a really cool music sales and discovery site that was recently in the news thanks to being the only place selling Ashley Alexandra Dupre’s red hot single.
In this interview we discuss the idea behind AmieStreet’s unique pricing scheme, the effect of the Dupre-bump (pun intended, sorry), Billy Bragg’s OpEd, the proposed ISP tax and so much more.
Interview with Josh and Zane from AmieStreet
Well, if there is one thing that Ashley Durpe’s fame has shared with other internet sensations, it seems that being short-lived is it.
According to AdAge (via SAI):
“Scandalites before her have certainly leveraged their notoriety into Jenny Craig endorsement deals; their own reality series; handbag lines; jeans commercials; guest turns on shows from “The View” to “Judge Judy”; and, in the case of Paris Hilton, renown for nothing other than being famous.
But extending Ms. Dupré’s moment into a real run in the spotlight is getting tougher with every passing day. Even the $1 million payout offered by Hustler could evaporate if “Girls Gone Wild” and others keep turning up pre-existing nude images of Ms. Dupré.”
Sure, it doesn’t help her that she was already pretty, well, exposed, prior to her fame-blip and it also doesn’t seem as though she has let anyone step in and try to maximize her returns. At the same time I think there will be some non-web related opportunities out there including book deals and the like.
If she actually avoids getting herself tied to a bunch of sleezy projects right off the bat she might even be able to emerge from this with some sort of legit singing/acting career – that is if she has any talent to back up her notoriety. Stranger things have definitely happened in Hollywood.
Over on ReelPop there is a look at the latest webisodic offering from Bebo called Sophia’s Diary.
“When an episode’s posted, a viewer poll asks multiple choice questions to determine what direction the show’ll go next. I’ve only seen rough cuts of episodes one and four, which may suggest that the producers established set waypoints to guide the main action, and left the intervals up to choose your adventure-type choice.”
It will be interesting to see just how much influence the viewers have and how much has been completely pre-shot. Considering these are the folks who have had success with KateModern and the original LonelyGirl15, this will definitely be one to watch.
After watching the first episode, I do like that they have given up the horribly dated “talking into the webcam” device and replaced it with Sophia simply breaking the 4th wall anytime she has something she wants to share directly with the viewer. It’s not exactly a major breakthrough, but it makes it feel more like legitimate entertainment and less like a “web video.”
Silicon Valley Insider points to an article in the NY Post (classy rag) that runs some of the numbers on Ashley “Spitzer’s Girl” Dupree. Among other amounts of note, they believe she has already earned over $200,000 is music sales alone!
While this is certainly interesting, I thought this quote from SVI was worth a second look:
“The downside: Her new business success will make her ineligible for further representation by her public defender. Also, the 22-year old will be besieged by reps, managers, advisors, acquaintances, and agents of all types, some of whom will no doubt persuade her that she can’t afford not to pay them hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. In the moment, this will seem like pennies, but if her career trajectory follows that of other instant web stars, will soon leave her penniless again.”
Is Ashley a “web star?” She certainly didn’t make a name for herself due to behavior on the web. Sure, the web is the channel through which she is able to cash in on her current fame but the web had nothing to do with making her famous in the first place.
Of course, the fact that she had established a presence on the web prior to her, um, breakthrough, didn’t hurt. That’s a good lesson for all of us. You never know when you might be able to cash in on you online presence. Be prepared.
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April 1, 2008 12:36 am | 
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