Roc Nation

There is a distinct difference between multimedia and transmedia.  With multimedia, you are telling 1 story using different media devices.  Technology has changed the way 'media' is consumed.  There is a multitude of outlets.  Let's look at it from a news standpoint.  Way back when, a newspaper used to just publish a story on it's newspaper and call it a day.  This is where multimedia comes in.  That same story could now be broadcast on radio.  Instead of just being in a newspaper, the story could be posted on a website.  That same story could have a news reporter cover and film it and you get to see the news visually.  These new media technologies help add to the story.  John V. Pavlik author of Converging Media says, "A photograph can tell a story or convey information quickly.  Photos can engage, entertain, or elicit emotion in a way that words alone might not.  Seeing photos of people suffering in a remote part of the worlds can stir feelings that mere verbal descriptions might not ever produce." (Pavlik136-137)  Multimedia is basically telling the same story using different media outlets.  

We can look at the whole Ray Rice fiasco.  We all knew he hit his wife and knocked her out cold in an Atlantic City elevator.  But we really didn't know he hit his wife and knocked her out cold in an Atlantic City elevator until the video came out or we didn't act like it at least.  That shows the power of multimedia.  Visual things are more endearing to humans than words are.  

When it comes to transmedia, it's like telling a varying story using different channels.  We can look at X-Men or Toy Story.  They both have stories and good storyline, but it's never truly ending.  The original X-Men came out in the 1960's. 

They're still making movies about it 40 years later.  This is where transmedia comes in.  I look at it like branding.  With X-Men, you can buy games for it.  You can buy clothes for it, you can go Amusement Park's and ride ride's named after characters of it.  It's the same with Toy Story.  They brand it and they market it and use different avenues to spread the word about it.  These new avenues aren't exactly the same as the original story, but it's somewhat close and it keeps things cohesive.  

Things that start out as stories or movies are good when it comes to transmedia but I think using transmedia as a musician is better.  "A transmedia story unfolds across multiple media platforms, with each new text making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole.  A story might be introduced in a film, expanded through television, novels, and comics."  (Jenkins 97-98) For transmedia to work correctly, the story should be loose so you can add depth so it never truly ends.  It can be expanded upon.  In regards to that, nothing is better than an actual human being because our story is always continuing.  It's never truly written and set in stone.    

Let's take a look at Jay-Z, a very powerful man and how he uses transmedia to his advantage.  Like I said earlier, I look at transmedia as branding and nobody does it better than him.  Let's run down a few Jay-Z's business ventures.  He owned his own clothing line called Rocawear (which he sold in 2007 for over $200 million dollars) and had a sneaker endorsement from Reebok.  When it comes to merchandising character's from movies and stories it comes down to licensing and subcontracts which can get a little tricky.  Since Jay-Z is human, you can just talk to him and get business squared away directly.  Jay-Z wrote a book titled Decoded that talks about his life.

 It was on the New York Times Best Sellers list.  He owns the 40/40 club which has current locations in Brooklyn, New York City, and Atlanta.  His most exemplary example of great branding was his recent purchase of Armand de Brignac de Brut Gold also known as Ace of Spades. 

Jay-Z did an advertisement with Duracell promoting their Duracell Powermat over 2 years ago and during a bar scene, you can see they’re only serving Ace Of Spades liquor. (At :35 seconds)

The Duracell Powermat is actually used in his clubs.  (It's used to wirelessly charge devices.)  That is smart cross-branding on his part. Jay-Z used to really love Cristal liquor and made it popular until their managing director said some racially biased words in regards to rappers and his liquor.  A recently published quartz.com article titled 'How a Racist Remark Led to Jay Z's Newest Investment - Champagne' says, "The Economist interviewed Frederic Rouzaud, the managing director of the company that makes Cristal, on how its owners felt about seeing rappers drink the champagne in their videos. “That’s a good question, but what can we do?” he replied. “We can’t forbid people from buying it. I’m sure Dom Pérignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business.”  Jay-Z was disgusted because hip hop made so much money for Cristal (He drank it in clubs and often shouted it out on songs early in his career) than they go back and had the nerve to say that.  He then partnered with Ace Of Spades.  He branded it right, and recently bought them out.  It's a very popular drink because of him.  I bet Cristal wish it never said those things now.  That shows the power of transmedia and it’s effect in today’s economy.  Jay-Z is using these different media outlets and telling his story through them indirectly.  He is saying, “This is how you go from poverty to wealth.”  He is a musician by trade, but he doesn’t have to put out music to keep fans engaged with him.  He is a living example on how to use of transmedia in today’s world. 

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Chibber, Kabir. "How a Racist Remark Led to Jay Z’s Newest Investment-champagne." Quartz. Quartz, 09 Nov. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York and London. 2006.

Pavlik, John and McIntosh, Shawn. Converging Media. Third Edition. New York, NY:Oxford Uuniversity Press. 2004.