Whether it's tour merchandise or other retail items, musicians often seek ways to generate income in addition to the music they make. Gurps Rai, CEO of DroppTV, told Cheddar he's offering them a chance to do both in one place.
Rai started the music video platform, DroppTV, as a way for fans to buy the items they see in their favorite artists' videos. The CEO stated that the business gives fans a chance "to connect" with artists.
Perhaps the best part about the innovation, according to Rai, is that the viewing experience is uninterrupted if a person decides to shop.
"There's no hijacking and going to another link, to another website. So, I see it, want it, get it, purchase it," he said.
Rapper Kid Daytona, who recently partnered with DroppTV, said he plans to release his first shoppable video on the platform.
"The platform itself was something that was very innovative to me, and I thought it was so cool," Daytona told Cheddar.
However, he added that this particular project is bigger than lining his own pockets. Dayton said he is using it to give back.
"We are raffling off two 1-of-1 Coogi pieces," he said, referring to the apparel brand. "All proceeds are going to the Lower East Side Girls Club of New York."
For fans looking to connect with their favorite artists or even new ones, Rai said more than 2,000 musicians have signed, including Ashanti and Kaden Mills.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
