Gadgetory

welcome back to the CNN stage here at CES on Paul Sloan executive editor and I'm excited to be joined by two people at the cutting edge of media video music and its rapid transformation as we all watch and listen anywhere and anytime first Russell Simmons often called a hip-hop mogul and business magnate who got his start when he teamed up with producer Rick Rubin's create def jam records in the 80s bringing us everyone from the Beastie Boys to ll cool j & Public Enemy he's done much more of course he's created fashion lines TV programs movies even financial service products to name a few and now he's running a DD all def digital which is an original content youtube channel aimed at what he calls a post-racial America next to him is Brian Robbins a film and TV director and producer who runs awesomeness TV which is one of the first original channels launched on YouTube the two are now part partnering on all that digital thank you so much for joining us Russell I understand it's your first time here at CES I know you haven't had time to walk around but impressions why are you here tell us what you're what you're here for all I'm here primarily I mean my youtube channel is about the same pursuit I've had in beginning like discovering talent and crossing it through different media and this is the place to be so I'm here because I basically have to I mean smite who had done my whole life and and I'm a little late I think being here but I it's funny that I'm late but the industry itself seems that have this huge white space where there's all this integration that happened through hip-hop and that in media has not happened really you know online as much as it could so if you take vincent's you know there's not been a one black comedian since def Comedy Jam hoosick emerged as crossed over and let's i would say Kevin Hart but he hasn't yet either so it's Hollywood and media in general has not like advertising like music like other industries have embraced a new America and so for me I want to buy a TV network but they wanted to offer me very minimal subs and start crawling and I thought I didn't really want a young person tell me what content to release or what to expound on and so this for me is my network this a DD all deaf all def music all def poetry all def Comedy all deaf you know this whole space of America is underexposed and so for me building this network and with YouTube's help and Brian who I've known for 20 years that date you yes that's I this but so doing this for me is the next most obvious thing to do so a DD by the way I think one of the great names just for this ad degeneration online for this moment you look at things that if it doesn't happen this second you press the button but you watch a TV show for 15 minutes and after 15 minutes you say I hate this this sucks and you sit there for 15 more minutes to be sure that you hate it but on but I think people are learning to broaden you know the appreciation and and more content is being viewed for longer periods of time so what will we expect to see and when I mean you said it's focused on the cool side of pop culture b.e.t for YouTube what's it on the right I don't like to be teeth every time they say black they say or diversely they say it's a more black stuff I mean it needs to be more black stuff but this integration that Hollywood are they all liberal and nice people but they don't really understand it is America if you watch Jerry Springer and the rest of the world in the suburbs of Cleveland is integrating and if it does if it's not a post-racial America there's a potential oh and that's what people want to see Hollywood should be in the front and since Hollywood is not the internet is whether I signed yesterday for instance spokenreasons like he could be the next Chris Tucker right he's online he's like the number one online video blogger in the urban space but they don't see him and so I'm here to kind of like integrate and move forward culture you know but for all these new channels and new opportunities isn't it these in these in these industries are still driven by hits are you not with my kids hey Brian I mean what's the opportunity for a YouTube channel it's a giant opportunity a telomere experience never be 25 years ago no one knew at ESPN and MTV and Nickelodeon CNN no one knew what the cable what's cable and you had to go you know operator by operator through the country to get clearance today on YouTube there's 850 million unique people on the platform 850 million you're able to reach from day one some like older or younger person who knows nothing about what you're doing tell you what to do it it's it's exciting and I'm sorry I will cut you up huh how do they find you how does it grow that's what I do I make people i mean take something that's that's emerging and and spread it across all forms of media and through this genre I'll do this this because changed a lot right so when I made launch small lil for instance on the WB we had a huge outdoor campaign and commercials everywhere and stuff like that today on awesomenesstv my audience is all teens and tweens and I know how to reach them I don't need a bus and a billboard I can tweet to them I can Instagram to them they're on facebook I don't need a 20 million dollar marketing campaign to launch a video television show anymore and it's and it's proven like we're up you know six months with 60 million views 300,000 subscribers from zero six months ago awesomeness TV news on TV the same thing will happen with a DD Russell has two million something Twitter followers you know these artists on youtube that you don't know he said spokenreasons I probably have no idea who's spokenreasons is right he's a kid a comedian on YouTube who has a million subscribers a couple hundred million views but he's undiscovered well we're going to rediscover him and let the world know who he is so is this how new genres are going to happen I mean could when def jam came around when you guys yeah I mean that this is the opportunity to let the people speak and also to you know if you pay attention and nurture talent which is my whole life's work you know nurture town and that emerges aren't so the record business long long ago stopped developing artists they SAT there and waited for artists to develop themselves and they'd fight over them when they got hot and it's about curating because it find out when the chase them you know when or if you don't have in your heart you have you can just look at numbers and so that's the reality that entertainment is you know this it's becoming more user-friendly and user-generated stuff is becoming the key I mean we don't have a Justin Bieber we don't have you know Diggy my nephew eat he didn't call me save us how do I get a record deal I saw his his video that he made for nickel on TV and he was a star I called my brother like they've have you know your son is on TVs like yeah I heard like so you know that's real talk I mean people are doing you know on their own and and I think they need help obviously and navigation through the whole media world and they need to take what they're doing online and spread it and either broaden what they're doing online as well yeah so what's your view of the music industry now we're going to start a music company as well all deaf music will be music from your people we're going to curate and build out a multi-channel network and we're going to help people you know build their own and that's going to be part of our process so the music thing we just partner we have announced yet but we just announced today our partnership so only one announcement a day right but I think it's important that that people nurture them to I think the record companies they don't realize it's the 360 business I'm an entrepreneur I used to look at the contracts all rights would bring me even though i left the record business they want to own a pc of sneaker well they don't make sneakers they don't they want to own a piece of your film could work but they don't know how to produce a film they don't they want to do TV with you but they don't really know anything about television they're kind of a stagnant business it's not entrepreneurial as people who work in the rec they still call it the record business I mean in a little so i think that there's a music there's a to exploit people's position in the music business or brand in the music business I'm broaden their brand and use it for it all that people want to be is a business but it's not really being monetized in ways that I'm sure that ways to monetize music that are coming and there's always new ones but you know until they figure out how to monetize music they not a 360 business right are you fans of Spotify Pandora these services seem great for consumers but musicians I think that you know the musicians themselves can find ways to monetize and they direct more and the brick-and-mortar a system that the music business has at this moment is not benefiting but as music gets exposed more artists should get you know greater benefit and they will and so what's it all look like a couple years from now I can't I'm that's a question I'm not sitting there trying to analyze every day I don't see every innovation that comes in that pushes out I remember bringing them naps didn't say why don't you talk to these guys they're like we won't talk to my cell k sure and I was lit by that time I was almost done so you know I saw it I remember this kind of stagnant but they learned a little bit I guess after I tuned the only thing to care for lunch they were forced desperation look you've done so many different kinds of businesses is there a thread that ties them together well my partner Brian what he built with awesomeness is not to be it's like it's unbelievable and and I think that what's going to happen online is going to really have synergistic value for anything that I do and it already doesn't have it in that company I do have a Content company which I I built up over the last few years called global Brian and I and I see this this thread this next America in that that company is proof of concept that there is this integration and and this is call community that needs to be spoken to but not segregated so I'm already doing that and I think that's what I'm looking to do now with a DD okay there's so much more but unfortunately we are out of time nothing you're not 11 he was welcome to jump in socket he's good I'm sorry thank you thank you russell simmons and brian robbins thanks so much for being here we'll take a quick break and cns UK uk's jason jenkins will be here with the panel he calls the British are coming stay tuned you