AOL lovechild/social media network
Bebo is having its own little tryst with Universal Music Group, starting now. The two just announced that they are conspiring on a new and, according to press materials, "revolutionary" online drama called 'The Secret World of Sam King.'
This is apparently the first-ever collab between a music company and a social media network, and it's intended to blur the "line between fiction and reality," in ways too complicated to get into. It seems that the actual Universal Music UK will serve as the setting for the show, and viewers will have sway over what happens in subsequent episodes, sort of like '
American Idol' meets 'Choose Your Own Adventure' meets '
DeGrassi Junior High.'
Executives are comparing the show to Bebo's established teen soap operatic sensations '
KateModern' and '
Sofia's Diary,' and the new show is expected to inspire a similar fan base.
Sam King, the protagonist, is a young Universal Music employee who secretly starts his own record label from Universal's mail room. Throughout the show, Sam has run-ins with real Universal artists (who appear in cameos on the show), resentfully does errands for the boss, and secretly builds his recording empire. Meanwhile, he has the hots for Kate, his co-worker, who gets her own spin-off, 'Kate's Love-in,' while BFF character Johnny only gets a podcast.
Oh god this is so postmodern. [Source,
AOL]
(
Disclosure: Bebo.com is an online service owned and offered by AOL, which also owns and operates Switched.com)
