Music

I Thought Alicia Keys Loved Her iPhone. So What’s with the Blackberry Defection?

Alan Cross 1 Comment

At yesterday’s BlackBerry 10 launched, Alicia Keys was introduced as the company’s new Global Creative Director.  This apparently means she will “lead an array of new business initiatives that will drive engagement with BlackBerry and perception of the brand.”

That’s fine.  Many companies are cozying up to celebrities in this way.  But this move by Alicia seems rather disengenous, a blantant opportunistic money grab.  Here’s the evidence:

The New York Times:

The @AliciaKeys account shows posts that were published from an iPhone as recently as three days ago. (Information about how a tweet was posted does not appear on Twitter’s site but does show up in some apps for using Twitter.) There are also photos that were taken with Instagram, an app that is not available for BlackBerry.

Of course, the new BlackBerry phones are not officially available in stores yet. Perhaps Ms. Keys’s relationship with her new phone blossomed only very recently.

Business Insider published this tweet from a year ago:

Then again, everyone is entitled to (a) change their mind; and (b) make a living–especially an artist who needs to find alternate sources of revenue in the age of declining music sales.

The optics may look bad, but can you blame her?  Or can you?

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38040 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

One thought on “I Thought Alicia Keys Loved Her iPhone. So What’s with the Blackberry Defection?”

  • I think we all can figure out what made her change her mind. Blackberry is on the slide and needs an affordable celebrity endorsement, and Alicia Keys is also on the slide and needs corporate sponsorship.

    Blackberry is the chocolate in her peanut butter.

    Reply

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