Samsung in reported $25 million tie up with Rihanna

The New York Post reports that electronics giant Samsung has reached an unprecedented $25 million deal to sponsor Rihanna’s upcoming album and tour, The Post says the Rihanna deal follows seven months of talks and is the biggest music-marketing tie-up in recent memory. Hammering out the details took longer than expected in part because Rihanna made some last-minute tweaks to the album, sources said. The news comes just a day after The Post reported exclusively that representatives of Adele, the 27-year-old UK pop star, are pushing Apple — and perhaps other companies — for a $30 million commitment to back her upcoming album and an as-yet announced world tour.

Samsung launches tickeless technology at Knebworth

Samsung Electronics UK has today announced its involvement in the first roll out of ticketless technology at live music events in the UK. As part of an association with Kilimanjaro Live and Intellitix, Samsung will bring RFID technology to festival goers for the first time this summer promising secure access to the gigs and virtually no queues. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ upcoming gig at Knebworth on 23rd June will mark the first time the technology has been used by an artist anywhere in Europe. This will be followed by music and wakeboarding festival Wakestock, which is set to become Europe's most technologically advanced festival after deploying the technology.  

Special RFID wristbands are being issued which will be read on arrival to validate visitors’ entry. At the wearer’s discretion, the bands can be linked to their social media profiles or used to enter competitions associated with both events. The promoter of both events, Stuart Galbraith from Kilimanjaro Live, commented: "We’ve been waiting for the opportunity to use RFID technology for a while as it’s a great way to enhance and grow the customer experience for concerts and festivals of the future. We are very excited to be working with Samsung and Intellitix in being one of the first UK promoters to embrace this new technology and look forward to developing adaptations across many events."