Interviews

‘Epic Rap Battles’ Creators on YouTube Success: ‘We Know That it Comes From Real People’

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Peter Shukoff (a.k.a. Nice Peter) and Lloyd Ahlquist (a.k.a. EpicLLOYD) test the boundaries of time with their YouTube series, “Epic Rap Battles of History,” in which the two comedians stage unlikely duets between historical figures and pop culture icons like Babe Ruth versus Captain Kirk. In the final installment of our three-part interview, Peter and Lloyd explain their creative process, what they’re working on for Season 3, and how they are able to make a living on YouTube.

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‘Epic Rap Battles’ Creators on Snoop: ‘He’s an Innovative Dude, That Dude’

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Peter Shukoff (aka Nice Peter) and Lloyd Ahlquist (aka EpicLLOYD) are making friends with their YouTube series, “Epic Rap Battles of History,” in which Snoop Lion (aka Snoop Dogg) appeared as Moses in “Moses vs Santa Claus” in Season 2. With more than 1.2 billion video views and a fan base of 5.4 million YouTube subscribers, ERB has just released a compilation CD with all 18 episodes of its second season. (They’ll be signing these for fans all through June.) In part two of our three-part series, Peter and Lloyd talk about their CD and what it was like to work with Snoop.

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Mediabistro Webcast

"Vine: Create Quick Social Videos To Market Your Brand" Webcast

Speaker Gemma CravenVine has added sound and motion to the popular microblogging website, Twitter. Learn how to bring your information to life in our Vine webcast on Wednesday, June 19 from 4-5 pm ET. In this one-hour webcast, Gemma Craven (left), EVP, New York group director at Social@Ogilvy will discuss best practices for using the visual social platform and share some of her team's successful vine videos. Register here.

Interview: Why the ‘Epic Rap Battles of History’ Creators Have More Subscribers Than Justin Bieber

Photo credit: Todd Williamson

Peter Shukoff (aka Nice Peter) and Lloyd Ahlquist (aka EpicLLOYD) are setting records with their YouTube series, “Epic Rap Battles of History,” in which the two comedians parody historical figures and pop culture icons from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Bill Gates. In part one of our three-part interview, Peter and Lloyd explain their subscriber count, how fans influence their songs, and how to tell the two of them apart vocally. Here’s an edited version of that conversation.

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5 Things Brands Should Know About Pinterest

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“Pinterest is the Google of the visual web,” says Piqora CEO Sharad Verma. Piqora, formerly called Pinfluencer, is an enterprise discovery marketing and analytics suite for Pinterest that works with brands such as ZGallerie and Steve Madden. Although Pinterest doesn’t have advertising just yet, Piqora has learned from its clients that the site can drive long-tail traffic for brands, even beyond 30 days, as users can search for items on the site at their leisure rather than following a particular feed in real-time like they would on Facebook or Twitter. Here are five things that brands should know about Pinterest:

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Interview: How Brooklyn Bowl Uses Social Media

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Brooklynites love Brooklyn Bowl for its 16 bowling lanes, live concerts, cushy leather seats, fried chicken from Blue Ribbon, and selection of Brooklyn Brewery beers, but how does the rest of the world discover a remote corner of Williamsburg that’s big enough for a whole bowling alley? And how does the venue keep New Yorkers coming back for more? Social media.

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What Brands Are Really Doing on Instagram

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Facebook has spread itself all over the map with the help of its photo-sharing app, Instagram. Since Facebook brought the versatile photo editing and sharing tool into the fold in 2012, the platform has seen 2 million likes, comments and shares of Instagram photos. Brands are starting to experiment with the app as a marketing tool, but early use cases show that they’re not just there for the aesthetics.

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