A Fast Company profile of Derrick Ashong's recent work:
More hereDerrick Ashong has a knack for being in the right place at the right time—and for seizing the moment. He became a YouTube sensation during the 2008 presidential campaign, as an unusually passionate and articulate “man in the street” supporting Barack Obama. No stranger to a spotlight—Ashong has fronted a touring band since the late 1990s and scored a part in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad—he parlayed the attention into high-profile gigs hosting programs on Oprah Radio on SiriusXM and on the Al Jazeera English TV network. Now, with his group's Million Download campaign, he is trying to crack the model for monetizing an open-source model of music distribution. Here, he discusses the evolution of social media, guerilla self-marketing, and the importance of embracing the unexpected.
Image courtesy of Fast Company
