The wireless industry spends a lot of time looking internally—worried about the operators, the handset manufactures and the even the content companies. But what about the artists? At Mobile World Congress, Singer and Songwriter will.i.am shared his thoughts on how he wants the interact with mobile. The Black Eyed Peas singer and songwriter has a unique perspective. He launched a web site called Dipdive, which he calls a “lifestyle engine,” and was where he originally distributed a short video called “Yes We Can,” which was based on Barack Obama’s popular campaign slogan and a New Hampshire speech. He said the music video was written in one day, the video was shot the next, and by day four they had something to show to record labels. Will.i.am continues to experiment: “Traditionally, you spend all this time on an album, and then give it to the label, and then they sit on it for awhile. ... 2008 was totally different. I made the content and it was released instantly. With the new Black Eyed Peas album coming out, I’m going back to 1998 when CDs were cool.”

Why MWC?: “I get to meet with the cats of tomorrow and see where we are going in mobile. Music is still the most important application for mobile…I came here last year, and I saw Jim [Balsillie, the co-CEO of Blackberry] at a party, and told him about my concept Band To Hand. He hooked us up with program writers, and his program writers and my program writers created the Band To Hand for the BlackBerry.”

What is Band To Hand?: Will.i.am said Band To Hand uses the mobile phone as a wand. He said he can create music in one day, upload the song into his phone and “send it out to all these guys in my feed. Lil’ Wayne can sell 1 million albums in a week, but I can distribute content to two million people in 2 seconds.”

The Big Problem: While all this sounds great, and Will.i.am is gaining viewers and delivering music faster, there’s no more revenue coming in. Will.i.am: “The income has not enhanced yet, but that doesn’t mean you don’t stop dreaming.”

Photo Credit: mariachily