Cultivating Personality: DJ Rossstar

DJ Rossstar has managed to infiltrate almost every medium available to an enterprising indie media maven. Starting with a punk rock radio show on idobi broadcast from his apartment where he asks his guests questions submitted from fans via instant message. He’s since expanded his reach into communities on Buzznet and MySpace, and now hosts a video show for havocTV. He even has a DVD for sale, “DJ Rossstar’s Punk Rock Show: Live From My Apartment.”

Here he is strumming a few chords on stage with Green Day:

When I met with Buzznet in LA, they suggested he was a great example of emerging ‘meta-celebrities’ — accessible folks who can trade on their accessibility and their access. Ross (he prefers not to go by his last name) emailed NewTeeVee with some links to check out. Turns out he’s parlayed both his notoriety and skill at fostering community into a new job at Buzznet, and started there this past week.

If you don’t think the guy qualifies as a “web phenomenon,” check out the stats: 83,000 friends on Buzznet, another 36,000 friends on MySpace and a five-star rating for his podcast on iTunes. His video show for havocTV can be seen on Comcast’s video-on-demand, via mobile or on YouTube. If you’re looking to expand the reach of your own content, you might glean a few tips and tricks from studying what he’s done.