Gerd Leonhard's Blog on The Future of Music, Media & Entertainment

Cell phone-shot video of RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol at Canadian Music Network 2007

Recorded with my Sony Ericson W810 I, at the Canadian Music Event 2007 conference. Barely audible (I was too far away, really) but still, a quite remarkable cut that I managed to snag from Mitch Bainwol, CEO of the RIAA "You cannot give up on the notion that music is property because once you do you almost by definition reduce or diminish the investment in the private music sector..."
Download cannot_give_up_on_the_notion.3gp

I got news for you, Mitch: the notion of music being 'like any other property' was only possible in an entirely controlled, monopolized market. That was TEN years ago. Music is all about ACCESS, today. The question of property is moot - monetize access!  Watch this

Download riaa_cannot_give_up_on_the_notion_of_music_as_property.mp4

Great Schopenhauer Quote on...well.... what I do

This just about summarizes much of my work: "The task is not so much to see what no one yet has seen, but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everyone sees" Arthur Schopenhauer

BBC: The foundations of traditional media will be swept away

Link: Podcasting News: Big Shock Coming for Traditional Media.

BBC Director-General Mark Thompson thinks that public media providers need to change quickly to adapt to the realities of on-demand media.

“There’s a big shock coming,” according to Thompson.“The second wave of digital will be far more disruptive than the first and the foundations of traditional media will be swept away, taking us beyond broadcasting.”

Sirius, EMI Agree On Player Deal - Forbes.com

Link: Sirius, EMI Agree On Player Deal - Forbes.com.

My favorite quote in here:
"Sirius chief executive Mel Karmazin, whose service has 4 million subscribers, told an investor conference this week that if music labels wanted to increase the rates they charge satellite companies for their offerings, then they should stop offering conventional broadcasters their music free of charge"

Broadcasting is becoming DISTRIBUTION!

Orrin Hatch on 'destroying file sharer's machines ;)

 

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“"If we can find some way to [stop filesharing] without destroying their machines, we'd be interested in hearing about that. If that's the only way, then I'm all for destroying their machines.” –Senator Orrin Hatch (writer of Our Gracious Lord, Climb Inside His Loving Arms, and How His Glory Shines). BBC link here

new ideas... old ideas

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones." — John Cage Perfect description of the musicbusiness?

music quotes

good source here

The Kazaa judge in Oz says:

"You're entitled to protect your copyright. You're not entitled to control the Internet," Federal Court Justice Murray Wilcox told the record companies' lawyers on Thursday. ....

Computers are useless

Pablo Picasso: "Computers are useless, they only give answers" What to do?

One of my own: go with the flow ;)

"There's more interest in music, today, then ever before. People are listening to online radio, digital radio, satellite radio, AND terrestrial radio, buying IPods and MP3 players and MP3 sunglasses and music gizmos of many kinds, ripping their CDs and converting their records, buying concert DVDs, watching music television and music shows, downloading from the web, buying ringtones, buy games because of the music that's been sued, and on and on. We just have to get used to the fact that they do it DIFFERENTLY than they used to. No big deal to most industries: the customer has changed - they change as well - witness banking, travel, airlines -- EasyJet versus Swissair, anyone? SouthWest vs United?   Not here: on top of these ivory towers, many misguided music execs STILL would rather unplug the customer, outlaw customer behavior changes and put the friction back in a more and more friction-free world. This is doomed. Instead, go with the flow, sell music like water, make it ubiquitous. Exposure leads to discovery leads to::: SALES." There's more money in it for everyone"   Gerd Leonhard, Musicfuturist