December 20, 2007 – 8:04 pm
I met David Byrne twice. Once when the Talking Heads played the Boomer Theater in Norman, Oklahoma on tour for their second album. We sat up in the old projection room aka green room sipping Heineken’s with the rest of the band. And once a few years later in the Stop Making Sense days when they played the Agora Ballroom in Dallas, Texas, again backstage, which actually was on the other side of the building from the stage. Anyway, David has always been a smart guy. Here he is spot on.
What is called the music business today, however, is not the business of producing music. At some point it became the business of selling CDs in plastic cases, and that business will soon be over. But that’s not bad news for music, and it’s certainly not bad news for musicians. Indeed, with all the ways to reach an audience, there have never been more opportunities for artists.
Read the full article here
December 7, 2007 – 12:13 pm
The science of robots gets better and better. Balance seems to have been solved, and now dexterity has been added to the robotic mix.
Toyota’s new robot can play the violin, help the aged
TOKYO (AFP) — Toyota Motor on Thursday unveiled a robot that can play the violin as part of its efforts to develop futuristic machines capable of assisting humans in Japan’s greying society.
The 1.5-metre-tall (five-foot), two-legged robot wowed onlookers with a faultless rendition of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance.
Read the whole article here
November 29, 2007 – 3:36 pm
The predictions for what will be hot next are a staple at this time of year. This is true for consumer items and for business trends. I liked this list of marketing ideas for 2008.
Few marketing programs completely fulfill one’s hopes. In the new year, marketers should avoid over-hyped opportunities to focus on measuring success by one satisfied customer at a time. Here are the key ideas you should consider.
Time to Green
The Great Outdoors
Get Game
Mobile - I Can Hear You Now
Join the Club
Rise of the Widgets
Roll Video
From Behavioral to Contextual
Focus on the Experience
Marketing as Service
Read the entire article here
November 21, 2007 – 10:24 am
Kids these days. Who can predict what the latest fashion will be or the hit ringtone?
The king of Spain’s recent undiplomatic outburst at the Venezuelan president has become a ringtone hit across Spain. An estimated 500,000 people have downloaded the insult featuring the words “Why don’t you shut up?”, generating a reported 1.5m euros ($2m).
Read the BBC article here
November 19, 2007 – 9:15 am
An undercurrent to the whole music industry crash and burn has been this implied, and sometimes quite overt, notion that the kids today “just don’t value music” and this somehow is the reason why usage of peer-to-peer networks has increased. It seems that the less and less music is valued, the more and more music is illegally downloaded. In fact, if one were to take it to extremes, all this “worthless” music is killing the music business. And the counter-example is that “worthwhile” music is all that is being purchased.
I ain’t buying it. I just think the music business does not know who to measure “value” anymore. And it certainly doesn’t know how to get remunerated for it. This survey seems to validate my view:
As social networking destinations continue to explode, the rules are being rewritten on music promotion and discovery. But questions continue to linger on the best ways - if any - to monetize the action.
Most younger users are dialed into at least one social network, and music is usually threaded throughout the experience. In fact, 39 percent of all social networkers embed music into their profiles, according to a recent UK-based survey by Entertainment Media Research. Users of MySpace and Bebo have much higher rates, at 63 and 65 percent, respectively.
Read the whole article here
November 16, 2007 – 10:42 am
Some new elephants are emerging from the music business model jungle. Concert promoter Live Nation, fresh off a Madonna acquisition (see earlier blog), has added more merchandising to its growing empire.
Concert giant Live Nation has now acquired merchandising group Signatures Network for $79 million, according to deal points disclosed Thursday. Signatures, a specialist in music-related garb, holds licenses to market and sell merchandise from more than 150 artists. That list includes the Beatles, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake and the Grateful Dead. And like competitor Zazzle, Signatures also allows customers and clients to create customized clothing.
The acquisition is part of a larger shopping spree by Live Nation, a quickly-growing music empire. Earlier this year, Live Nation completed its ownership of merchandising group Trunk Ltd., also a serious competitor in the space. Both companies play perfectly for Live Nation, which is grabbing “360-degree” real estate across recording, touring, internet, and merchandising properties. “This acquisition is a key component to our strategy to build a unified business around touring artists, managing their rights holistically and helping them reach their true potential,” explained Michael Cohl, chairman and chief executive Officer of Live Nation Artists, a newly-minted division of Live Nation.
Read the full story here
November 6, 2007 – 2:21 pm
Slowly, ever so glacially slow, the traditional media outlets and big advertisting agencies are beginning to understand the predicament they find themselves. This Ad Age article exposes some behaviors of media consumers and advises how to fit into those consumers’ landscape.
It’s Not the Media That Matter, but the Modes
Tune In: Understand the Mind-Sets That Drive Consumer Behavior
By Rick Milenthal
Published: October 29, 2007
We’ve all read stories heralding the death of advertising as we know it. But have consumers really abandoned advertising?
The answer, it seems, rests on the shoulders of the people who buy our brands and recommend them to others — not with advertisers, marketers or consultants. That’s why we went straight to the source by visiting people’s homes in Columbus, Ohio (a test-marketing Mecca) to do the unthinkable: mess with their media. We deprived them of their TiVos, their laptops and their cellphones. We added ourselves to their e-mail lists. We asked them to journal their feelings and attitudes. We discovered that consumers don’t do what they say, and that they’ve become experts in ignoring and rejecting messages. They can instantly recognize messages that are irrelevant or ill-timed.
More important, we learned that consumers aren’t simply tuning us out; they just want us to tune them in. Spending time with consumers in the real world, where and when they actually engage with media, enabled us to see that when they spend time with media, they do it with a purpose, goal or need that drives their behavior. They enter different modes, or mind-sets, that drive their choices, actions and receptivity to marketing messages.
The Six Modes
The number of consumer modes is endless, but we’ve identified six of the most relevant ones:
- ENTERTAINMENT
People in Entertainment mode are on a mission to be amused. This mode has been around for years (and has been well-served by the media), and TV is still at the forefront.
- INFORMATION
Information-seekers are looking for knowledge to help them make decisions. This mode also has been around for a long time, but now people are searching for information online as opposed to in newspapers and card catalogs.
- DISCOVERY
When consumers look for something new—whether it’s a dessert recipe, a tropical vacation spot or a new station wagon—they’re in Discovery mode. They do this because they want to nourish their minds.
- CONNECTING
Consumers in Connecting mode are building relationships. They now have a world of tools enabling them to stay in touch with friends and family. E-mail is the most popular choice, and social-networking sites give them the next best thing to being there. Text messaging and online gaming allow them to have continuous and instantaneous connections.
- SHARING
Similar to connecting, Sharing mode is a way to create common ground. Video- and image-sharing sites invite millions of people to swap their experiences.
- EXPRESSING
Expressing mode refers to conveying an individual point of view. This is essential because almost anyone can become a valued resource by posting a blog, vlog or podcast.
Read the full article here
October 24, 2007 – 12:35 pm
This should be Marriott’s new ad campaign.
October 12, 2007 – 1:38 pm
Check out artist Kumi Yamashita’s work on light and shadow. I am fascinated by the idea of completely different elements coming together and the reverse effect of disintegration all in one piece.
October 12, 2007 – 11:47 am
Different Skies is an electronic space music festival, a workshop for artists in these and related experimental music genres, a working vacation, an intensive and rewarding creative environment, and many more things. It is held here at Arcosanti, which was recently featured in a New York Times article.
Jim will be performing at Different Skies 2007 during the week of October 14-20, 2007. Rehearsals and jams will be streamed evenings from 7-9pm Arizona time on the internet courtesy of StillStream.com, as will the 2-hour concert from 7:30-9:30pm on Saturday, October 20.
To receive the broadcast, point your browser to stillstream.com, click on the “Listen” tab, and follow the directions. StillStream works with iTunes quite well. There is also a chat function on StillStream where you can interact with the artists as they play.