Corey Graham 2.0N Biz Blog

This Blog has been Moved!!!

corey — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:25:25 -0200

This blog is now hosted at www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog - As you can expect I am ever evolving and when its time to move its time to move.

Now if you are reading this message in an RSS Reader it would mean that you are not subscribed to my feedburner feed. This means that when I change feeds you would not have a seamless transition and you will have to subscribe to - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/coreykgraham.

Subscribe to my feedburner feed! It helps me to know who is reading which is certainly a motivation to keep writing.

This move is going to be a pretty silent one, no big splash.

Subscribe in a reader

CARIBBEAN MUSIC COMES TO BOOM UP THE UK @ Major Music Industry Festival

corey — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:56:04 -0200

Things are happening! Here is a press release I just received, It explains it all ...

CARIBBEAN MUSIC COMES TO BOOM UP THE UK!

Caribbean music and music businesses are set to get a major profile booster shot as Liverpool SoundCity and Miribai Communications (Trinidad & Tobago) join forces to begin major UK and worldwide promotion for Caribbean artists and music business, starting with a launch at Liverpool SoundCity.

Headed up by David Pichilingi and Becky Ayres, Liverpool SoundCity, in conjunction with Josanne Leonard, Miribai Communications, who is also on the board of the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) the umbrella organisation for AIM and other international independent associations, the partnership will include the development of Caribbean artists in the UK, spanning promotion at industry events and festivals, plus building the extension of networks for Caribbean music within the UK music industry.

"We are very proud to be working with the Caribbean region on SoundCity 2009 and beyond. The love of the music is something we are both deeply passionate about. This is the start of a much wider and deeper business relationship that will see us working on a range of exciting projects together over the coming years."
David Pichilingi, Festival Director, Liverpool SoundCity

“Over the past few years Miribai has been hard at work building up strategic alliances in the UK and other markets to support our Caribbean creative industries. Our region is a major producer of music and other cultural products, with artists such as Eddy Grant, Shaggy, Billy Ocean and Rhianna having major profiles in the UK, so we’re excited about this relationship and the platform it provides to roll out a range of projects to support a sustained presence in the UK and Europe and add real value to our region’s artists and creative businesses. We’re in for the long haul. ”

Josanne Leonard, Miribai Communications

With over 133 different varieties of Caribbean music, and a population of over 40 million people, many of whom are active musicians, producing fantastic music which is heard and resonates in influences all over the world, the Caribbean represents a force to be reckoned with within the music industry worldwide. Success from international artists such as Eddy Grant, Billy Ocean, Jimmy Cliff to lesser known supposedly ‘niche’ artists who yet command audiences of thousands at reggae, raga, dancehall, soca and all myriad of Caribbean influenced festivals and concerts, means that the Caribbean musical heart beats passionately throughout the world.

The UK is strategically, culturally and economically the ideal place for the Caribbean to establish a firm foothold, not only to access the UK but also other European markets. As the third largest music market in the world, and with 1.3 percent of the UK population being of Afro-Caribbean descent, Caribbean musical culture already resonates strongly on the British cultural psyche. There is a great need to nurture this however, and to help Caribbean music to flourish as the mainstream genre it rightfully and actually is, and the setting up of a UK initiative in 2009, is a crucial step in enabling this to happen.

Liverpool SoundCity (20th - 23rd May 2009) www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk the UK's biggest summer city music festival and business conference, which in 2008 hosted 25,000 music fans and industry, 322 bands, in 22 venues over 4 days and nights.

The Sunday Times: 'Top Festival for 2008'

The Observer: 'A music industry festival that will rival South By Southwest'

NME: ''some of the hottest acts ever to grace a city with real musical heritage!'

In May 2009, Liverpool SoundCity will showcase over 70 acts from 25 different countries, to an audience of music industry and fans, with artists from the Caribbean at the forefront of the event. Music industry delegates invited to watch the artists perform will include those who work in music making (artists, production), marketing (plugging and promotion), film and video making, design, booking agents, venue owners, promoters, management and the core business (record labels, publishing, production companies).

Liverpool SoundCity was founded in 2006 by Dave Pichilingi as a means to promote music from the NorthWest region on the UK internationally. The festival itself began in 2008 as part of the European Capital of Culture which was bestowed upon Liverpool to recognise its cultural richness and diversity.

Dave Pichilingi’s background is in the management and marketing of major and independent record labels, including RCA/BMG, Produce, V2, EMI and Factory Records. He has worked extensively with music artists and has accumulated a total of 3.5 million unit sales worldwide. He is currently Director, Liverpool Sound City, Director of Robot Records, Director of the Masque Venue (Barfly) Ltd, and Director of Tri-tone Music, who publish Liverpool band, The Coral amongst others. He is Chairman, Music Development Agency (North West) Ltd. An adviser and consultant to a range of music businesses and forums, David holds degrees of BA (Hons) in Drama and English from Lancaster University and MBA from the University of Liverpool.

Liverpool SoundCity’s International Director, Rebecca Ayres, has worked closely with Miribai Communications, the main stakeholder for the project for over a year, having helped launched the Caribbean Pavilion and presence at London Calling in June 2008 which saw over 30 Caribbean music businesses and artists coming to London for 2 days of an international music business conference, exhibition, networking and showcasing. As the International Events Director at Liverpool Sound City and formerly London Calling, Rebecca has extensive experience of working with music export offices worldwide, and helping to develop relationships for them in the UK, with a diverse range of contacts including BPI, AIM, MMF, MPA, UK Trade & Investment, British Council, British Underground, and many large and small independent companies ranging from labels and artists managers to booking agents and promoters.

Both Dave, Rebecca and the rest of the Liverpool SoundCity team are committed to helping international artists to raise their profiles at Liverpool SoundCity through showcasing and targeted promotion to music industry and fans, not only from Liverpool, but from the UK and all over the world making it the ideal partner to promote Caribbean music in the UK and Europe. Liverpool SoundCity has close relationships across the whole of the UK music industry, including:

Associations: BPI, AIM, UK Trade & Investment, Music Managers Forum, Music Publishers Association, UK Music, British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, Musicians Union, Arts Council, British Underground, British Council

Record Labels and Publishers: Universal, EMI, Warner Music, Sony BMG, Beggars Group, Ministry of Sound, Wall of Sound, Deltasonic, Moshi Moshi, Because Music, DFA Records, Ed Banger Records, Heavenly, Domino, Warp, Anjuna Beats, Sentric Music, the AIM membership, which includes 800+ independent labels

Live Promoters: The Liverpool SoundCity Live promoters include Eat Your Own Ears www.eatyourownears.com, one of the most foremost promoters working in live music today, plus promoters who work on the following festivals and events: Leftfield Stage at Glastonbury, Field Day, Underage Festival, The Great Escape, Concrete and Glass, Warehouse Project, End of the Road, and Medication, a student night in Liverpool which has drawn a crowd of 3,000 every Wednesday night for 15 years!

Booking Agents: William Morris, CODA Agency, ITB, Primary Talent, XRay Touring.

PR: Liverpool SoundCity’s PR company Idea Generation www.ideageneration.co.uk will help in promoting the Caribbean music export desk. Idea Generation is the UK’s largest arts, cultural and entertainment PR agency with clients including the Edinburgh Comedy festival, ICA, British Council Film Dept, Amazon.co.uk, The Big Chill festival and Monkey: Journey to the West amongst many others.

Media: Liverpool SoundCity has strong relationships with Clash Magazine, NME, Mojo, Q, Uncut, MTV, BBC Radio, BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing, NME Radio, Xfm, The Guardian, The Observer, The Times, Sunday Times, Independent, Telegraph, Music Week, Virtual Festivals, efestivals, NME.com Stool Pigeon, Artrocker, Record of the Day, Last.fm, Rushes Film Festival and is working closely with the Miribai Communications to ensure that all relevant media, both mainstream and underground are targeted and cultivated.

Brands: Liverpool Sound City, through its sponsorship partners Big Fish Events www.bigfishevents.co.uk has strong relationships with brands such as Red Bull, Red Stripe, Gaymers Cider, Guitar Hero, Smirnoff, and is constantly developing relationships with new brands which are relevant for SoundCity and its partners.

“We are incredibly excited about our relationship with Miribai Communications to enable success for Caribbean music in the UK, and believe that the Caribbean artists who will perform this year at Liverpool SoundCity will be a huge asset to the festival. We’re looking forward to welcoming artists, music industry, media and officials from all over the region and will ensure that the artists performing are given great exposure to give them maximum opportunities to be seen by a music loving industry, media and fan based audience. I think it’ll be one of the highlights of the whole event!”

For further information, please contact:

UK: Rebecca Ayres +44 7977 201 852 beckyayres(at)liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk

Caribbean: Josanne Leonard + 1 868 633 3397 miribai(at)tstt.net.tt

Innovation And Creativity In The Mid Week

corey — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:24:07 -0200

Its the mid week and I am sure that some of your great hopes of things to accomplish this week have started to fizz a little. And you are a bit stuck sitting at your desk with a big pile of things still to be done.

And here comes Corey Graham 2.0 to challenge you. Yeah that's right I am challenging you to step back, and take a few minutes to try to see things from another perspective.

You never know what you might come up with! Its not that scary!!

Let me share some ideas I received in an email last week. Ordinary things, taken from another perspective....

Give Yourself Permission ... To Work Smart

corey — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:39:26 -0200

I have to be honest the past few months have been quite a roller coaster ride for me. The strides I made in the early part of 2008 towards working smart, had slowly slipped through my fingers.

No, no, no lol, its not that I became less smarter, definitely not! Don't get me wrong! I am talking about "Working Smart". My time, money and energy were not utilized in the right way. My priorities were a big fuzzy and well we know that things to do list was not being referred to as much as I should have been doing.

As a part of getting on track and sticking there, one of the key things I decided to do was to give myself permission..... I gave myself permission to take time to learn how to do my job faster. It's something that in 2008 I missed. I was always focused on just getting the job done and making the deadlines. This year I have been spending more time to "work smart".

Let me give you an example.

I created filters for my gmail 2 of them being a documents filter and images filters. Now, anytime someone sends an image or document to me it gets highlighted. Most of the images I get are actually posters and the documents are proposals. These filters make it a no brainer to find documents or posters in no time amidst the tonnes of emails the flow into my inboxes on a daily basis. It has made my life soo much easier. Let share them with you, after all sharing is caring. And I do care!

For GMAIL
(Matches: (.jpg OR .png OR .gif OR .bmp OR .jpeg) has:attachment
Do this: Apply label "Pic")
Matches: (.doc OR .pps OR .xls OR .pdf OR .docx OR .ppsx OR .xlsx) has:attachment
Do this: Apply label "Docs")

Some of the other things I did were -
- Get my facebook under control
- Organize my workspace making sure I have all my tools to get the job done
- Organise my blackberry alerts using - AlertMatrix

Basically I allowed myself to also question my workflows to see if they were effective. In some cases they needed to be changed. I found a change in my perspective of some tasks made my load much lighter. E.g, writing and presenting I not treat as one in the same. They are both communication, different forms of communication but none the less they are communication. I think the key though to working smart especially in this recession time is to build a network of persons and develop healthy give and take relationships. Solve your problems together.

Are you capable of giving yourself the permission to work smart? Are you ready for the next level?

Corey Graham 2.0^{N
www.coreykgraham.com}

How To Lime On A Fridays .... According To CG 2.0N

corey — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 02:21:53 -0200

Its Friday, time for a good lime time to relax, grab a beer and chill out with some good friends. Talk about the week's joys and sorrows, and of course talksome foolishness.

I am sure that at the time of posting some of you are reaching for another beer, or calling for another round. Others might have already reached their limit and tapping out, no more alcohol. Yet others might not have touched a drop of alcohol, but enjoying laughing and the energy of the time.

If you ever limed with me you that I have a tendency to get a little loud and share in the spirit of the moment with everyone else. I won't tell you about that time I .... Anyways back to the blog post.

Most of you will read this post after you have had their usual friday "after work lime", when all the boose has passed out of your system and thinking clearly again and looking forward to a new week which will of course have another Friday.

Now, for next week I want for you to focus on only talking about the things you are committed to, and do not present those random thoughts and ideas to people like if they are set in stone. Basically just trying to impress.

"Come On don't go into denial, it's just you and me here. You know you do that! Mention little things while you are accepting another beer, paid for in full by your listener. Ah lol. So you doooo know what I am talking about now?"

Alrite good we are on the same page, now here is what I would like you to try to do next week. Put away the conversational goals and deals. Yes, those ones that pretty much the only thing about them is that they sound good. You have in no way committed to them. Try to stick to sharing them as ideas. Actually be honest! Start your statement with "I had an idea..." Of course its fine to share those things you have actually committed to. Its this fakeness, I am talking about.

The short version is, make sure you are a person of your word.

I am not saying to not to discuss your ideas. I am 100 % behind sharing of ideas however, I am also a fan of being a person of your word. It is something I have become very aware of over the last year especially noticing how my influence has grown since I started to take blogging seriously. I found out ...

If you want to grow your audience and your influence, keeping your word is key. Give people the opportunity to believe and find comfort in your words. This earns you their attention and respect in a significant way. In a very silent way, but in a significant way, One day you might wake up and find your words reach far beyond your imagination. Corey Graham 2.0^N

Do the things you say you are going to do. REMEMBER , if you know there is a good chance that you might not do it, don't communicate it with any definate details. Give yourself the opportunity to keep your word! Keep social, keep liming its important. Enjoy next Friday night.

Oh btw you owe me a beer!

Corey Graham 2.0^N

www.coreykgraham.com

REVIEW of the Book - The One Minute Entrepreneur

corey — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:17:11 -0200

The One Minute Entrepreneur By Ken Blanchard, Don Hutson and Ethan Willis

The One Minute Entrepreneur was an interesting read. It was different from most of the business books I have read as it was told in a story form. It was about Jud's life and his Journey to become and successful entrepeneur. I found this format to be refreshing as it had a slight element of suspense as to what would happen to Jud next. The bigger purpose where the "One Minute Insights" he learned as he journeyed through life. This allowed the book to take a wholistic approach to the idea of being an entrepreneur.
However, if I had to make a comparation to One Minute Manager I would say that One Minute Manager was a more ground breaking book for me personally because of how it was presented. The One Minute Entrepreneur also had its moments are are some of the insights that stood out for me.

Some of the key insights were

Associate with people you admire and can learn from.
You'll be the same year after year except for the people you meet and the books you read.
When you feel moments impacting your destiny, seize the opportunity.
On the entrepeneurial path, few people come int your life without a reason.
To build a great marriage, especially if you're an entrepreneur, make sure you commit to spending time together outside of meals and sleeping
Never let your expenses outstrip your revenue.
Don't be a banker for ur customers. Timely collection of invoices is crucial
As an entrepreneur, the secret to success is generating CASH, CASH, CASH.
Profit is the applause you get for taking care of your customers and creating a motivating environment for your people.
Working people today want a partnership relationship, not a top-down hierarchy.
Giving can be much more rewarding than receiving.

Overall it was a very refreshing read and also short and sweet. There were some very valueable lessons. One point that also did hit home to me which was not highlighed was hat many persons are married singles because they truly don't get involved with each others passions etc. They simply share a bed and share a table a meal time!

I would recommend that you give it a read!

If you want to purchase the book you can do it here on my Amazon Affliates Store - I actually get a percentage of your purchase, which I can assure you will go along way in me improving my blogging.

PURCHASE One Minute Entrepeneur BOOK HERE

I know some of you like me enjoy the audio books so I have included that for you here -

PURCHASE One Minute Entrepeneur AUDIO BOOK HERE

Corey Graham 2.0^N

http://www.coreykgraham.com

Career 2.0 - Getting Started

corey — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:52:19 -0200

The Challenge With Career 1.0

My idea of building a career is a little bit different. Honestly let me stop trying to be cool...It is a lot different from what I have learnt as I grew up in this world. My society and surroundings taught me to get into a particular discipline and keep my focus there. Build my career from that. Its not that i completely disagree with this approach, however I have found it to be incomplete in the context of my life. I couldn't quite decide where I should focus my energy. I have spent a lot of time with persons between the ages of 18 - 24 over the last 2 years and I realised that, similarly to me this way of thinking actually causes them more pain than good. They analyse themselves and their talents and think in many cases they realise that they are passionate about several different disciplines.

This can range from drama to music to marketing to business to engineering, and the list goes on and on. They become disillusioned by too much choice. They have too many paths that their life can take.

2.0 On Career 2.0

I would like to put forward a new perspective. Instead of making your mind about which career path you should take. Take some time and make a big mission or dream you would like to accomplish. Something the lends to your different passions. Once you have completely appointed yourself to fulfil this mission then you can build your career. Make yourself the General!

Now General 2.0 you can relax a little bit, because you know you are going after something you want. As the world is now evolving in to what some term as the new industrial revolution, you can now creatively blend your different talents and passions into a "pepperpot" that defines you and fulls your hunger to accomplish your mission/dreams. Web 2.0 is creating several new possibilities available to everyone.

Creative and talented people, especially in the Caribbean have so much to offer the world. Spread your wings and fly.

Corey Graham 2.0^N
http://www.coreykgraham.com

Podcast : Music 2.0 And The Caribbean (Interview with Simone Harris)

corey — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:29:20 -0200

My first interview turns about to be with young aspiring Music Executive Simone Harris. A Jamaican by birth Simone now lives in Miami where she is pursuing her passion for the music business.
Simone and I discuss the evolution going on in the music industry and how it relates to the Caribbean.

Who Is Simone Harris?
At 26, former LaCadco dancer turned Entertainment Business Consultant, Simone Harris is on her way to completing her 2nd masters degree in Music Business at Florida Atlantic University. She is the first Jamaican to be registered in the program and the only female. Read More on Simone http://kingston21.wordpress.com/about/

LISTEN HERE -

CLick here to download http://www.mypodcast.com/fsaudio/coreykgraham_20090228_0959-389869.mp3

The Steel Pan Has Evolved Into P.H.I. - A Caribbean Innovation ..... The Magic Drum

corey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:09:03 -0200

I am one to always support innovation in the Caribbean... We all know Trinidad Carnival is in full swing and Mr Machel Montano is singing about some "Magic Drum". I knew it was a steel pan tune but little did i know it was not an ordinary steel pan, Machel was singing about. It is actually the P.H.I.

Yeah that is right P.H.I. - Percussive Harmonic Instrument or PHI (pronounced “Fie”). It was developed in the Steel Pan Research Laboratory of the UWI St. Augustine Campus.

"P.H.I. merges the powerful facility of MIDI with a physical form inspired by the traditional steelpan. MIDI is an acronym for Musical Instrument Device Interface; MIDI facilitates the communication of electronic music synthesizers over a network."

Basically, the P.H.I. allows the steel pannist to play his music as usual. However he can now make the output sound like anything he likes. A piano? Guitar?

Yup, that's it. The Magic Drum. The P.H.I. is now here. and ready for shipping! There is no price on the website but I am sure its going to cost a pretty penny!

I must also commend them on their 2.0 marketing. Its early days yet and they have a Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Augustine/PHI-PercussiveHarmonicInstrument/52268949383

a youtube page -
http://www.youtube.com/phiteamvids

Along with a website of course - http://www.panadigm.com

Innovation in the Caribbean. I am all for it! And to top it off. There are some of the videos of Machel Performing with the P.H.I.

Music 2.0 By A Jamaican Dancer Turned Entertainment Business Consultant (Guest Post)

corey — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 10:36:42 -0200

This is actually my very first guest post. Its time for me to build my network! Also how fitting this post should be about something that is 2.0! It was actually written by Simone Harris a dancer turned Entertainment Business Consultant.

Yup! She has the 6 pack the prove it! Well at least had the 6 pack. I don't know the current state of affairs... lol
I actually read it in a facebook note and asked her to allow me to use it on my blog. Next thing I know I have my first guest post and contributor to my blog...funny how things happen in life. I must say that Simone is very passionate and driven. She is very much searching for ways to help the Caribbean music industry flourish. She certainly doesn't know when her focus and passion can inspire others to carry on.
Read more about Simone Harris here - http://kingston21.wordpress.com/about/

Here is her piecce...

Music 2.0 By A Jamaican Dancer Turned Entertainment Business Consultant (Guest Post)

On Feb 5th, I entered the Globe Lobby of the Los Angeles Times Building in downtown Los Angeles as the only Caribbean representative at the 2nd annual EconMusic Conference, organized by UK based ContentNext Media. This year’s conference focused on the key strategic issues surrounding the economics of the digital music industry.

By the end of the first panel discussion which featured Courtney Holt (President, Myspace Music), David Ring (EVP, eLabs, Universal Music Group), Cory Ondrejka (SVP, Digital Strategy, EMI Music), Michael Spiegelman (Head of Yahoo! Music) and Chris Stephenson (GM, Global Marketing, Entertainment Business, Microsoft) I had to wonder whether Jamaica and by extension the Caribbean region was ready for the technologically driven strategies that industry players are implementing in order to remain competitive in the global music industry.

MUSIC 2.0?

Technology and music are much more intertwined than ever before and to become or remain competitive in the marketplace, ALL industry players MUST experiment with new technologies, new business models, and take on partnerships with providers of music hardware and software in order to satisfy the call for “ubiquity of music.”

The term “Music 2.0” (coined by Gerd Leonhard) correctly describes the nature of today’s music business, driven by digital, web-based strategies that allow consumers to access, acquire and interact with music in ways not previously available.

NEW BUSINESS MODELS

The Music 2.0 landscape has acted as a category 5 hurricane in the music business because it has allowed for the introduction of new players such as Live Nation (the largest booking agency for live shows in the world) and thousands of independent labels utilizing digital distribution strategies and forcing major labels to revisit their outdated business models.

David Ring from Universal Music Group and EMI executive Cory Ondrejka discussed the relevance of any single business model that could satisfy the needs of artists, labels, publishers and consumer. But the discussion proved that even the members of the “Big 4” (Sony, UMG, WMG and EMI) have no exact answer for a “best business model” and they are unable to predict with any level of certainty what type of model would stabilize the industry and technology in which form would rule supreme.

Major labels at this point have simply preferred to take on a slight experimental approach (allowing themselves just enough wiggle room to hold on to their massive 75% dominance in the music industry). Their only suggestion was that any player in the music industry must try to ADAPT to the dynamic changes.

Are players in the Caribbean ready to adapt? Or will we simply follow the lead of foreign entities and try to make their strategies work in our region and for our music? This may be much more than detrimental than we think.

Fred Croshal founder and CEO of Croshal Entertainment Group (www.croshalgroup.com) and former executive at SonyBMG and Maverick Music was a refreshing addition to the conference introducing his alternative business model, what he calls, the VIRTUAL RECORD LABEL. According to Croshal, who has been involved with the sale of over 100 million albums over his 30 year span in the music business “…the structure of the label gives the artist 100% ownership of their masters and allows for faster reaction time, lower costs and better results for the artist.” Croshal’s label provides the same services an artist would receive at a major label: sales, marketing, song placement, internet, publicity, budget management but there are no costly overheads to recoup. Could this model be the way of the future?

Croshal represents American Idol winner Rubben Studdard, RnB star Yamin Elliot, Jupiter Rising, Jackson Browne and numerous other hugely successful American acts.

Will Jamaican artists continue to look to the “Big 4” for deals when most major acts like Madonna, Janet Jackson, Jay Z, Nickelback, and Bruce Springsteen are moving away from them driven by a desire to actually “own” their music?

MYSPACE MUSIC AHEAD OF THE GAME

Courtney Holt, newly appointed President of Myspace Music and former EVP of Digital Music & Media at MTV Networks, delved into developments at the new arm from Myspace. Privately funded and driven by advertising revenue, and sponsorship, Myspace Music is an expansion of the different ways that members of the Myspace community can interact with artists and discover new music. They have come out ahead of the pack in terms of exploiting the social networking model to expand the reach and popularity of an artist and their music.

Myspace Music has several Jamaican artists listed under their Reggae category but so far none have been a featured artist or offered a deal for “secret shows” such as those received by 23-year-old British artist, Lilly Allen (3 secret shows on 3 continents). According to Holt, these “secret shows” have driven record sales for these artists in the hundreds of thousands. MySpace Music launched the Secret Shows franchise in January 2006 and has since hosted such acts as Rilo Kiley, Moby, Maroon 5, the Killers, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tenacious D, Ice Cube, James Blunt and Neil Diamond in cities around the world.

MOBILE MUSIC DEVELOPMENTS

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

Even before XM and Sirius radio entered the market, several companies such as Yahoo! Music and Rhapsody had experimented with subscription offers for music consumers. All that have trekked this road have later on abandoned the idea. When I pressed Chris Stephenson from Microsoft about the need for change in consumer perception as it relates to music as a product, he agreed that there is a need to shift consumer perception from “ownership of music” to “access to music.”

If consumers continue to view music as a product to be physically owned, there will always be resistance to paying a monthly service charge to access music.

TICKETING

In Japan today, music lovers are able to purchase concert tickets directly from their mobile phones. I directed this question to members of the Mobile Music panel: Jeff Annison (Founder & CEO, Underground Labs), Daniel Cohen (VP, Business Development, Dada Entertainment) and Tom Conrad (CTO, Pandora) who all agreed that very soon mobile phone companies in the US will be following suit to possibly partner with event promoters or ticketing agencies such as TicketMaster and Live Nation, as this is a viable option in the market of bringing artists closer to their fanbase.

Jamaica has Island Stubs (www.islandstubs.com) is this a viable option for us as well? Have their executives started negotiations with entities in the mobile arena to possibly provide such a service?

THE DEATH OF THE CD

Currently, Microsoft is heading into a deal with BestBuy to offer preloaded ZUNES based on music that consumers like. Do we foresee any of these ZUNES being preloaded with Reggae/Jamaican/Caribbean music?

At this point the deal is being inked between Microsoft and the major labels, with Universal being a big fan of the idea. This move is a reflection of an effort on the part of record labels to utilize “recommendation technology” and “play catch up” to what other entities like Amazon and iTunes have been doing for years to better understand the needs of consumers. In addition to the massive 45% decline in CD sales since 2000, this ZUNE agreement signals the ever-nearing “death of the CD.”

Is VP Records and local acts who are still thinking of “pressing a CD” ready for this move? What plans does Record Plaza, Music Mart, Derek Harriott, CD Centre, Music Fair, and others have in store for Jamaican music consumers when the CD is out of the picture?

During the conference there was mention of many who stand to benefit from this new dynamism and the falling of old business models but is the Caribbean region technologically ready?

By the end of all the presentations I left the LA Times Building feeling that without the necessary technological infrastructure Jamaica and the Caribbean will most definitely be left behind in the shift to MUSIC 2.0.

Simone Harris BSc, MBA, MS in Music Business
Read more about Simone Harris here - http://kingston21.wordpress.com/about/