My presentation on The Future of Advertising and Branding, OMD Client-Day 2008 in Duesseldorf, Germany

This speaking mission was on behalf on Omnicom Media Group and  is in German language (great event btw - lots of very smart, very alert and friendly people!) 

PDF 19 MB gerd_leonhard_zukunft_der_medien_und_marketing_omg.pdf

The Flat Rate for Digital Music is coming: Google Elbows Into China With Free Music (ECommerce Times)

Take Note!!! E-Commerce News: Music: Google Elbows Into China With Free Music.

Some quotes and comments:

"The deal would see Google and Top100.cn offer Chinese users free digital music downloads and other services, including free access to a database containing information on their favorite performers such as concert details, links and special ring tones. It is not known whether the music downloads and service will encompass the recording labels' full catalogs or simply tracks from Chinese artists. For their trouble, the music companies will reportedly receive royalties based on individual revenue-sharing models being negotiated with Top100.cn and Google"

Isn't that how it should work everywhere??? But here is why it'll be done in China first:

"While China has one of the largest potential markets for purchasing music online -- it has as many broadband connections as the U.S. -- more than 99 percent of music downloads distributed in China are pirated.."

So does that mean we need to have 99% of all music "pirated" in Europe, as well, before we can get this going here, as well?  When the pain gets big enough.... I wrote in Oct 2005 (!!)

"Looking at the larger picture, Google has chosen to launch its music service in China to "test the waters," said Susan Kevorkian, an analyst at IDC "We believe that Google is testing the waters of the online music service market and that this may be the first of other paid online music initiatives to come from the company over the course of the year," she told the E-Commerce Times. "The company's timing is good -- the major music labels are collectively supporting legitimate sales of DRM-free, MP3-encoded music, which means that Google and other online music service providers can offer music that's compatible with the installed base of iPods, as well as other MP3-enabled devices," Kevorkian continued..."

FINALLY. Google could have been licensed to offer music for the past 5 years - both streaming and downloading. Can you spell CONTROL-OBSESSION?

Marketing2.0: Listen - Broadcast - Pull!

User Generated Music (video)

Interesting new app - got this from their PR people; will give it a try. MusicShake is an online music creation service that provides music composing solutions aimed at the general public without previous musical knowledge or expertise. The service lets users create personalized, professional quality music using various tools and pattern-combination methods. Musicshake is based in Seoul, South Korea, with offices in Los Angeles, CA

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Who Are The "Digitally Savvy (via ReadWriteWeb)

Interesting report here: Who Are The "Digitally Savvy?" - ReadWriteWeb.  US-only, of course, therefore a bit narrow, but still good stuff here.

Via Two Notes Ahead: some good research on "Music Like Water" numbers

Link: “How Much Would We Pay For Music Like Water?” or “Could Music Be A Pure Public Good?” � Two Notes Ahead.

"Gerd Leonhard’s Music Like Water theory is my favourite prediction for music’s future, particularly in the short term. I haven’t been able to find an actual rundown of the numbers, though; an estimate of what it would mean for the consumer is often relegated to “a fixed monthly fee” or “a couple of bucks a month.” That’s where this research comes in...

I took it upon myself to get some numbers and make a rough estimate on what this would cost consumers. Assuming that the music industry would look to match the 2007 sales figures with the fixed cost (since the system can theoretically drive physical purchases down to $0, as unlikely as that is), nearly $7.5 billion would need to be raised in the US (source: RIAA) and $431 million in Canada (source: CRIA)...."

GerdsPresentations: The end of Control (2007 Presentation)

A nice presentation from late 2007: GerdsPresentations: The end of Control.

My talk at the Popakademie in Mannheim Germany: Music2.0 (in German language)

Really nice place, the Popakademie in Mannheim, Germany, and a very clued-in audience. Here is the PDF with my presentation (note: this is in GERMAN LANGUAGE):

Download gerd_leonhard_at_popakademie_mannheim_print.pdf

Thema: "Music2.0: Wohin führt die Zukunft?"

Die Musikindustrie befindet sich in einer totalen Umbauphase. Musiker, Autor, Blogger und Medien-Futurist Gerd Leonhard wird einen Blick in die nächsten 3-5 Jahre der Musikbranche präsentieren und einige seiner Erfahrungen und Visionen teilen. Was erwartet Musiker und Komponisten, Verlage, Labels und Agenturen, wie und wo wird in der Zukunft mit Musik Geld verdient werden, was passiert mit Copyright wenn Musik überall 'frei' erhältlich ist, wo und wann sind die Gelegenheiten und was muss Mann/Frau in der Zukunft können um im neuen Musikbusiness erfolgreich zu sein?

Gerd Leonhard - Musik- & Medienvisionär, Autor, Geschäftsführer von Sonific.com. Das Wall Street Journal bezeichnet Gerd Leonhard als einen der führenden Media Futuristen der Welt. Er formuliert prägnante Thesen und Metaphern (z.B. “Music like Water"), die zur Debatte anregen sowie kontrovers diskutiert und aufgenommen werden.

Check out my new book, Music2.0 here (includes paywhatyouwant PDF download)

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Aloha, Mr. Hands: What I would do with EMI’s new music business at FISTFULAYEN

Good read by Ian Rogers former Yahoo Music Man: Aloha, Mr. Hands: What I would do with EMI’s new music business at FISTFULAYEN.

Cisco Telepresence Video Magic: Virtual presence anywhere?

Wow!

Google: Viacom lawsuit threatens Internet communication - USATODAY.com

Another nice example for the Fight for Control: Google vs Viacom: lawsuit threatens Internet communication - USATODAY.com.

The back-and-forth between the companies has intensified since Viacom brought its lawsuit last year, saying it was owed damages for the unauthorized viewing of its programming from MTV, Comedy Central and other networks, including such hits as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. In papers submitted to a judge late Friday, Google said YouTube "goes far beyond its legal obligations in assisting content owners to protect their works. It said that by seeking to make carriers and hosting providers liable for Internet communications, Viacom "threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment and political and artistic expression...To the contrary, the availability on the YouTube site of a vast library of the copyrighted works of plaintiffs and others is the cornerstone of defendants' business plan," Viacom said.

Geek Marketing (Tara Hunt)

Good post by Tara Hunt: Geek Marketing | ::HorsePigCow:: marketing uncommon.

.... how a new ethic is emerging in marketing. This format is more realistic and relationship driven. Realistic because it doesn’t try to fool itself into thinking that any measurement formerly known as ROI means anything. Click-throughs and traffic and numbers of hits don’t really do it, although if sales are involved, sales still say something. But not everything.

Old Media Still Needs to Get Over its Control Issues (Techcrunch on The End of Control)

A nice link, and mention from Eric Schoenfeld over at Techcrunch: Old Media Still Needs to Get Over its Control Issues.

"The wonderful thing about the Internet is that nobody controls it. And if you can’t control the medium, you can’t control the message. That seems obvious enough in this age 100 million blogs, YouTube, Digg, and Twitter mania. In fact, just this morning I was invited to a Facebook group called End of Control to discuss the issues that arise as control shifts from media companies to consumers. (The group was started by author Gerd Leonhard, who is writing a book on the same subject). Yet industries that are used to control don’t like to give it up. Old media is like that. Even in this day and age, its struggle with control issues continues. Old media knows the relationship with its audience has changed, but it is still not quite sure how to deal with it...."

More on Gerd Leonhard's "The End of Control"

Check out this video

Ed Peto on New Music Models in China (leapfrogging into Music2.0) - Music2.0 is Asian.

Ed Peto has a good post here. The article was originally written for MusicAlly

Here are some high lights and comments:

"China never fully adopted the “traditional” tools of music discovery and consumption: TV, radio and the print press are all heavily monitored by the government and relatively anodyne as a result; CDs never really gained any meaningful traction; live music events are circuses of permits and arbitrary cancellations.The bleak circumstances of China’s music business have resulted in the Chinese consumer inadvertently leapfrogging into the next generation of music consumption, even before their western counterparts."

Comment: Music2.0 is Asian.  And maybe European. Definitely not American.

"The internet has not only afforded a freedom of expression and identity previously unavailable to the Chinese, it has also almost totally usurped the roll of all offline music media: portals, webzines, bulletin boards (BBS), video sites, music blogs, music streaming. In fact, so important has it become as a medium that a full 86.6% of all netizens use the web to listen to music – the highest of any usage including search and email...."

"Full track downloadable MP3s have been (illegally) free to user from the outset, partly because 86% of internet users earn less than $430 per month and partly because China’s poorly enforced copyright law is only just becoming a topic of public debate ie. too late...."

Comment: and it looks very much the same in India, Brazil, Indonesia, Russia - how else can music make money here if it's not BUNDLED into other services i.e. flat-rated, feels like free. Copyright won't help - all-you-can-eat usage rights (licenses) will.

"Leaked reports earlier this year suggest that Google China (g.cn) are planning on partnering with legal music site Top100.cn to offer free-to-user major label catalogue found through Google MP3 search. This arrangement, due to launch towards the end of 2008, would allow Google to compete with incumbent behemoth Baidu in the music search sector but would also signal a seismic change in music consumption: major labels conceding that music must be free-to-user. China is increasingly being seen as a brutal testing ground for radical new models that can survive in a “more than 99%” (IFPI) digital piracy market..."

Comment: this will be a huge shift if it happens - Asia may show the way. Music Like Water. Feels Like Free.