Music matters in Asia February 28, 2007
Posted by ashz in DRM, Mobile content, Music 2.0, downloads, mp3, music, music business, music piracy, technology.add a comment
This is written not to be viewed as solutions, but something to think about.
Here are my top 10:
1- Governments should impose stricter copyright laws in order to promote the creative sector as a potential revenue source
2- Education should be the number one tool in creating public awareness on legal digital media usages
3- ISPs should live up to their responsibilities in combating online piracy
4- There should be a restructuring in the whole royalties system, in order to ensure that royalties be paid out to the artists and publishers
5- Major labels should view music as a non-tangible asset, and not selling music by copies, this will revamp the whole business model
6- Artists endorsement deals should be taken into serious consideration
7- Impose taxes for device ownerships, that way music in Asia will be more accessible to the masses, it may be taxing (no pun intended) but it wont be crippling.
8- P2P networks should be made legal, impose more tax for these people
9- Major labels should adopt the P2P approach
9- Abolish DRM, use fingerprinting technology instead
10- Promote artists through mobile content
What are your thoughts?
Do music kiosks actually work? February 27, 2007
Posted by ashz in DRM, Music 2.0, downloads, mp3, music, music business, music piracy, technology.add a comment
The idea sounds promising, the concept seemed inevitable, Starbucks actually invested in music kiosks all over their outlets, many has also been installed on campus grounds hoping to be the next best thing after itunes. Malaysia adopted the idea by placing one in a shopping mall, in a hope to curb illegal pirated CD vendors. This concept is targeted to the impulse buyers, and music aficionados that do not own an internet equipped PC at home. O well, the move for starbucks and the likes seemed bold, and it may sound promising for Malaysia (at least). The fact is, it still failed miserably…
‘local Malaysian company MyMix Sdn Bhd has set up a kiosk in 1 Utama where you can compile and burn your own CDs from a selection of 150,000 songs. It plans to have 300,000 songs available and install kiosks in six other CD shops in the Klang Valley by November. ‘ TechCentral
They even have attendees to guide consumers on the whole downloading process and will also act as a standby technician just in case anything goes wrong. There are a few issues that they didn’t put into consideration- Why would I want to download songs in a shopping mall when I can just do it in the comfort of my home? And most importantly, How does it promote music discovery among consumers? Am I willing to travel all the way to my local mall just to buy a track I discovered on the Internet a few minutes ago? I don’t think so…Not to mention the reliability and the transaction mode, which is done via cash or credit cards.
Its kinda sad to say that we Asians are always a few steps behind breakthrough concepts that has failed in the west, even if Apple decided to go with the idea, which I think is a major contradiction with the whole DRM issue and Steve Job’s open letter to the major labels. Just what are they trying to prove here?
On the other hand however, I think it’s a plausible attempt by the guys to curb piracy and raise the awareness in buying legal downloads. The fact is, this is the most consumer friendly move to date in Malaysia and I very much salute the efforts, but until they can realize that there is no use in fighting piracy with technology, it will take a really long time for kiosks to thrive here.
The results of the DRM poll is finally in! February 26, 2007
Posted by ashz in DRM, Music 2.0, downloads, mp3, music, music business, music piracy.2 comments
The recent poll conducted by The Financial Times showed an overwhelming protest on DRM. 98% of all respondents (of 5800) agreed that DRM should be dropped by the companies. This may be a clear statement for consumers, but is this the case for companies trying to attract major corporations in the business? One example would be bittorrent, launching it’s online video store today, sophisticated copy-protection has been a selling point in their efforts to bring big studios on board.
Fact: Apple has sold more than 2 billion DRM laden songs, while sales for non-DRM laden CDs has plummeted. The issue is, while debates have been ongoing on DRM and how it affects the consumers, will major corporations still see DRM as the ONLY solution in protecting their interests? Is DRM the ultimate panacea in solving the piracy crisis? Who actually benefits from DRM? Will this general dislike for DRM be translated into action?
Five more annoying years of the crazy frog February 26, 2007
Posted by ashz in Mobile content, downloads, technology.add a comment
The frog season is in!
A deal has been struck that means The Crazy Frog will continue to appear in European kids’ games until at least 2012.
‘Myriad Interactive has signed a five-year contract with Eric Wernquist and Kaktus Film for their The Annoying Thing property.’
“The Annoying Thing has now broken through as a global brand, whether you love it or hate it,” said founding partner of Myriad Interactive Leo Zullo.
This invasion covers videogames, ringtones and videotones.
Rumor also has it that they are developing a movie based on the short mobile clip. Scary stuff…
Music stuff to watch out for this year! February 23, 2007
Posted by ashz in DRM, Dj Gear, Gadgets, Mobile content, Music 2.0, dj, downloads, mp3, music, music business, technology, web 2.0.3 comments
I think this year will be a great year for digital music development, the fact that many music 2.0 companies has brought some change in how we experience, use and view music is a bold statement that digital music is here to stay, so ive listed some stuff to watch out for.
- Legal P2P networks (Snocap)
- Music widgets (Sonific)
- Playlists sharing
- Music softwares, new VSTis
- The fusion of DJ and VJ technologies
- Advanced content for mobile phones
- DRM free music
- Mergers
- Music social networking sites
- Podcasts, videocasts
- A new digital music business model (Still crossing my fingers!)
- Music communities
- Gadgets (Iphone)
Lets just wait and see how the year ends for the digital music business!
Some amusing points… February 22, 2007
Posted by ashz in downloads, music, music piracy.add a comment
The ultimate paradox in Asian music downloads = Pricing model February 22, 2007
Posted by ashz in Music 2.0, music, music business, music piracy.2 comments
How much are you willing to pay for digital music? 99 cents for a single? 88 cents (walmart)? Even if you’re willing to pay extra for downloads, the fact is, it will be never enough for the record companies as they’re excuse will always be that “There’s very little money in this to begin with”. Yeah, right. After all, digital downloads only account for several million dollars in transactions in 2005 and 2006. So ultimately, who actually benefits from lower prices? The consumers? The record companies? Steve Jobbs? Whatever the situation may be, lowering digital download prices not only benefits everyone, but gives more room for music discovery and betterments.
The only issue is that, how low is low for Asia? with pirated CDs costs around RM5 in Malaysia (USD 1 something), I dont really think that lowering CD prices in Asia will do any justice to the music business over here. Consider this, The Median income for the Malaysian population is approximately RM1500 (USD 400 plus) , minus taxes, bills, etc, an average earning individual will be left with less that RM 500, to sustain him/her for a month, and with the recent petrol hikes, a CD will be deemed unnecessary indulgence…and I havent included unemployed college kids in the equation.
Local Asian download sites like Soundbuzz and bimbit.com offers (if im not mistaken, but thats not the point) 1.30 USD per download, so how does this sort of pricing appeals to the masses as compared to pirated CDs? How does this pricing model affective in “educating” the public on legal downloads? So the real issue in Asia is not about scarcity in music offerings, resulting in having to buy pirated CDs, but the prices just does not seem to fit in any music business model in Asia.
I discovered that even 99 cents (RM 4 plus, which is equivalent to a full meal in many Asian countries, and daily wage in Indonesia) for a music download, can never, ever attract download significance in Asia. This currency issue is the ultimate barrier in the region, and until we can think of something brilliant for Asia, the future looks pretty bleak indeed, and time is running out…
Mobile phone music piracy - A new wave in Asian music piracy? February 22, 2007
Posted by ashz in DRM, Gadgets, Mobile content, Music 2.0, downloads, music, music business, music piracy.add a comment
The hi-tech mobile phone that you just bought, bundled with never seen before features which enables users to download rich mobile content and full songs on your mobile phone might be the latest nightmare in the Asian music scene which sees a neverending battle in curbing music piracy in Asia.
According to a study of the global music market in 2006 released recently by IFPI, the industry body representing the recording industry worldwide, in some European countries and in Asia, mobile music is developing faster than online music services, boosted by higher penetration of phones compared to portable players or broadband, and by ease of payment.
The sheer size of the mobile market presents the music industry with enormous opportunities, particularly as handsets develop to fully incorporate music. Today there are over 1.5 billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide, a 50 percent increase since 2002.
“Asia leads the way, accounting for half of all mobile subscriptions in 2005,” the study said. “Penetration of music-capable phones in Asia is also the highest in the world, given consumers’ willingness to pay more for their phones.” In Japan, for example, mobile music revenues totaled $211 million (96 percent of digital music revenues) in the first nine months of 2005.
As impressive as the numbers may be, the number of online music piracy in Asia is soaring. More people are only willing to listen to music but are unwilling to buy them, depite efforts by Soundbuzz and music.bluehyppo to offer legitimate music to the Asian market. Soundbuzz, claiming to be the biggest Asian music download site, came up with a brilliant idea of using OMA 1.0 protection technologies which wraps restrictive data to downloaded songs on mobile phones which prohibits file transfers.
What I really think is that it is a very hard road in battling online music piracy, and with the emergence of new technologies, it only takes the concept further, despite efforts to fight music piracy. In Asia, the only way to minimize piracy is through strict legislations and education. Since we can never fight a concept with technology, we have to device another powerful concept, thus, gives us the edge in this neverending battle.
Humble suggestions - Cheaper prices, cheaper prices, cheaper prices….oh did I mention cheaper prices?
Mobile music- The future of mobile content February 21, 2007
Posted by ashz in Mobile content, Music 2.0, mp3, music, music business, technology.add a comment
With more and more features bundles with one’s mobile phone, the idea of a mobile record store was just waiting to happen. Sony Ericson launched a digital mobile store/solution last year and it finally came to our shores, brought to you Malaysia’s Maxis. The mobile platform is aimed for heavy mobile phone customizers.
‘Sony Ericsson claims it sold 60 million music-enabled phones worldwide last year, compared to Apple Inc’s 39 million iPods.
With digital downloads accounting for 10% of the overall market and three billion mobile phones in the world, Ericsson wants a piece of the action.
Ericsson is offering a music download service with access to three million songs in places in Europe and the United States.
With Ericsson’s music offering, users will be able to choose from a large variety of tracks, either from the Napster catalogue, or the operator’s own portal filled with Ericsson aggregated music.
The service delivers content such as ringtones, ring back tones, wallpapers and music videos.’-TechCentral
Their concept is to make the whole music buying experience to be as quick and as efficient as possible and sees the mobile generation is a very demanding and fast moving community.
Version 1 of the OMA DRM standard is used to protect digital media content through encryption and other methods, and controls the usage and delivery of the content.
Is this the new business model for music? February 14, 2007
Posted by ashz in Music 2.0, music, music business.add a comment
I stumbled across an article which may not be new, but gave me something to think about for the future of artists worldwide. The issues on piracy, which is rampant in Asia (South East Asia at least), may not be the end of the world for the future of music and recording artists. In China, for example, piracy is so widely acceptable that even legitimate record stores sell pirated CDs and music material, this situation has led the people of China to believe that a music CD should not cost more than USD4! So how does this situation promotes the artists in producing more material for the market? Answer- Endorsement deals.
“Yu Quan and most other Chinese pop artists similarly find ways to make money other than through selling CDs. A lot of it comes from sponsorship. Clothing, shampoo and computer brands pay to advertise at a concert. A bottled-water company put singer Wang Lee Hom on its products.”- USA Today
So if this is true, this might be one of the answers for future Asian or perhaps all artists worldwide. Since CD sales are plunging and some experts believe that music will be distributed digitally in less than 5 years. Endorsement deals, concerts and merchandise might generate substantial revenues for artists, and CDs will be regarded as a promotional tool. It may sound dire for the artists and record labels, but it worked in China, and I believe that other Asian countries might adopt this model in the near future.
What I think
This may be the answer for the Asian music industry at least, since there are no strict laws governing music copyrights and music distribution in Asia, the only way for artists in Asia to survive and to actually get paid for their music are other sources of revenue, and not just by relying on their music sales only. Thus, using their music as a promotional tool to market themselves to the masses and create buzz in the industry might result in a marketing boom later, i.e. Concerts, product endorsement deals, commercials , merchandise etc. Record labels may also impose some sort of fees for companies browsing their artist’s repertoire and profile, and perhaps revenue share for product sales for example, the possibilities are quite big
However…
This situation might lead to an over-saturation in the market, whereby majority of the artists will compete for various deals in order to stay on top, in the end, only established artists will get the share and this will be very bad news for up and coming artists or probably new artists trying to get a small percentage of the market share. Not to mention that it will also discourage major labels, as their whole business plan might have to follow, or adhere to the demands of other companies, which I think will be impossible. The industry will then become stagnant, and perhaps will not achieve significant growth. In the age where fresh sounds are important, Asia or any part of the world which adopts this business model will be left behind and die.
