The Beals Media Update

CES 2012 Musings

2012-01-19T13:18:00.000-05:00

I recently attended the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held January 10-12th in Las Vegas. Although attendance has waned in the last few years, this year was a strong showing with over 150,000 attendees and ~20,000 new products that were introduced.

On Day 1, against my better judgement, I took a meeting away from the Convention Center, and even though I left the show floor reasonably early at 3pm (show closes at 6pm), taking the monorail was probably not the best idea, although the cab line was even longer. Lesson learned for next year - either stay on the show floor OR stay on the strip. Otherwise, there's too much wasted time going back & forth.

This year I didn't walk the floor very much, as I had back to back meetings every day, but I did get a sense of what was buzzing from my social media feeds and the blogs, etc. (My iPhone was the most important item besides my wallet). Besides this being the last year for Microsoft to Keynote, one couldn't help to notice how touch is out now and gestures are in (i.e., wave & voice). Two other predominant trends this year we're the proliferation of wireless automotive infotainment and connected healthcare & wellness products. The low cost sensors that are now available make the collecting and monitoring of bio-metric data - not only affordable - but seamless with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and 3G/4G.

The last meeting of the last day of the show, was actually my favorite. We met with an innovative software company who hired legendary, world-renowned music producer/mixer/engineer Jack Joseph Puig to be their Director of Creative Innovation, which sounds like a really cool gig. Anyway, when we walked into the suite, I immediately recognized him and was stoked to not only have the opportunity to meet with him and his colleagues to discuss business, but posing with him was the cherry on top! That memorable highlight will be hard to beat next year...but I'm already looking forward to the next one!

Todd Beals and Jack Joseph Puig

What Are The Next Form Factors in CE Products?

2011-12-28T10:42:00.001-05:00

According to Sarah Rotman Epps, Senior Analyst at Forrester Research, there are some cool new form factors we should be watching for to get commercialized/productized in the next couple years.

Wearables
Embedded Devices
Surfaces
Flexible Display
Miniprojectors

Personally, I think Health & Fitness products are beginning to drive real demand for "wearables". What do you think? Do people really want to track their bio-metric data and monitor lifestyle behavior? And based on what's hitting the market now, are the manufacturing suppliers and R&D labs in tune with what consumers really want out of their wireless gadgets?

The Social Media Probook

2011-11-21T20:45:00.001-05:00

Looking for some cool new social media resources? Then look no further than The Social Media Probook (#Probook), launched a few months ago from Eloqua and JESS3. It’s a 42-page free eBook collaboratively written by a cross-section of social marketers from brands and agencies, analysts, and social support professionals across both business-to-business and business-to-consumer industries. (Thanks to Sarah Evans for the tip!)

The #Probook was developed to respond to issues organizations are dealing with right now. A few of the topics covered include:

· Social operational models for businesses

· Critical elements for scaling social globally

· Practical uses for geo (location-based apps)

· 10 “rules” for social advertising

Web version: http://media.eloqua.com/documents/ProBook.pdf

Print version: http://media.eloqua.com/documents/ProBook-Print.pdf

The Grass Is Always Greener...

2011-10-29T07:13:00.000-05:00

I know that a lot of my Hoosier friends & colleagues often wonder why I moved from sunny Florida to Indianapolis 5 years ago, especially since I’m such a water person, but after 30 years in the Sunshine state, it seemed like the time was right for ‘change.’ And as much as I like the seasons here, the reduced traffic and the slower, simpler life, I’ve often found myself daydreaming about moving again…to get near the ocean again…to be near more culture. So you can imagine my surprise when I recently read that CNN Money Magazine just named the City of Westfield one of the best places to live in America. In fact, Westfield was ranked #48 out of 100 – and #1 among all other Indiana cities!

I’ve always said that, “It’s a great place to raise a family and enjoy a bigger house for less money”, but I had no idea that all the other variables in the equation caused it to rank so high. So, the next time you hear me complain about being landlocked or “stuck” in Indiana, please remind me about the Blessings of making so many wonderful new friends, being able to afford a finished basement to entertain guests & family, the great schools, the upcoming Grand Park Sports Complex, the World-class jazz clubs and all the friendly neighbors/residents in our awesome neighborhood at Maple Knoll…

Just sayin’……

A Principal of Good Design

2011-10-25T05:56:00.000-05:00

Here’s a great quote I saw recently in the NY Times w/r/t Apple’s chief designer Jonathan Ive’s successful approach…."Good design is as little design as possible - less but better - because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity." -Dieter Rams, 10 Principles of Good Design

Habla Espanol?

2011-10-03T12:48:00.001-05:00

Apparently, "new 2010 census data shows that Hispanics are the second largest group in the US, at more than 50 million and 16.3% of the population. It's grown 43% since the 2000 survey and is the fastest growing sector of the population." (thanks Audio4cast!)

I Lost 50 lbs in 6 months !!

2011-09-29T08:36:00.000-05:00

OK, today is pretty exciting for me as I hit my goal weight of "175" after losing 50 pounds in 6 months and I feel great!! Many of you are asking how I did it and the answer is simple. Go to: MySecretToWellness.com and opt-in to find out how easy it is to control your weight and improve your health. (Praises to God for giving me the willpower, thanks to Stefany for being such a great coach - and a special Shout Out to Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen!!)

TechCrunch Disrupt: Interactive Sheet Music for iPads

2011-09-15T06:41:00.001-05:00

San Francisco’s annual technology conference TechCrunch Disrupt recently ended and one of the coolest companies I read about in attendance was Tonara, who makes sheet music available for iPads. As musicians played on stage, an interactive bar moved along to show their exact place in the sheet music – AND - the pages turned automatically. Very cool! According to the NY Times Blog, “Musicians brought on stage showed how the technology coped with multiple people playing different instruments simultaneously. Banging in the background did not seem to confuse the software. The judges, however, dismissed sheet music as a small market and questioned whether the company could get rights to contemporary music. A show of hands by the musically inclined in the audience, however, showed that there was at least some potential market.”

My Notes from Today's AMA Webcast on Mobile Marketing

2011-08-31T13:03:00.003-05:00

(First off, thanks to American Marketing Association (www.ama.org), HubSpot and Readytalk Web Conferencing Platform for sponsoring the webinar - #GoMobile)

iPhone growth is 10x faster than the original growth rate of AOL
Mobile coupons generate 10x the redemption rate of traditional coupons
Search is twice as prevalent on mobile web than on a PC (and focus is on "local")
Not just for teens: The average age of a person who is sending text messages is 35
Top 3 uses of smartphones are: email (82%), directions(63%) and Social Media (62%)
It only takes 1 line of code to determine the type of devices visiting your site (helps render the right version of your site)
Popular banner ad platforms are iAd (Apple), Millennial Media (independent), and AdMob (Google)
Potential banner uses: GPS determines the user's location, share coupon codes & promotions, share contact info
Sendza is a good solution for SMS: www.sendza.net
Mobile paid search has less competition that regular search
Games and weather are the top 2 apps used on smartphones
www.MobileCommerceDaily.com is a good resource to learn more about mobile media
Claim your business on top Location Based Services (LBS)
What your website looks like on mobile devices: www.mobilemoxie.com
Free mobile tool from HubSpot: www.websitegrader.com

Does Social Media Ruin Your Current SEO Strategies?

2011-08-25T11:52:00.001-05:00

Here's a great primer on SEO and how it's being affected by Social Media written by Neil Patel. The truth is, the primary Search Engine algorithms are constantly being tweaked, so what worked last year (or last quarter) may no longer be relevant.

"In SEOMoz's 2011 Search Engine Factors Ranking report, almost 132 SEO and social media experts predicted that social signals at the page level and domain level would have a greater impact on search engine rankings than traditional SEO factors."

The bottom line is that marketers now more than ever need to understand how search engines are ingesting and using this plethora of behavioral data so they can quickly react and adapt their marketing plans to achieve a competitive advantage in this (as Neil put it) socially-optimized world that we live in.

Also, according to the post, "Social media is impacting search engine results and if you want to get more traffic from search engines, you need to do 3 things:

Build an active, engaged presence on social networking sites
Optimize your sites for social media sharing
Encourage your readers to share your content

However, to maximize your coverage, it's still highly recommended to maintain your traditional SEO strategies while the market quickly shifts....

Quickening Trojan & Malware Growth On Smartphones

2011-08-03T12:39:00.001-05:00

I don't know about you, but I've always thought that MACS were generally safer than Windows machines, based on personal experience with the blue screen of death. That is not so true anymore, as Apple machines gain market share in the home and corporate environment. Fast forward a few years and I feel pretty safe on my iPhone too...but the truth is that mobile users have a 30 percent likelihood of clicking on a malicious link too. The explosive growth of smart phones (especially Android) has apparently inspired bored hackers to invent new forms of entertainment for themselves.

"Web-based threats such as phishing attacks do not discriminate based on platform, while others, such as Websites containing browser exploits, are targeted at a specific operating system." In other words, when you click on on a dangerous link in an email or a Social Network post, you can land on web pages that can be harmful to your phone's OS and your personal information !!

According to this CNET article, there are new techniques to distribute the malware, including "malvertising" in which mobile ads direct users to a malicious site that automatically downloads malware when visited.

Even worse, there are approved Apps out there that seem safe upon initial installation, but then when upgrading later, you are then infected.

BE WARNED: To stay safe, mobile users should only download apps from trusted sources, pay attention to the address of URLs they click on, and be on alert for unusual phone behavior that could signal an infection.

Cool Infographic Creation Tool = WORDLE

2011-07-14T10:23:00.002-05:00

I discovered a cool site today called www.Wordle.net

You can quickly and easily create a creative keyword infographic to embed or link to - for free!

Enjoy :-)

STAT-Of-The-Day:

2011-07-07T13:56:00.001-05:00

"A new report from Informa Telecoms & Media predicted that the worldwide sales of Internet-connected TVs this year would outstrip game consoles for the first time. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are slated to sell 37 million game consoles this year, but consumers will buy 52 million connected TVs from companies such as Samsung, Sony and LG ." Folks, this is a major shift in consumer behavior and will require lots of useful apps - free and paid! Smart TV's are a new touchpoint to bring content, services and messaging to consumers with minimal development and no investment in hardware...

33% of Americans Using Smartphones (COMSCORE)

2011-07-06T07:02:00.001-05:00

Smartphone Platform Market Share

"76.8 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in May 2011, up 11 percent from the preceding three month period. Google Android ranked as the top operating system with 38.1 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers, up 5.1 percentage points. Apple strengthened its #2 position with 26.6 percent of the smartphone market, up 1.4 percentage points. RIM ranked third with 24.7 percent share, followed by Microsoft (5.8 percent) and Palm (2.4 percent)." (COMSCORE)

Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending May 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2011 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
	Feb-11	May-11	Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers	100.0%	100.0%	N/A
Google	33.0%	38.1%	5.1
Apple	25.2%	26.6%	1.4
RIM	28.9%	24.7%	-4.2
Microsoft	7.7%	5.8%	-1.9
Palm	2.8%	2.4%	-0.4

3 SEO Trends for 2011

2011-06-17T15:54:00.001-05:00

Trend Number One: Exact-Match Keyword Domains Going Away

Trend Number Two: Social Media Directly Affects Search Result

Trend Number Three: More End-User Usage Data Playing Into Search

(Source Article is HERE and the Research is HERE)

Useful Marketing Research Sites

2011-06-17T08:46:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Jamie Turner over at The 60 Second Marketer for sharing these 28 sites which are all free!

General Research Data:
CNN Student News: (www.cnnfyi.com) U.S. and World news multimedia site tailored to the needs of students.
Conversion Tables: (www.convert-me.com) Convert length, area, speed, temperature, etc., into different units and systems.
eLibrary Research: (www.elibrary.com) Search any topic using a database of current newspapers, magazines, books and more.
Encyclopedia Britannica: (www.britannica.com) Online version of one of the world's most trusted sources of information on every topic imaginable.
Fact Monster: (www.factmonster.com) Designed for kids of all ages, this site offers an amazing array of facts and figures in addition to homework help, an almanac, dictionary and much more.
Gallup Organization: (www.gallup.com) Search thousands of poll results, special reports, societal trends and social audits.
Information Please Almanac: (www.infoplease.com) Online almanac offering millions of interesting and useful facts on a wide variety of subjects.
Internet Public Library: (www.ipl.org) An exhaustive collection of over 20,000 titles.
iTools Research: (www.itools.com) Collection of online research tools including dictionaries, translations, quotations and more.
Library of Congress: (www.loc.gov) Easy to use reference catalog for accessing the collections of the Library of Congress.
National Archives: (www.archives.gov) National Archives online director of U.S. Federal records.
Smithsonian Institution: (www.si.edu) User-friendly site from the world's largest museum complex and research organization.
U.S. Census Bureau: (www.census.gov) A wealth of basic information about the U.S., broken down on a national, state and local level.
U.S. Department of Labor: (http://stats.bls.gov) Bureau of Labor statistics site containing current labor statistics and links to hundreds of state and Federal agencies.
U.S. Federal Government: (www.fedstats.gov) Statistical information from over 100 federal agencies.

Competitive Intelligence:
Forrester Research (www.Forrester.com): One of the best resources for the latest trends and predictions in the technology industry.
Hoovers Online (www.Hoovers.com): Competitive intelligence on almost all publicly traded companies. Paid subscription necessary for in-depth research.
The List (www.TheListInc.com): A top-notch contact database with names, addresses, phone numbers and even e-mail addresses of key employees. Paid subscription necessary.
Securities and Exchange Commission (www.SEC.gov): Visit this site for annual reports and, more importantly, 10K filings, which provide threat and opportunity analyses for publicly traded companies.
Standard & Poor's (www.StandardandPoors.com): Analysts reports on industry trends as well as corporate profiles.
Plunkett Research (http://www.plunkettresearch.com): Another source for industry trends.

Demographics and Marketing Research:
MarketResearch.com (www.MarketResearch.com): A resource for research into a multitude of industries. Costs range from several hundred to several thousand dollars, but a good resource for solid, credible marketing research.
Trend Watching (www.TrendWatching.com): A web site devoted to consumer trends.
Google/Uncle Sam (www.Google.com/unclesam): This site searches government documents from federal and state websites. Good for demographic and census data.

Marketing Related Sites:
MarketinProfs.com, MarketingSherpa.com: Websites dedicated to sharing marketing knowledge from marketing experts. Excellent resources for recent thoughts and research in the field of marketing.
Ad Forum (www.AdForum.com): The best commercials from around the world.
Peppers & Rogers Group (www.1to1.com): The web site from one of the leaders in the world of CRM.
World Advertising Research Center (www.warc.com): Valuable research on the effectiveness of marketing, advertising, creativity, etc. Subscription necessary.

Quote of the Day

2011-05-19T13:25:00.001-05:00

"If you have the average consumer living room with an HDTV, a Blu-ray and an average quality audio system, you have more computational power than the most advanced missile in the world." - Dr. Levy Gerzberg, President & CEO of Zoran Corporation

13 Business Mistakes That Can Nearly Break You

2011-05-13T13:21:00.000-05:00

Here's some great practical advice fom Neil Patel, who is the co-founder of 2 Internet companies: Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics. (His blog is at Quicksprout.com)

Through his entrepreneurial career Neil has helped large corporations such as Amazon, AOL, GM, HP and Viacom make more money from the web. By the age of 21 not only was Neil named a top 100 blogger by Technorati, but he was also one of the top influencers on the web according to the Wall Street Journal.

13 Business Mistakes That Can Nearly Break You…Literally

- Don’t spread yourself too thin
- Pick the right business structure
- Don’t get ahead of yourself
- Be careful whom you trust
- Hiring doesn’t solve all of your problems
- Make your employees accountable
- Collect your money on time
- No detail is unimportant
- Time is not on your side
- Be cautious about advice
- Don’t be afraid of the unknown
- Money doesn’t solve problems,it causes them
- Emotions and business are a bad mix

Ever Wonder What a Smart TV Is...?

2011-05-02T10:03:00.001-05:00

"A smart TV is a TV that can retrieve content from the Internet without the restrictions of a portal, that has intelligent search and recommendations, is upgradeable by its owner and is able to network seamlessly with other devices in the home." - Santa Clara, Calif.-based research firm DisplaySearch

America Getting Close To Connected Ubiquity

2011-04-28T13:08:00.000-05:00

"According to a new forecast from Interpublic Group's Magna Global, as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2010, about 84.7 million homes -- or 71.5% of the total -- were online, while 90% of these homes accessed the Web using broadband services."

Did Cisco Bail on the FLIP Too Soon?

2011-04-27T14:25:00.003-05:00

Did Cisco jump too soon - or does this quote resonate louder each day that a new App gets released? "...The single-task device is becoming an endangered species in the
consumer electronics market..." Is there still strong consumer demand for devices that do 1 thing, but do it really well and are easy to use?

Quote of the Day For April 21st

2011-04-21T14:41:00.001-05:00

QOTD: "If you want to connect with them, making sure you know where your customers are on the web, knowing how they want their information served up, and delivering it in that fashion is the quickest route to not only happy customers (who tell others how happy they are), but also to greater profitability and improved service."

5 Things All Email Marketers Need to Know

2011-04-18T09:49:00.000-05:00

Here's a great primer on email marketing by Blue Sky Factory and my favorite quote: "Anyone could argue that content or permission (the list goes on) is king, but I’m going to make the bold statement in this particular post that in email marketing, relationship is king."

So true....

ANDROID 3.0 = Honeycomb

2011-03-25T09:12:00.004-05:00

Ever wonder what all the hoopla about Honeycomb is. This short video does a great job of showing you what all the noise is about and demonstrates what an OS specifically built for a tablet can really do.

How To Enchant Your Audience

2011-03-23T13:57:00.000-05:00

Great summary by Guy Kawasaki

Build Your Own Website With Drupal!

2011-03-22T14:13:00.001-05:00

I've been looking for a while for a simple (and free!) tool to help me revamp my personal webpage at toddbeals.com, which I built in 2003 using Microsoft Frontpage. A friend recently suggested Drupal Gardens as a possilbe WYSIWYG editor and flexible Content Management System (CMS). I signed up for a free account and played around with it one weekend. It's pretty cool and definitely more stylish than WordPress...Word!

http://toddbeals.drupalgardens.com/

Stop by and let me know what you think!

IFPI's Digital Music Report

2011-01-25T15:33:00.001-05:00

Here's a LINK to IFPI's free annual report entitled "Digital Music Report 2011 - Music at the touch of a button". The executive Summary is worth taking a look and the main topics are below...

Consumers drive new business models
Digital piracy is a continuing problem
The need for ISP responsibility
The Government response - momentum builds in 2010
The importance of education
Global top 10 digital singles

Best Christmas Gifts: Acoustic Research Infinite Radio

2010-11-30T14:25:00.004-05:00

Here's a nice review of our Wi-Fi Internet Radio ARIR200 with Slacker. (Thanks Storm Sector!)

Books In Browsers - 2010

2010-10-22T06:52:00.000-05:00

I spent all day yesterday tuning in to the the Internet Archive's #BIB10 Summit, which was held to examine the rapid transition towards books on the web. Unfortunately, it was held in San Francisco and I was stuck at my desk in Indiana. Even though there was no live audio or video feed, the constant tweets and pics flowing from the 2 day conference we're very informative and helped to placate my desire to know what it was that I was missing about the future of the publishing industry as we know it. I hope that they make the slides public, in fact Bill McCoy from Webpaper already graciously has. It's amazing to see how har we've come in a year and ePUB3! sounds very exciting for the evolution of vending and lending ebooks. If you're interested, here's a list of attendees HERE. (Thanks Blaine!)

Also, last night there were showcase demonstrations of the vending and lending of books in web browsers on a variety of different platforms.

Demonstrations included:

      - Browser-based ereaders and reading applications

      - Discovery via BookServer, search engines, Open Library

      - Publisher mechanisms for selling books in browsers

      - Libraries mechanisms for lending books in browsers

Quote of the Day:

2010-10-18T11:14:00.000-05:00

"We're all gonna die one day anyway and we'll lose all our stuff. So don't worry too much about it. Just do something that lights you up, and lights up your customers, and lights up the world and scale to that. Because what's going to happen is people who are lit up by the future are going to be pursuing that future, and the people who hold onto the past are going to hold on too long." - Tim O'Reilly, Founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media

YouTube Chasing New Pay-Per-View Model

2010-09-21T21:36:00.001-05:00

Apparently, YouTube is in talks with the major studios to "launch a global pay-per-view video service," which would let visitors pay to stream single movies. Wow, what a concept! Only pay for the privilege to watch once and save a considerable amount of money because you aren't keeping a copy of the media file.

Well, I wonder how long it will take for someone to do same thing for digital books? I think many of us entrepreneurs are thinking about it, but it's the publishers who are afraid to let go of the control and distribution of their content, so IMHO, we will have to wait several years before it becomes widespread practice and more than a niche play.

Personally, I think single stream [or single read] payments are much more economical and valuable to today's average consumer and as a result, the hipper publishers/distributors who acquire the digital rights to rent chunks and entire eBooks - are way ahead of the game in the long run.

http://cnt.to/me

Is This The Beginning of the End for First Sale Doctrine...?

2010-09-12T07:01:00.003-05:00

Guess What, You Don’t Own That Software You Bought

Hadn't seen a lot of chatter on this topic yet, but it smells "bad law" in my humble opinion. Many of the digerati have been hashing this topic from different angles for years, but can someone out there please help me follow the payola-logic of why our basic rights should be reduced just because the file in question is digital??

I understand that software is a little different than music, videos and games, but when are we going to update our copyright laws? So, if this ruling holds then, is it the end of "legal" garage sales and flea markets as we know them that include digital media and entertainment items ....? Also, what about innovative businesses predicated on selling used media like swap
sites and online exchanges? Time to go underground?

Is it any surprise that people turn to piracy when their rights are
increasingly taken away in the digital world......?

If I can legally rip a CD or DVD to make a personal backup copy, does that mean I can never monetize the original title in a secondary market when I'm tired of it?

One Apple Nugget No One Mentioned

2010-09-02T16:51:00.004-05:00

With thousands (maybe millions) of other Americans, I watched Apple's press event yesterday with awe and admiration. It was kind of fun to predict what Steve Jobs was going to say before he actually said it, based on rumors and my own intuition. While there were many comprehensive reports, articles and blog posts today all about the products/services that were showcased by Mr. Jobs, there is 1 angle/perspective that I don't think has received much attention.

What is significant to me, is the fact that Apple publicly acknowledged that it's original TV launch strategy and business model was flawed somewhat, leading to the PR/marketing nightmare of "hobby" being associated with the product. However, unlike its predecessor, the new Apple TV is clearly acknowledging that consumers prefer to stream online video, rather than download-to-own...with or without DRM. This is a huge behavioral and media consumption shift that cannot be ignored any longer by all of the players in the value chain. This is the future. Adapt or die.

So far, consumers have showed little interest in purchasing TV shows, and Apple's $.99 cent rentals may not drastically change that attitude, but I'll wager that mainstream America quickly hops on board the train, 1 dollar at a time, because the overall value proposition (price, ease of use and a closed system) is now more in tune with the demand curve that is exponentially growing beyond the early adopters. (Case in point, over 61% of Netflix's 15M subscribers "streamed" at least 15 minutes in Q2 this year, up from 37% in 2009.)

So, in my humble opinion, they made the correct tweak. The highly affordable rental price per show and the $99 hardware price are killer sweet-spots that will resonate loudly with the mass market, especially after their Marketing team trumpets the coolest Koolaid and the competition feels the squeeze and quickly becomes the latest roadkill (sure am glad I didn't buy my boxee or Roku yet...)

The Acoustic Research Infinite Radio & MP3tunes!

2010-08-24T15:44:00.005-05:00

Streaming Internet Radio In the Car Is Growing...

2010-08-23T08:24:00.000-05:00

6% of U.S. cell phone owners stream their music and internet radio channels/apps through their car system according to the latest Infinite Dial Study from Edison Research...

Is India the New China?

2010-08-19T16:39:00.001-05:00

Factoid of the Day: India will be the most populous country by 2025 (surpassing China) so strategizing now for that market makes a lot of sense (SOURCE: US Census)

Google's Android leads U.S. smartphones

2010-08-05T08:45:00.001-05:00

According to a recent NPD report, Smartphones running Google's Android software were the top seller among consumers in the United States in the second quarter.

Android accounted for one-third of all smartphones purchased in the April-June period and Google said that 160,000 Android phones were activated each day during the second quarter, up from 65,000 in the first quarter.

Research in Motion's BlackBerry sliding to second place for the first time since 2007. BlackBerry lost nine percentage points of market share, falling to 28 percent.

Surprisingly, Apple's iPhone was in third place with only a 22 percent share.

SOURCE: Engadget

1 In 5 Store Music on Smartphone

2010-07-20T09:57:00.001-05:00

According to a recent survey conducted by industry analyst firm ABI Research, "20 percent of mobile phone users store music on their devices and 25 percent store photos on their phones." I bet this number will decline as more and more people buy smartphones and slowly learn to stream/acquire/access their content from the cloud.

AR Infinite Radio Review

2010-07-01T14:10:00.006-05:00

Here's a nice review of the Acoustic Research Infinite Radio ARIRC200 that I helped design and bring to market. It's nice to see the additional features we added being appreciated !!

AR Infinite Radio Internet Radio Review

Preliminary Findings: Consumer Trial of Mobile DTV Service

2010-06-23T13:47:00.001-05:00

No surprises here among the initial findings:

Viewers say they are excited about the potential of mobile DTV. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being "not at all excited" and 10 being "extremely excited"), initial survey participants rate mobile DTV as 7.1.
Most viewing is happening "on the go." Nearly two-thirds of viewing (63%) is being done "on the go," compared with 44% happening at work or at school, and one-third (33%) of viewers say they tune in from home.
Viewers are tuning in multiple times a day. Just under half of viewers say they watch one or two times a day. Just under 30% of viewers say they watch three or more times a day.

Is Apple's iPad Hurting E Ink Sales?

2010-06-04T05:14:00.001-05:00

Recent research for Sony in the US by Marketing and Research Resources found that 11 per cent of iPad owners bought the device primarily for reading.

The 3 "Duh" Factors for Optimized Email Deliverability

2010-06-01T14:36:00.001-05:00

"These are the basic practices every single email marketer should be implementing NOW. So, whether you've been in the email world for years or months or days, please take the time to make sure you're executing all 3 of these and they are functioning properly."

1. Authentication Records
2. Non-Spammy Headers
3. Make Your Opt-Out Easy To Find

http://www.blueskyfactory.com/fd/100513-3-duh-factors.php

What Are eMail Marketers Doing in Their Outgoing Mail...?

2010-05-17T08:05:00.001-05:00

According to a recent survey of more than 1,900 email marketers, Blue Sky Factory found the following surprising statistics:

Email marketers use View in Browser features the most of all, with almost 32% of outgoing campaigns using this to help readers view their messages.
A surprisingly low 11% of email marketers surveyed use Share With Your Network social features in their messages, despite heavy usage by consumers of social media and social networks.
Despite the near-ubiquity of mobile devices, a scant 2% of email marketers create custom mobile versions of their outgoing campaigns targeted towards mobile devices.

"...email marketing isn't keeping up with how subscribers want to use and consume content..."

Publishing's New Business Model

2010-05-13T06:51:00.001-05:00

Throw the baby out with the bath water....(but keep the baby!)

"No more life-of-the-copyright contracts" - Richard Nash

http://tinyurl.com/2fwxgvg

Social Media Revolution 2 (Refresh)

2010-05-07T09:29:00.001-05:00

Very cool....."The World of Socialnomics"

Internet Radio Was My DJ

2010-03-27T11:58:00.007-05:00

I had the opportunity to mix live sound for a popular 6-piece central Indiana band called The Tides last night at Wings in Anderson. What was interesting to me warranting a posting was the fact that it was the first time that I used my iPhone to provide the break music between sets. I pulled up one of my custom reggae stations on Slacker Radio and easily connected it to the board with a stereo mini plug to L/R rca cable. Surprisingly, I had never done this before and usually just use an iPod or a laptop to supply the background music. In my opinion, it was pretty cool to be able to utilize a ‘custom station’ that I had personalized over time to perfectly set the mood with the exact vibe and ultimately, this streaming method reduced the amount of “gear’ I had to bring or worry about charging, etc….

I wonder how many other sound engineers are using their smartphones like this and what their experiences are like? For my initial test, the sound quality was excellent and my AT&T 3G connection worked flawlessly!

And no disrespect intended, but now I wonder if the venue's ASCAP/BMI license would actually pay the artists I streamed for this type of usage? I know that Slacker has to pay Sound Exchange for the non-interactive royalty rates, but what about the "performance" aspect of rebroadcasting internet radio in public? Who pays for that and how does that money find it's way back to the artist who wrote, performed or published the song??

Web Standards for E-books

2010-03-11T07:23:00.001-05:00

Here’s an excellent article about the real world challenges and pitfalls of producing an eBook in 2010. Toronto journalist and author Joe Clark does a wonderful job of watering down and simplifying the often complex process of using XHTML and EPUB to produce eBooks that look good, no matter what device they are read on. (Thanks to Dave H. over at MacRaven for sharing!)

JESS3 Video: The State of The Internet

2010-03-05T11:36:00.001-05:00

TIP: Watch this 4 minute video...then watch it again!

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from JESS3 on Vimeo.

Quote of the Day:

2010-03-02T06:49:00.001-05:00

Math of Publishing Meets the E-Book

“The only thing I think is a mistake is people trying to hold back e-books or Kindle and trying to head off this revolution by building a dam. It’s not going to work.”

-Anne Rice

http://htxt.it/rIMS

O'Reilly TOC Publishing Conference 2010

2010-02-26T14:02:00.002-05:00

For those of you who aren't afraid to openly embrace the latest The Tools of Change brought to fruition from the intersection of art, technology and business, the O'Reilly TOC Publishing Conference 2010 was held in NYC this week.

Unfortunately, I couldn't make it this year, but the folks behind the event were hip enough to kindly (and rather quickly I might add) share the keynotes, interviews, photos and PPT's, to make us all feel special. If you're willing to spend a few hours, the quality of the content is outstanding...

SPEAKER SLIDES & VIDEOS:

YOU TUBE CHANNEL:

FLICKR ALBUM:

#toccon

Enjoy!
todd

What Is Open Leadership?

2010-02-26T08:57:00.001-05:00

Great quote below from a slideshow presentation by Charlene Li on Developing A Social Strategy Webinar.

OPEN LEADERSHIP: "Having the confidence and the humility to give up the need to be in control, while inspiring commitment from people to accomplish goals."

Tools of Change Keynotes

2010-02-24T17:56:00.001-05:00

Listening to the free On-Demand TOC keynote streams...Looking forward to getting copies of the slides in a few days.

Special thanks to O'Reilly and the event sponsors!

https://en.oreilly.com/toc2010/user/account/signup/user/1

What Aren't eBooks Cheaper Than Physical Books?

2010-02-13T11:36:00.001-05:00

Best explanation yet, as to why eBooks aren't much cheaper than their printed brethren...http://htxt.it/rp2k

Given by Ron Boehm, President and CEO, ABC-CLIO Publishing

(Special thanks to Sue Polanka for posting it to her No Shelf Required blog!)

Sivamani: Rhythm is everything, everywhere | Video on TED.com

2010-01-25T10:19:00.000-05:00

Sivamani: Rhythm is everything, everywhere | Video on TED.com

Definitely one of the hippest & original solo acts I've ever seen!

RCA's New Lexi eReader

2010-01-22T11:13:00.002-05:00

Here's a quick video interview of Audiovox President, Tom Malone, showing off the new RCA Lexi eReader shown at CES 2010 two weeks ago. MSRP is $229 and content will be provided by Barnes & Noble.

To learn more, the press release is HERE...

Amazon Offers 70% Royalty

2010-01-20T13:37:00.001-05:00

Source: Publishers Lunch

Amazon Offers 70% Royalty--If You Self-Publish Inexpensively, and Comprehensively
Amazon has offered authors and publishers using their self-service digital text platform a significantly enhanced royalty option as of June 30--70 percent instead of 30 percent--provided that certain specific conditions are met:

* The ebook should be not too cheap and not too expensive--priced between $9.99 and $2.99--and the digital list price has to be "at least 20 percent below the lowest physical list price for the print book"

* It has to be available for sale in all territories in which the author or publisher has rights

* It has to be available for text-to-speech, and whatever other new features Kindle adds in the future

* "Books must be offered at or below price parity with competition, including physical book prices. Amazon will provide tools to automate that process, and the 70 percent royalty will be calculated off the sales price."

Release

Word of the Day

2010-01-15T09:16:00.001-05:00

4 Easy Steps for Making Free Ringtones for iPhones

2009-12-30T20:34:00.001-05:00

Ever wanted to make a ringtone for your iPhone, but didn’t want to pay again for a song that you already own? Well, now you can…..Simply use Quicktime Pro (not the new dumbed-down Quicktime 7 player)

STEP 1 - Open your music source file and select the desired ringtone portion

STEP 2 - Crop to that selection and then "Save As iTunes Movie" with some name like MyZippyRingtone. QTPro will save it with the .m4v extension

STEP 3- Change the extension to .m4r and drag the file to iTunes, where it will be added to the library as a Ringtone

STEP 4 - Sync it to your iPhone and select it from the Settings screen

(Thanks Tom N. !)

Is there a model for success selling content?

2009-12-18T06:40:00.001-05:00

Great post by Mike Shatzkin on his Idea Logical Blog about the downfall of the publishing business…Couple of direct quotes below…[btw - I don’t think he’s being pessimistic, just brutally honest!]

So far, all that is clear is that publishers that stick to an audience fare better in the digital world than the ones who don’t. Their marketing costs are lower and their reach to the audience is both more effective and less dependent on intermediaries

Publishers have always focused primarily on the content. Survival in the future will require focusing on the market

If you don’t own the audience, the cost of reaching it for one book at a time will be prohibitive

Urgent note to book industry: There's a better way to window eBooks

2009-12-09T16:57:00.000-05:00

HERE is a great post by James McQuivey over at Forrester...I haven't read a better blog post than this for quite a while and I really appreciate his honesty and bluntness to the Publishing industry!

eBook Research

2009-12-02T20:26:00.001-05:00

Here's some recent research from Mediamark related to eBooks...

- 2.1 million U.S. adults own electronic book readers
- Mostly well educated with high incomes (i.e. Bachelor's or post-graduate degree and earning over 100K)
- Adults ages 35-54 are the "sweet spot" for this product
- E-book owners are particularly Web-centric

http://www.mediamark.com

Open Mobile Summit Presentations

2009-11-30T14:41:00.001-05:00

If you missed the recent Open Mobile Summit in SF...download the PDF's and Podcasts here! http://htxt.it/R0rr

App Store: Books, Usurping Games for the 1st Time Ever!

2009-11-30T10:20:00.002-05:00

http://blog.flurry.com/bid/27796/Flurry-Smartphone-Industry-Pulse-October-2009

Open Road Media's Jane Friedman

2009-11-20T06:27:00.003-05:00

Here are a few nuggets from Jane Friedman's recent speech at NYU-SCPS Center for Publishing, who is Open Road Media's CEO. (Thanks to Alyssa Léal for blogging it)

With 70% of the population having access to the internet, 30% of all books in the U.S. being purchased online, and 96% of young adults being connected to a social network
In addition to publishing electronic editions of the literary giants, Open Road will create “e-riginals”, a term Friedman has coined for books that will be born in digital format.
Although, Open Road will not provide author advances, Friedman feels the profit sharing model could be extremely rewarding to authors.
Friedman said she though the value of an e-book should be roughly the same as a trade paperback, and cited $14, possibly more for premium content.

Fight the Telemarketers !!

2009-11-13T16:46:00.001-05:00

Don't let the telemarketers get you!!! I just did this and it only takes a minute. REMEMBER: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public this month..... all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls. .... YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222.

Stats of the Day

2009-11-12T12:18:00.001-05:00

Smartphone penetration is at 19 percent according to Palm, and will double by 2013
Listenership for Internet radio was up almost 40 percent in 2008 over 2007, hitting 6.67 billion hours last year, according to AccuStream iMedia Research
Pandora claimed more than 9 million downloads to the iPhone, and half of those users listen to Pandora in a car
4 million people have downloaded Pandora to a BlackBerry, Android or Palm Pre
Pandora has been adding a total of 2 million registered U.S. users (including PC users) per month
4G/LTE won't be fully deployed until 2014 or later (iSuppli)

Word of the Day - MALAPROPISM

2009-11-12T05:29:00.001-05:00

malapropism: an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, esp. by the confusion of words that are similar in sound; a verbal blunder in which one word is replaced by another similar in sound but different in meaning. (Example - "Lead the way and we'll precede.")

2009 PMA U.S. Consumer Photo Buying Report Stats

2009-11-09T12:41:00.001-05:00

According to the 2009 PMA U.S. Consumer Photo Buying Report:

- 73 percent of U.S. households own digital cameras
- % of households without any internet access has increased over the past few years, from 8 percent in 2005 to 12 percent in 2008
- As digital cameras grew in pouplarity, camcorder ownership has remained steady (i.e. 34% of digital camera owners owned camcorders in 2005 & 36% owned them in 2008)

pmaforesight.com/2009/11/09/pma-data-watch-activity-of-digital-camera-owners.aspx

What's Internet Radio's Latest Listenership?

2009-09-10T14:49:00.001-05:00

If current weekly listener rates were 17% in April (about 42 million), I wonder how many more Americans over 12 years old have tuned in to Internet Radio since then....? (Thanks Matt!)

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007264

Sony's Plan for $40 Movies at Home

2009-09-08T13:32:00.001-05:00

Been posting primarily to my Social networks lately and have somewhat neglected this blog....Sorry...I'll try harder to keep this updated and will repost the better finds such as the link below. I'm pretty encouraged that Sony is considering altering the tightly controlled theatrical release windows to experiment with a new business model and create a new, niche sales channel..

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/aug2009/db20090830_267810.htm

Ipsos’ TEMPO Digital Music Discovery & Purchase Process

2009-07-30T10:46:00.001-05:00

Here's some recent research findings from Ipsos' TEMPO Digital Music Discovery & Purchase Process. Evidently, subscriptions and paid downloads are barely outpacing ad-supported services like MySpace Music, but once newer innovative services like Spotify are legalized in this country - I think ad-supported will dominate as the preferred legal distribution and consumption model.

""The fee-based digital music market has likely reached a state of maturity in terms of who is paying to download and stream. The goal, now, will be to expand recurring revenue streams and to attempt to increase the volume of content that is purchased among those already making digital music purchases. Meanwhile, the ad-supported models are proving to be an effective means of expanding the broader, legitimate market beyond just the fee-based realm."

QOTD - Quote of the Day

2009-07-27T14:49:00.000-05:00

"It's important to share your failures and admit when you're wrong. People will respect people more who can openly admit their vulnerabilities." - Robert Kayehttp://htxt.it/D1T7

Quote of the Day

2009-07-24T12:56:00.001-05:00

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain."
- Unknown

Quote of the Day...

2009-06-30T12:32:00.001-05:00

"The Internet radio industry is in the first inning and currently represents less than 5% of most radio station revenue. However, this is one slice of the advertising pie that is growing." Robert J. Maccini, CEO of Ando Media, LLC

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

2009-06-08T10:16:00.001-05:00

"Today's economy is a 'scissors economy'...meaning that everyone is a middleman and can be cut out...if you can't explain your value, you get snipped out. You will thrive if you offer value." - Todd Buchholz

Quote of the Day: DOCTOROW's LAW

2009-06-01T16:20:00.001-05:00

"If someone takes something that belongs to you, and puts a lock on it that you don't have a key for, that lock isn't in your best interests."
- Cory Doctorow

Quote of the Day...

2009-05-21T09:57:00.001-05:00

"One overpowering trait distinguishes exceptional people from the masses who live and die without making their mark in the world . . . without accomplishing significant achievements. That trait is the drive to learn, to grow, to identify new and more effective ways of engaging in their personal and business endeavors. Those who are determined to escape the bounds of gravity will find that God has created a profound blueprint for success."
- Mark Stevens: God Is A Salesman

Feeding Off of Twitter's Exponential Growth

2009-05-15T13:06:00.001-05:00

Some Mind-Numbing Stats from COMPETE:

Unique Visitors to twitter.com increased to 19.4 Million in April, surpassing the New York Times for the first time.
Oprah's first tweet on April 17th delivered the highest Daily Reach ever to the site, with nearly 2% of all Americans online visiting Twitter

Sure, we all know Twitter is growing exponentially, and has no real business model, but one fact often overlooked is that many other sites also rely on it. According to the latest numbers from Compete, fast movers in April included tweetmeme.com (up 338% to 1.68 Million Unique Visitors), tweetdeck.com (up 69% to 915,000 UVs), twittergadget.com (up 56% to 100,000 UVs), twitpic.com (up 37% to 3.33 Million UVs), and bit.ly (up 53% to 1.81 Million UVs).

Quote of the Day

2009-05-05T11:37:00.001-05:00

"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler"
- Albert Einstein

RAIN: Internet Radio Summit 2009

2009-05-04T13:35:00.005-05:00

After 2 weeks of playing catch up and another reminder of why I don't like to be away from the office for an extended period of time, I finally scratched off a few "To-Do's" on my list and sat down to reflect on my recent travels as several friends and colleagues have asked me for a recap...So, below is a quick summary of my trip to the NAB Show in Las Vegas on the way back from Seattle two weeks ago. My main focus was to attend the RAIN Internet Radio Summit as a guest panelist, but I also made time to walk the show floor for a half day and had a few ad hoc meetings...so needless to say it was a super busy - but VERY productive week!

From my perspective, there appeared to be a lot of buzz overall and lots of new enthusiasm and optimism about the Internet Radio category in general, especially with the latest numbers just released (i.e. 42M U.S. listeners = 17% of the population, up from 33M in 2008). Speaking of research, there were 3 very excellent presentations given by Edison, Ando Media and Jacobs Media (btw - The Infinite Dial PDF slides can be downloaded for free HERE). The latest research clearly shows strong growth and consumer interest with 69M Americans reportedly listening to Internet Radio as of last month (mostly on PC's and at work), but the reality is that even taking into account the poor economy, there just have NOT been any home runs yet on the device side and very few retail placements.

At the end of my DEVICES panel, I asked the audience why mass consumers aren't out buying more tabletop or desktop Internet Radios if awareness and usage is so high and the 2 answers I remember being belted out were: "prices are still too high" and that "they're too complex to set up and use." I would agree with both of those answers as potential barriers to adoption and growth, but another reason might be that the 'early adopters' are simply using their iPhones and Blackberrys with unlimited data plans to simply stream it for free. However, that's just a subset of the overall population and I firmly believe that many people still prefer a dedicated device when listening to music at home...and that there's a huge under served market for average consumers who don't have a data plan and just want to use their free Wi-Fi connection at home or at work...(Time will tell if 2009 is the year Internet Radio truly grows legs, but I'm obviously biased as part of the Product Development team for Acoustic Research's Infinite Radio.) From my perspective, the Summit sponsors and audience seemed to be predominantly Radio-centric, (which was no surprise since it was an NAB event) but there was no denying a huge presence from the advertising side of the house....(a necessary evil that no one can deny because someone has to make a profit in order to help finance thousands of free broadcasts and effectively subsidize the ridiculous royalty rates...)

The event organizer, Kurt Hanson, seems to be one the industry's biggest evangelists lobbying for the proliferation and success of Internet Radio and from my view, is trying to organically build a lobbying group similar to what the Internet Media Device Alliance (IMDA) is trying to do. In my opinion, it would be great for the entire industry if the IMDA and and Kurt could get together and join forces to jointly promote the space for all stakeholders!

SOCIAL: The unofficial gathering the night before at the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant was surprisingly NOT super packed, as most people probably hadn't arrived in town or checked in yet, and so it was a great chance to mingle with other attendees and panelists...in an informal setting. The super talented singer/guitarist Gaby Moreno was the featured performer both days and she was incredibly original and totally awesome!!

As you can see in the photo, it was pretty much standing room only at the Summit and the closing cocktail party by the pool was a blast with the live band and cool weather, etc....One final note: As well attended as it was, there definitely seemed to be a lack of PRESS and content providers (i.e. rights holders) in the room.

I highly recommend attending this event next year and want to thank Kurt, Paul and Jennifer for the wonderful opportunity to be a part of it...
If you're interested, I posted some more photos HERE...

iPhoners Love Facebook & Weather

2009-04-28T09:19:00.001-05:00

I'm not surprised to see Facebook the most popular app, but I found it interesting that iPhoners are SO interested in weather...http://htxt.it/QMsy

Primates on Social Networks

2009-04-27T13:56:00.001-05:00

Interesting ECONOMIST article on Facebook behavior...Cameron Marlow, the "in-house sociologist" at Facebook, found that the average number of "friends" in a Facebook network is 120, consistent with Dr Dunbar's hypothesis, and that women tend to have somewhat more friends than men.

Quote of the Day

2009-04-07T08:10:00.000-05:00

Great article about simplicity in product design (thanks Stu!)

"...The whole point of human-centered design is to tame complexity, to turn what would appear to be a complicated tool into one that fits the task, that is understandable, usable, enjoyable..."
- Don Norman

Teen Music Behavior

2009-04-04T16:52:00.000-05:00

Interesting new research results released by NPD on Teen music behavior...although I think it’s pretty hard to get teens to honestly admit they steal music in a survey….We all know CD purchasing is declining (down 27% for 13-17 year olds), but surprisingly, digital downloads are also down 13%. “Another unexpected move was the 6 percent falloff in the number of tracks downloaded from peer-to-peer music sites and the 28 percent decline in the number of CDs borrowed from friends to rip or burn.”

So what’s the deal? Is this trend just a result of all the free alternatives or is Gen-Y just so connected, that streaming has replaced the need to download and “playback” local content? Personally, I think music has become such a commodity that an entire generation has forgotten what it feels like to take the shrink wrap off of a new CD or read liner notes…Cherry picking singles is the norm now and the act of buying music is simply foreign…I feel sorry for those still in the business trying to sell recorded music as their primary revenue source. Those days are over and monetizing music (for any age group) has never been harder.

Favorite Quote of the Day

2009-03-18T16:59:00.001-05:00

"We're not trying to steal their (Apple's) share of the pie, we're trying to bake a new pie."
- Eric Garland paraphrasing someone from Amazon with respect to their online music store

Hack of the Day

2009-03-11T15:29:00.001-05:00

Chinese hackers attack iTunes; selling $200 gift cards for $2.60
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/128263

Quote of the Day

2009-03-06T17:53:00.001-05:00

"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government." - Thomas Jefferson

Buy the Physical & Get the Digital....

2009-03-06T12:05:00.001-05:00

I'm wondering if the struggling brick-n-mortar Book market can take a play from an innovative segment of the music industry and add real value and offer "convenience" to increase sales.. .
http://hellotxt.com/nv1wz3

Quote of the Day

2009-03-03T06:42:00.001-05:00

“Balance your time, value it and manage it because Facebook can become your Crackbook… not a good thing.”

- Maurice Castle

Favorite Quote of the Day - (What's Next.....Bedtime Story Royalties!?)

2009-02-25T10:12:00.001-05:00

"...No, the Authors Guild does not expect royalties from anybody doing non-commercial performances of "Goodnight Moon." If parents want to send their children off to bed with the voice of Kindle 2, however, it's another matter."
- Roy Blount Jr. [President of the Authors Guild]

Latest In-Stat Research Reveals Low HDTV Uptake

2009-02-17T06:34:00.001-05:00

According to a recent report from In-Stat titled Worldwide HDTV Households: 36 Million and Growing, despite the growing penetration of HDTV sets in U.S. households, a significant gap remains between HDTV ownership and households utilizing HD programming. “In the U.S., there are more than 39 million households with an installed HDTV set…However, only 22 million of those are HDTV households, meaning that 17 million U.S. households with an installed HDTV set are not watching HD programming.” Or put differently, only 7% of Americans watch HDTV at home.

Quote of the Day....(and 1 of the reaosns for the music industry's continuing decline)

2009-02-14T11:21:00.001-05:00

“The topics were a lot different, because people were closer in their relationships. They went out, they danced close. You had something you could hum into someone’s ear, or something you could remember and hang onto when things got bad. I’m not putting today’s music down. It’s just that I can’t hum it.”

- Lonnie Lester (R&B Singer)

Quote of the Day

2009-02-09T11:04:00.000-05:00

"As a writer, the last thing I want to do is diminish the value of content. But even the brontosaural music industry is ahead of publishing. It has learned that giving content away actually works as a business model. (People will ultimately willingly pay for something they like -- for a variety of reasons. Giving it away doesn't cut into that, but it does help get the word out.) "
- Michael Hickins

Mac OS Gains Marketshare

2009-02-04T14:51:00.001-05:00

"Last month according to Information Week, Apple's Mac OS X was in 9.93% of the machines accessing the Web, while Microsoft's Windows dipped to 88.26%, according to Net Applications". This is not to be taken lightly and is a major feat!

Digital-music Buyers - Don't be Fools!

2009-01-28T07:34:00.001-05:00

I had a good chuckle this morning over an excellent Anti-DRM rant over at CNN.com...(http://hellotxt.com/l/PU5M).
Blogger Chris Pirillo says it like it is - and very succinctly!

Internet Radio is not 'The Future'

2009-01-25T14:10:00.001-05:00

http://www.shortlink.in/?39e6r

"We aren't really particularly interested in 'internet only' radios – radios which are only there for streaming – because we still see that as relatively niche the foreseeable future," Pure's marketing director, Colin Crawford told TechRadar.

I couldn't disagree more with the statement above, but obviously Colin is talking specifically about the UK market.... In the U.S., the sky is the limit for this nascent category and I think 2009 is the year Internet Radios (tethered and protable) get legs!

MIDEM Slides

2009-01-17T14:37:00.002-05:00

Here are 7 great MIDEM slides from Robert Andrews over at PaidContent. (Viewing them full screen makes it easier to read!)

The survey of 1,300 US, UK and French music fans was conducted by The Leading Question and it found that "streaming music websites, and not paid-track downloads, are the most common means of music consumption for users - meaning more revenue for labels through licensing rather than purchases."

It's too bad though that the labels and the publishers haven't figured out an easier way to do this so that the industry can flourish again :-)

Better Than Free

2009-01-16T07:54:00.001-05:00

Here’s a great article by Kevin Kelly (also from WIRED) on his Technium blog called “Better then Free.” Definitely a must read and it really made me stop and think!

“A generative value is a quality or attribute that must be generated, grown, cultivated, and/or nurtured. A generative thing can not be copied, cloned, faked, replicated, counterfeited, or reproduced. It is generated uniquely, in place, over time. In the digital arena, generative qualities add value to free copies, and therefore are something that can be sold.”

Eight Generatives Better Than Free:

Immediacy
Personalization
Interpretation
Authenticity
Accessibility
Embodiment
Patronage
Findability

TargetSpot Adds Eight Radio Groups

2009-01-14T13:45:00.000-05:00

TargetSpot has added eight more radio groups to its growing Internet radio advertising network. With these latest additions, TargetSpot represents websites of more than 1,000 radio stations, both terrestrial and online-only....

New Trade Organization Launches for Internet Radio!

2008-12-21T09:17:00.003-05:00

Well, it’s now official. The Internet Media Device Alliance (IMDA) just announced its plans to hold their first General Assembly meeting at CES on Jan. 9 at the MGM. According to the website’s mission statement at www.IMDAlliance.org, “The IMDA has been formed with the aim of developing and promoting a set of open, interoperable standards and device profiles in order to maximize the growth of a global consumer market in Internet-connected media devices”. This can only be a good thing as the internet media and device market has been growing in many directions with no clear path or consensus. I'm overly optimistic that enough of the right people and companies will sign up so that it will be a successful venture, as 'Internet Radio' itself as a category seems to be gaining incredible momentum with consumers and will grow faster with some collective guidance.

DISCLAIMER: I’m honored to have been a member of the original Steering Committee and look forward to much progress with respect to interoperability and infinite choice for content. (It’s also worth mentioning that I’m on the Product Development team for the RCA and Acoustic Research Infinite Radios.)