Future Of Music » music 2.0

Austin, TX – Planning for the Future of Live Music

dkusek — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 03:25:34 +0000

Last month I had the pleasure of traveling to Austin, TX and working with the fine folks there – brainstorming on the future of music and in particular, the future of the live music business. Here is an updated version of my Global Music Business presentation that I gave at their incredible new City Hall.

“Live Music” is what Austin is all about. Austin actually has an official Division of the City of Austin dedicated to developing the music industry in town, effectively led by “music officers” Don Pitts and David Murry. They are devoting significant resources to seeing that the city’s future along with the future of all the musicians who live and work there are aligned with successful practices in the overall music business.

Here is my picture of their official music office “squad car”. All they need now is a flashing light like Steve McGarrett. I’m gonna bring them one the next time I visit. “Pull over Ma’am, is that Emo we hear…?”

How cool is that? Does your city have an official Music Division?

Gerd Leonhard Tech Talk at Google London

dkusek — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:47:04 +0000

Here is another presentation by my co-author Gerd Leonhard on “The Future”. It is a little long (63 mins) but very interesting and inspiring. Anyone seeking to understand how to make money in the face of free music should watch this very carefully, and learn.

Music 2.0 models beginning to work

dkusek — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:10:22 +0000

The state of the music business is obviously in transition, but new models are beginning to work at various levels that shine a very positive light on the future of the music industry. For example, some of the predictions made in the Future of Music Book and in other places are beginning to come to pass, such as the abandonment of DRM, music subscription and licensing services, ad supported music and the ascent of the Indie artist and Indie label. Take a look at these examples:

You can now purchase MP3 files for download without DRM from all four major labels on Amazon.com, emusic and a growing list of music destinations. The predictions that an unprotected format would kill sales have simply not been true. These businesses are exploding.

Early proponents of the subscription models Napster and Rhapsody have survived and are growing.

There is active discussion of a flat-fee structure for music at major labels where once we were laughed out of the offices.

Indie Labels now account for upwards of 30% of total music sales, up from the low 20′s just a few years ago. This is a profound shift in the powerbase that favors the independent artist and innovator.

Social music sites such as LastFM, Pandora, iLike and many more are making the fans into tastemakers with the ability to promote and share great new music at the touch of a button.

This is all very good news for musicians, writers and artists who want control of their destiny and their careers.

Music 2.0 – new book from Gerd Leonhard

dkusek — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:52:48 +0000

Music2.0 is a hard-hitting, provocative and inspiring collection of essays and blog posts on the future of the music industry from my co-author Gerd Leonhard. The book continues and expands on the ideas and models presented in our book “The Future of Music”, which has become a must-read work within the music industry, worldwide, available in English, German, Spanish and Italian.

Music2.0 describes what the next generation of music companies will look like and the new principles that will define the next iteration of the music business.

Music2.0 presents the best of Gerd’s writings from the past four years. As you move from 2003 to 2007 in the book, the evolution of various ideas and expressions can clearly be observed.

Check out Music2.0 here!