Gilles Babinet: 10 digital music bets for 2011

                                             

French digital music entrepreneur Gilles Babinet - chairman of Eyeka, MXP4 & Awdio - makes his predictions for this new year about digital music industry trends.

                                               


For each of the past ten years almost without exception, the music industry has been associated with bad news. It is widely held that music is a shrinking business (yes, sales have dropped by almost two thirds this decade), incapable of shifting its model, and moreover not really able to cope with the internet.
It is a well-known fact that not only did the industry poorly manage the transition towards the internet (I can remember that in 2000, we were often advised not to utter the word mp3 when we had a meeting with execs from the industry) but in addition it has been unable to create any kind of alternative offering… As a result, the industry didn’t really counter the inscrease in piracy and things went only from bad to worse.
However, 2010 has been an interesting year and there are many reasons to believe that 2011 will be a critical – and surprisingly positive – year. Here are ten key trends for the year to come:

1° In Europe, the drop in sales will come to a halt:

We admit that this is quite a risky prediction, but based on interim sales reports from several European countries, it seems that the downturn has, for the first time, stopped in most developed countries. Even France, where piracy is rife, witnessed a small increase in consolidated music sales on a runrate year basis. We believe that for the first time, paid-for online music could compensate the loss of physical sales. This may not mean that traditional players will stop suffering; rather, internet newcomers and majors will enjoy most of the growth, while indies will keep suffering.

2° Cloud is Music:

 Streaming music has become common… Even though Spotify has been struggling for almost a year to sign the licenses that would let it enter the US market, its model is admittedly becoming the best one, far beyond iTunes’: no mp3 files to manage, accessibility from any computer, social features embedded, almost unlimited catalogue, and piracy rendered almost impossible…

3° iTunes will shift to the cloud:

 From its inception ten years ago until now, iTunes’ offering has hardly changed, bar the removal of all DRM 2 years ago. As a result iTunes is clearly perceived as old fashioned, while a significant part of its user base sees it as tricky to use, according to researchers. We can bet they are having a hard time finding better features than Spotify already offers.

4° No longer one leading player:

Over the past ten years, the dominance of iTunes has been impressive. Up to 88% market share in the US – according to Steve Jobs – and a global market share of 70%. Majors have learned the lesson and will make sure that it won’t happen again. Good news for them: there are plenty of newcomers ready to take their share of the business.

5° Mp3 is progressively getting old:

 The once-hip format was invented more than 20 years ago. It is clear now that in terms of compression efficiency and fingerprinting, it is far from the best. Above all, the shift to the cloud will turn it into history.

6° P2P traffic decreases:

Maybe for the first time in more than ten years, P2P exchange has experienced a strong backlash, with actors such as LimeWire being obliged to stop their activity while the founders of PirateBay’s prison sentences have been confirmed by a Swedish court. As a result, overall P2P traffic has either stalled or decreased. Piracy though is still doing fine thanks to fast download, VPN and illegal streaming sites. For 2011, the increasing number of laws (such as Hadopi in France) may reverse the trends, at least in Europe.

7° Fans are coming back… on Facebook:

You don’t care about Facebook’s hipness and you think “fans” are insignificant in terms of music business? You may be wrong. In recent years, researchers have demonstrated that youngsters are not listening to music alone anymore, or as their elders did: they watch videos or play videogames at the same time. This explains a lot why the face value of music has plummeted almost to zero for this demographic category. However the good news is that 12 of the top 20 biggest fan communities of Facebook are music artist-related. And these artists are just about now realising that they can easily monetise these fans. The example of the boom in social gaming has also proved that the number of page fans is not just bullshit, but rather a very serious income source. Linking up fans (through social networks) and music may be the next music killer move. Not only would it at last create a funnel to recruit new music fans, but it would bring to youngsters the listening experience they have been involved with  for these last few years; listening to music while they are doing other stuff. A few start-ups – including mxp4 – are now engaging themselves into this area. Business is still in infancy, but there are reasons to believe that it can boom even more than the once the ringtone business did…

8° Value changes hands and clearly shifts from traditional labels towards internet players…:

 Obviously,  e-tailers (iTunes, Amazon…) and media players (Spotify, Pandora…) are definitely taking an increasing share of the music revenues (majors can defend their share but indies clearly can’t) ; but more interestingly numerous producing or licensing segments (CDBaby, Orchard, Believe are good example…) are increasing their market share. It is still unclear if these new players’ revenues are recognised and acknowledged by the music industry (we assume the situation differs from a country to another).

9° Long tail creates value:

 Even though this concept popularised by Chris Anderson has gone through a lot of criticism, we cannot void the fact that the long tail music business has significantly grown and that it now represents a large chunk of the newly-created revenues.

10° 2011 may see an artist breaking on Facebook:

 Recently Mark Zuckerberg made clear that he wants to “reorganise” the Content (including music) business, thanks to new features on Facebook. He clearly understands that he has built the most powerful media to break new artist. Our bet is that in 2011, we will have the first artist to hit worldwide fame and recognition, thanks to Facebook alone.

Source: http://blog.midem.com/2010/12/gilles-babinet-10-digital-music-bets-for-2011/

10 Winter Skincare Tips...

We may sweat more, shave more, and soak up more sun in warmer months, but with the winter comes a whole new tricky set of beauty issues we must contend with. Slathering on head-to-toe moisturizer may seem like the solution, but preventing dried out, flaky skin involves a little more work. Follow these basic rules and you’ll stay silky smooth all over till spring.

1. Opt for oil-based moisturizers                            
The main switch in your winter skin care regimen should be selecting an oil-based moisturizer, so look for one that contains avocado or almond oil. These will lock the moisture in your skin and build a protective layer on the top surface.

2. Use a humidifier
Heat can dry out more than just your sinuses. With added moisture in the air, your skin won’t be as flaky.

3. Avoid very hot water
It may feel good, but you should never shower, bathe or wash your face with extremely hot water.It can not only break the capillaries in the face, but also break down the lipid barriers in the skin, which will lead to a loss of moisture.

4. Hydrate skin while it's damp
Applying moisturizer immediately after taking a shower or washing your face will help lock-in moisture.

5. Never ever lick your lips
Stash soothing lip balms in your purse, car, and desk to keep lips from chapping.You can also apply few drops of olive oil mixed with few drops of honey to your lips for few minutes to hydrate.

6. Swap your liquid foundation for a cream formula
Liquid foundation can actually freeze!.One of the benefits of using cream is that it will give your skin an extra protective layer and help keep the moisture in your skin.

7. Don’t ever leave the house with wet hair
Have you ever had your hair freeze in the cold? This will cause damage to your scalp and hair can actually break off, so it may be better to shower in the evening. Since hair can get dry and damaged just like our skin, protect it by conditioning more in the winter and blow dry hair on a cooler setting.

8. Wear a hat to prevent a dry scalp
Besides keeping you warm, a hat will hold in moisture and protect your scalp from dry air and flaking. Make sure your hat is not too tight and made of breathable material.

9. Give your hands extra love
The skin on our hands are extremely thin, which means they already have a limited amount of moisture,Apply moisturizer frequently, especially after washing your hands, and avoid cotton gloves, which absorb moisture and stay wet.

10. Don’t forget your sunscreen

Apply sunscreen about 30 minutes before going outside. Reapply if you're spending the spending the day outside

Source: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/10-winter-skincare-tips-2431224/

Autumn Winter Colour Combinations for Youngsters

Navy & Camel

Navy and Camel. Simply because they’re two colours which have been extremely popular this season, and two colours which compliment each other perfectly! It’s a colour combination that is a great starting block to work with. Notice how with these three colour combinations I’m showcasing toned down colours which will look great, but wont have your friends asking “Why the drastic fashion change?”.

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Dark Green & Brown

I love this combination. Two true A/W colours (earth tones which are always on trend) combined to really compliment each other. The colours also fit perfectly if you’re trying to establish the ever-strong military look.
No rules apply as you can see from the looks I’ve picked. A brown bag with green trousers? A brown and green jumper with brown boat shoes? Want to use different tones of each colour? Go for it, experiment with whatever looks best on you but remember to keep them toned down!

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Black & Beige

Another simple but effective colour combination. Similar to my favourite pick – navy and camel – this colour combination uses darker tones. Perfect as a starting block due to the fact these two colours are very common and nearly ever man will have them in their ward/floordrobe!

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http://www.fashionbeans.com/mens-style/autumn-winter-colour-combinations/

Web World Ringtones - The Latest Trend Amongst Youngsters

                                                                       
                                                          

Mobile Music, also referred to as the Wireless Music, is widely known for it's composition of mobile phone ringtones, color ring back tones (CRBT) and mobile phone music (MP3). The Caller ring back tones are also popular by the name of Ring back tones that facilitates you to select a song or any music of your choice that your family, relatives and friends would hear when they give you a tinkle.



What's more? These days ringtones download from different websites on the Internet is the latest fashion, especially amongst the youngsters, including teenagers who tend to be the most frequent visitors on websites for downloading purpose. While some of the sites do not charge a single penny for any download of song, a few others charge a small amount of money per song. Secondly, before downloading any song from the Internet, you must be fully aware of the functionality of your handset as different mobile handsets are compatible with different song formats. While some handsets only run MP3 formats, others are only compatible with RMV or MP4 formats, depending upon the model of the handset you are using, its brand as well as its features.



The booming business of ringtones has given birth to many companies who now also sell, among other products, pirated copies of songs, which is otherwise illegal business to indulge in. The downloader is required to pay a small amount of royalty which once downloaded is passed on to friends and known ones free of cost to be used as a ringtone in their handsets. Various industry analysts have found the constant piracy going on from the part of mobile sellers, who store latest songs into the handsets without making royalty payment, before they sell off these handsets to the customers. Reputed websites do collect royalties on offering mobile ringtones, the 90% of which is then passed on to the music companies. These websites are responsible for converting songs into digital format to be uploaded on the mobile phones and charge a processing fee for the same from the web users.



The recent reports show a market of USD 3.5 billion globally with value-added services regularly enhancing the mobile phone sector largely. Mobile phone ringtones are undoubtedly the leaders in the provision of a gamut of value-added services that has been able to fetch more than 10 percent of music sales round the world. The downloading of mobile content contributed to about 70 percent of the revenues worldwide.



A majority of mobile handset manufacturers have been pushing hard all handsets into the markets that are supported with technologically advanced features and user-friendly interactive options, while also making sure that the transfer of these frills and fancies happen without any hassles and at low or no extra cost. The providers of mobile ringtones have also made certain provisions for the mobile users to preview or listen to the ringtones before actually downloading them to their mobile handsets. Other services also may allow the users to key in the name of the song without having to remembering the ringtone code for the service provider. Countries like India, United States and Singapore support multi-linguistic services to work with different modes of interface.

To find out more and download free ringtones for your cell phone, please visit WAPLY mobile community. You can also check top free ringtones online.  Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Web-World-Ringtones---The-Latest-Trend-Amongst-Youngsters&id=1317746

Youngsters catching fancy of music

                                                              

LAHORE - The craze of music is rapidly growing in our society, especially among the youngsters due to the influx of number of private TV channels, FM radios and the introduction of latest technology like mobile phones, MP-3 and MP-4.

New trends in Pakistani music have special attraction for music lovers across the world, thses were the views of the youngsters according to a special survey report conducted under the auspicious of The Nation here on Saturday.

Record numbers of songs’ CDs of young singers and mobile phones having software supporting song system and movie’s clips were sold during the couple of recent months in the provincial metropolis.
 No doubt, the fusion of traditional and pop music has linked the new generation with old music. Every age group loves music but it mostly attracts young generation, changing trends are good especially combination of folk and pop music gives soothing effects.

 

According to survey music lovers are of the view that Pakistani singers and music players have entirely changed the typical form of old music, adopting different musical trends. They said now-a-days, Pakistani singers and composers are making successful efforts in inventing a new combination of traditional music with other music types.

Ayesha Iftikhar, a student of Lahore College for Women University, said the new trends of music attract us because we always want something different and new. “Our national singers are trying their best to bring the Ghazal and Pop to greater heights and their efforts meet the international demands,” she added.

Hira Jabeen, a student of Hajveri University was of the view that people accept new and changed music from composers, adding now classical, soft, blue (sad and soft music), pop genres have everlasting impact.

SOURCE:http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Regional/Lahore/20-Jun-2010/Youngsters-catching-fancy-of-music

Helping Your Children Make Career Choices

If you are the parent of a pre-teen or young teenager it is likely that your child's career choice is the furthest thing from your mind. You, and they, are probably more concerned with grades, friends, sports and other interests at this point, as you, and they, should be. That doesn't mean you can't add career choice to your list of things to start thinking about.
While a pre-teen or teen is not yet ready to settle on a career choice, this is great time to begin exploring many different occupations. Since many children are only aware of the small number of occupations to which they are exposed, for example doctor, dentist, teacher and whatever it is their parents and relatives do, exploring occupations is a great way to get them to realize there are many options available to them.

How You Can Help Your Children Explore Occupations

When one is young, the future's possibilities are endless. A pre-teen or teen can look at a variety of occupations without the critical eye one must have later on. There are many ways to explore occupations and parents are a key component in helping their children with this process. Here is what you should do:

• Keep Your Opinions to Yourself: Try not to discourage your child from exploring a particular career, even if you think it's all wrong for him.
• Network: Use your connections to set up opportunities for your child to meet with people working in various occupations.
• Protect Your Kids: Make sure you know who your children are contacting to get information about careers. Accompany your child if he or she is meeting with someone. Read all email correspondence.

Read About Occupations

The easiest way to learn about an occupation is by reading about it. There are many career books in public and school libraries. A lot of information is also available on the Web.While reading about an occupation may be easy, it can also be ... well ... not very interesting. Kids like hands-on experiences, where they can learn about an occupation by talking about it or better yet experiencing it.
One way to experience an occupation is through job shadowing. A child can visit an adult at work to see what the day to day activities are.
 
 
http://careerplanning.about.com/od/adviceforkidsandteens/a/children.htm

Stylish Shoes For Guys

There is no occasion for looking stylish and smart. Style is all about your attitude and passion. When it comes to style, do not forget that your shoes are equally being noticed. Its not the party time which demands the need to look elegant and stylish, but even in business meetings, seminars and other convocation ceremonies, the power of your style speaks and forces others to give you a patient hearing. Well, women often like men who are neat, clean and stylish.

Here is a list that will provide you some idea about buying stylish shoes for guys so just check out the hottest men shoes styles: -

• For any morning or fitness activity, sneakers are simply fantastic. The best is to attire them with a cool t-shirt and shorts. They can also be worn with a tracksuit. They are also finding a place in tennis court  

• Puma Speed Cat trainer shoes look simply funky. Whiling walking on the local roads or while driving your motorbike, they look very attractive. Especially with denim and leather jackets, they look very cool.

• Most popular man shoes trend is of Leather shoes. They have always been in vogue. Leather is the classic epitome of fashion style. It is also labeled as special occasion shoes

• Sketcher Navigator is a blend of simple and urbane. A combo of blue jeans and a short waist length button down shirt with a pair of sketcher looks simply marvelous and can smoothly sail in parties too.

• Funky Thong sandals are simply hot and happening and are the best deal in summers specially while enjoying your drink with friends. So, choose your stylish shoes and make a distinctive fashion statement for yourself.