Live from Music Matters Asia
I’m currently in Hong Kong attending the Music Matters Asia music industry conference, where, unsurprisingly, digital media and internet file sharing is the hot topic. The slogan of Day 1: mobile is the future. The primary growth area (and really the only meaningful growth area) for music through 2010 is monetized mobile downloads.
Here are some highlights from yesterday’s panel discussions. I’ll add info about more highlights over the next day or two.
-Major labels in Asia claim to embrace and look forward to digital, online music distribution as an opportunity more than a challenge. I’m not sure if this was conference-induced exuberance or whether it’s a real sentiment (probably a little of both). I’m also not sure whether this professed excitement is shared by the major label home offices in New York and London. It would not surprise me if Asia executives were in fact more rosy about the future than their bosses because high piracy rates have historically forced music companies in Asia to be flexible and adjust to new situations, so embracing new revenue sources is natural for them.
-I thought the best panel of the day was “Meet the Neighbors,” the only non-music industry panel. On this panel were executives from “neighboring” industries: videogaming/online gaming, television, and mobile communications. They raised two of the most prescient points made all day. First, one of the panelists remarked: I’ve been listening all day and I haven’t heard anyone talk about musicians.
1) Everyone talks about ringtones, downloading, market share, but what about the artists? Cliche, yes, but it is an absolutely key point that the industry can only survive if people are able to connect and experience artists and technology and business models enable and encourage artists to create great music.
2) The industry has to get over it’s centralist, top-down mentality. Music is not just what record companies distribute to passive consumers. Consumers today want to create, and share their creations. They want technologies and business models that enable that and are seeking and finding those regardless of what the business model record companies push.