What should the U.S. focus on right now?

1.     Overhaul the health care system and fix the health care website so that healthy Americans can increase the U.S. economic output and competitiveness and subsequently its exports.

2.     Fix the immigration system so that immigrants who are born in the U.S. have better chances to make it in life and that highly educated individuals from outside America can more easily contribute their expertise to the U.S. economy in order to create jobs and improve competitiveness.

3.     Get people out of jails and provide social help to those who need it so that these people don’t have to commit crimes out of a survival need. Safe money on prisons and spend it on social help. Make America safer and improve living standards for everybody overall. Poor, the middle and the rich. Because money doesn’t help you if you get stabbed walking across the street tomorrow.

4.     Stop collecting information on random people inside and outside of the U.S. Focus instead on America’s strength in the IT sector. Make sure global Internet firms can continue doing business overseas in an environment where people do not have privacy concerns with American companies.

5.     Deal with world leaders on a level of trust. Do not monitor them and focus instead on deals such as the free trade zone with Europe with is supposed to provide three times more growth to the American economy than to the European Union according to WSJ.

Computer-mediated-communication rules

These are 6 rules to manage computer-mediated-communication with smartphone addicts who use their phone sub-consciously more than 7 hours a day (that's when you're an addict by definition):

(1) act extremely extraverted
(2) show low level of involvement and no emotional involvement at all/ short repetitive sentences that are easy to understand and that do not disclose anything personal, what leads to point no. 3
(3) keep self-disclosure low
(4) act dominant and not "warm", use humor rarely
(5) keep conversation flow dynamic but give your responses a touch of "value" to the other party
(6) use linguistic cues to induce personality into your statement such as # or * or ?!

TEXTING alters conversations in four major ways:
 1. Procrastination of reply (not real-time) - People can prepare their answers, it's less intuitive, more strategic
2. Avoidance of confrontation - Confrontation with issues, decision making and subsequent conflict resolution doesn't work through the medium because of limitations in dept and breath of the discussion
3. Emotions (positive and negative) are often perceived as desperate and unnatural  
4. The lack of non-verbal cues such as facial expression makes the conversation less rich and puts more emphasis on linguistic cues.

Billboard announces new Subscription Services "on-demand songs" chart.

According to Billboard.biz, Billboard, Nielsen and NARM's digitalmusic.org launched the first-ever subscription services on-demand songs chart. The data collected for this chart will also be included in the industry's most popular Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Billboard Hot 100 chart is based on digital download track sales, physical singles sales, radio airplay and now streaming services. These streaming services are tracked by Nielsen BDS.

The new Subscription chart is solely based on data from Nielson BDS. The company tracks streaming activity since 2005 and measures music channels such as MOG, Muve Music, Rdio, Rhapsody, Slacker and Sportify. Through the first 70 days of 2012, the company has recognized more than 4.5 billion audio streams.

Billboard's editorial director Bill Werde, commented on the new development:

"Billboard always recognizes trends in the way fans experience music. With some of these services growing exponentially and integrating into the social web, the time is right to launch a streaming chart and to incorporate this activity into the Hot 100"

With the new formula in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, music consumers gain more direct influence on the chart's ranking because they can decide what they want to stream at what time instead of indirectly changing the radio channel, that they are listen to if they don't like a song.

Additionally, the new streaming chart will also measure on demand video request services like Akoo, Yahoo! and Vevo.

The new streaming chart and the updated Billboard Hot 100 went online on March 16.

Streaming services and on-demand music is a highly growing segment in today’s music industry. Major labels such as Sony are currently launching their own streaming platforms (Sony Music Entertainment) and consumers start to use these services on devices such as smart phones and tablet PCs. Further many customers listen to radio online nowadays by streaming their favorite radio channels.

Billboard staff (2012). Billboard, Nielsen, DigitalMusic.org Launch First-Ever Subscription Services "On-Demand Songs' Chart Retrieved Sunday March 25^th, 2012 via: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/billboard-nielsen-digitalmusic-org-launch-1006451952.story

Voicemail receives rotation add for “I Got Love” on major radio station BigFM in Germany.

Internationally acclaimed Jamaican dancehall reggae outfit Voicemail recently completed work on its latest album Next Level which is to be released by the US-based Captivate Music. The entertainers arrived back in Jamaica last weekend after spending a week in NYC in order to work on their album project. Besides recording sessions and photo shoots, Kevin & Craig gave various Interviews in which they introduced the first single “I Got Love” of their upcoming album to the public.

Voicemail received great feedback from underground blogs as well as from mass media for their latest release. Popular blogs associated the song to the style of Sean Kingston and described it as “Summer Smash!”. The german radio station BigFM added the song to it’s rotation in January after airing an Interview with the group. Voicemail also did an exclusive dubplate recoding for the morning show of the station. Kevin and Craig are especially happy about reaching their international target group through the channel. BigFM has approximately 250.000 listeners per hour with the average age of 26 in the south of Germany.

Kevin said: “This is is a great opportunity for us to build an audience in a major music market such as Germany. We’re significantly interested in a steady growth of our fan bases overseas, especially in Japan, where we have lots of fans as well as in Europe and of course the U.S.”

Craig added:”I’m glad that customers in Germany appreciate our sound and our image. As a real authentic caribbean act, we want to show the uniqueness of our home country Jamaica to people around the globe.”

Germany becomes Europe's largest music market.

According to billboard.biz and the IFPI Digital Music Report, Germany overtook the U.K in the revenue generated by physical sales, online sales and performance rights collection. Let's compare these 3 different income areas between the U.K and Germany in order to understand the development on both music markets in recent years.

Physical sales:

The U.K. market made $1.38 billion in 2010. This was a decline of 11% compared to 2009. Germany in turn made $1.41 billion in physical sales, what accounts for 81% of all sold music. The U.K. is more established in the digital market, which grows from year to year. 25% of all recorded music purchased in the U.K. comes from digital sources. One major reason, why Germany makes more money in traditional music sales is the consumer interest in "Deluxe Versions" of albums and the strategy to release simplified packaged CDs month after the initial release to place them in the lower price segment.

Digital market:

The major reason, why the U.K. falls in the ranking of international music markets, is the changeover from physical to digital sales. The U.K. increased digital album sales from 12.5% to 17.5% in 2010. The appetite for digital sales continues and so it is very likely that the U.K. market will return to its old position in the ranking in 2012. In Germany digital sales totaled only $178 million. iTunes is the most popular online retailer on both markets. The U.K. has also made the transition to subscription services like Sportify, while in Germany ongoing battles between the collection society GEMA and subscription services as well as advertisement based video platforms such as YouTube VEVO avoid any progress in this field.

Performance Rights:

The U.K. is the market leader in performing rights. It collected $111 million in rights revenue in 2010, what is equivalent to 8% of total recorded music sales. Germany is also strong in this sector and copyright owners earned $91 million in rights revenue the same year, what is equivalent to 6% of total sales.

The U.K. market is very strong in collection performance royalties overseas, while Germany is more successful in marketing domestic artists. In this context, it becomes clear why the U.K. is the second most important source for A&R behind the U.S.

Richard Smirke (2011). How Germany Overtook The U.K. To Become Europe's Largest Music Market. Retrieved January 22th, 2011, from: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/global/ifpi-2011-report-global-recorded-music-sales-1005100902.story

IFPI (2011). Digital Music Report. Retrieved January 22th, 2011, from: www.ifpi.org/content/library/DMR2011.pdfwww.ifpi.org/content/library/DMR2011.pdf

Yonah (2011). UK Music Market Beaten by Germany. Retrieved January 22th, 2011, from: http://www.p2pon.com/2011/04/07/uk-music-market-beaten-by-germany

Adobe Social Analytics Suite

In my blog post, I want to give an overview on the new social media - marketing suite of Adobe, which was introduced to the European markets in November 2011. In order to get an understanding about the software, its purpose and its potential target audience, I've listened to an interview with Chad Warren, who is Senior Manager, Product Marketing for Social Media at Adobe's headquarters in the U.S. In this 24 minutes long interview, he talks about the need to use such a program, the internal setup of the software, the desired users and the difference between Adobe Social Analytics and competitors. Additionally, I examined a presentation, which he uses to present the software on conventions.

THE NEED TO USE THE PROGRAM

"Deciding how to measure the value of an investment in social media is the highest priority for marketing directors in Europe" Chad Warren 2011.

Marketing budgets are moving and marketing directors have to decide how much they invest in social media. 78% of these managers don't have a complete view of social campaigns.

Between 2012 and 2014, Adobe estimate, that 94% more money will be spend in social media ads in Germany. The company estimate an increase of 60% in the UK, and 83% in France. At the same time social media will compete against traditional websites.

At its core, the software should help businesses to monitor, measure and monetize the impact of social media on their business.

INTERNAL SETUP OF THE SOFTWARE

The software captures all relevant conversations on blogs, Twitter, Facebook etc. Further, it determines the mood of the conversations. Finally, the software measures the impact of these conversations on the business. The software should ultimately help marketers to gain information on their social media campaigns and to make appropriate changes in order to create more impact and to reach people more effectively.

The software particularly tracks influencers on social media. Chad Warren defines an influencer in two different ways. The first metrics he uses is the reach of an influencer. This means, how many followers the person has or how many interactions the person has? The other way is to measure if the person drive revenue to the business.

 The adobe analytics window is separated into 4 parts:

- Share of Voice,

- Marketing Performance,

- Marketing Strategy and

- Influencers.

WHO WILL USE THIS SOFTWARE MOSTLY?

Adobe Analytics can be used by professionals and beginners. Their typical background comes from marketing together with PR experience. At the same time other people such as traditional marketers or people with a financial controlling function within a company should be able to use the software as well.

The software is interesting for both, agencies and organizations. For the introduction of the software, agencies are very important, because agencies do new and innovate things and so they might be the first, who work with Adobe Analytics. But Adobe's aim is to get the software to organizations in order to become the market leader in social media analytics.

In the beginning of social media marketing organizations asked agencies for help. But organizations had been often not interested in a long-term relationship, because they recognized very soon, that they needed the skills internal. This development can be repeated with social media analytics software in general.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

The software:

-       connects social media to business results by using multi-channel analytics.

-       brings social media into the marketing mix by extending traditional monitoring and measurement as an integrated component.

-       facilitates real-time marketing intelligence by showing most popular feedback of current marketing strategy and messaging.

-       closes the social marketing loop by showing how social marketing converts into orders and revenue,

Adobe Analytics is the future of social media tools. There will be a lot of consolidation in the market place. On one hand, marketing managers will use one suite for all their needs. Adobe has this integrated approach and includes various tools connected to each other in the suite. Fragmentation could happen for businesses with special needs. Social media analytics can be useful for other branches as well. Adobe focuses on marketing only.

Interview direct link (MP3): http://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/fir-adobechadwarren.mp3

Presentation direct link (PDF): http://social-optimisation.com/downloads/Adobe_London.pdf

How to get a sponsorship / endorsement deal.

In my second blog post, I want to point out the difference between endorsement and sponsorship in the music business and discuss how to obtain these relationships with companies. An endorsement is "an official relationship between a manufacturer and a celebrity or influential artist."  The artist or celebrity gains publicity through the relationship, while the manufacturer hopes to increase overall sales “by utilizing the artist’s name/likeness through association, advertisement, promotion etc.” Rich Mangicaro (2006).  A sponsorship differs from an endorsement deal by paying money to the celebrity or artist in return for advertising the brand.  In an endorsement deal, the artist / celebrity can receive free products of the company additionally to the publicity benefit. This opens another possibility to relate the brand to the artist especially for fashion brands or manufacturer of musical equipment / instruments.

How to get an endorsement deal? First of all, the person searching for a deal should contact companies, which could be potentially interested in an endorsement. It is important to ask the right questions and to focus on the benefit that the artist can bring to the table instead of looking for the own advantage only. It is all about having a great idea that both parties could do together to bring more business for everyone. For local artists it is always advisable to start with a local business. Both partners need to be equal in their reach to make it a meaningful partnership. When approaching the brand, the artist should be well prepared. Creating a list of 3 to 5 reasons why they would benefit gives the artist a better understanding about how to structure a talk with a representative of the company.

Eventually, I want to mention that branding with human characteristics is becoming more and more important for companies today. This plays an important role in sponsorship especially between music entertainers and brands. It "is the idea that brand personality is a vehicle of consumer self-expression and can be instrumental in helping a consumer express different aspects of his or her self“ (Aaker 1997; Belk 1988; Escalas and Bettman 2005; Johar, Sengupta, and Aaker 2005).  "Humanizing a brand empowers it to play a more central role in the consumer’s life, potentially enabling the consumer to project an aspect of his or her self that might be desirable for relationships he or she seeks (Aaker 1997; Wallendorf and Arnould 1988) or possibly even give him or her a sense of comfort at having found a brand that “fits” with his or her self-concept." (Aaker 1999; Sirgy 1985; Swa- minathan, Page, and Gurhan-Canli 2007). Well-known examples for pop music artists and their sponsorships with brands are: Pitbull and Kodak, Bud Light, Voli Vodka, Pepsi. Jennifer Lopez and Fiat, L’Oreal, Tous Jewelry. Alicia Keys and HP, Glaceau Vitamin Water, GM.

Rich Mangicaro (2006).Getting the deal – The Music Industry’s Endorsement Game.

Retrieved December 11th, 2011, from: www.richmangicaro.com/Press_files/MangicaroPAS-1.pdf

John Deighton (2008). When Brand Personality Matters: The Moderating Role of Attachment Styles.

Retrieved December 11th, 2011, from:

www.csom.umn.edu/assets/120408.pdf

Simon Tam (2009). How to Get Endorsements or Sponsors for your band, tour, record, etc.

Retrieved December 11th, 2011, from:

http://www.musicthinktank.com/mtt-open/how-to-get-endorsements-or-sponsors-for-your-band-tour-recor.html