2highbehind

MIDEM 2007 | the end

Fayence, Cannes 03:15 hours, 25th of January 2007

Today Midem ended for us as far as our presence here. Now the next steps and follow up a fantastic event, with so many great encounters. Morten asked me what the most crazy thing was that happened. The funniest thing is this toothbrush that plays music in your head as soon as you start brushing the teeth. Let's get it started from the Black Eye  Peas. Check:

I met so many nice people that all play their roles in this amazing industry. The most heard comment was that Midem is not so much about the music anymore, but a business event. It was my first time, so maybe that's true? On arrival I got an email if a friend of a friend could stay with us, the more souls the more joy ;-) Billy my man, a pleasure to meet. Let's make our ideas come true. 

All together it is clear that Digital is the bright future for the music industry, but still many issues and/or challenges lie ahead. The plea for a DRM free world becomes stronger and in reach and companies hire great people to tackle each of these problems. A giant invisible hand is shaking the tree and many companies will fall out because of the changes, but you see the good companies adapting to the new realities of an industry. Midem has been extremely good to us and  IIP  becomes a  reality because people like FUGA when they see it. I am so happy with the team and the people that work so hard to make this all happen. Super thanks everybody for a great trip. Fin 

MIDEM 2007

From Cannes I salute you. Yesterday it was all about Midem net and the future of music. The vibe changed from a negative one to a positive attitude towards digital. It's the talk of the town and since Popkom nobody dares to say that digital is just a hype and will go away. It's here to stay and it's here to stay without DRM. Not in all models, but only in add or subscription supported model. Still have the bet outstanding ;-) We stay in a great place (Thanks Soren!!!!) and a good group to do all the hard work. The thing is that now digital becomes an essential part of the record industry IIP is perceives different than when we started a year and a half ago. Now people see the benefit. Who says that imagination is for hippies? Many of the people I spoke didn't get it, now they do. Thanks for that. Why would a small start-up from Amsterdam be able to make this happen? That is the question we get everyday. From potential investors, from disappointed industry professionals etc. Does it sound strange if I say it's already happening and we get in everywhere we need to get in and close the deals we need to close to become an international player of significance? I say the fact we come from Amsterdam means as little as the fact  the earth is round. It's about your idea, execution power, love and passion and of course the ability to communicate across borders.  Thanks to my Mom and Dad to teach me all these languages and the spirit that goes beyond borders and straight to the heart. I saw a new major yesterday. It's name is Merlin. Strange!

Embrace music congrats with Rob van de Wouw, Reboot Your Soul

Yesterday night my friend Branko made his dream come true. A Fantastic band with energy and fun sparkling of the stage made my evening. Wow! Good job and let this be the first step of something BIG. Especially with FUGA powering the distribution you will make it bigger t han big ;-)

What a weekend

Noorderslag Groningen. First time in my life to Groningen (that I can remember) and visited Groningen. Quite a nice city, but the Japanese tasted the same as everywhere, quite good and tasty ;-) The Dutch financial newspaper wrote an article about IIP and lots of positive response from readers all over the place. You can find the article here (in Dutch) >> Financieel Dagblad

Last week lots of interesting things happened in the music world. EMI changed their management and I wonder what this will mean? Finally people start to understand what FUGA does.

Next week MIDEM in Cannes, very exciting and hopefully the weather will be nice.

Testing FUGA and weekly developer day

At IIP we are extremely busy with testing the first release of FUGA. Today was our first developer day discussing the results, questioning, debating and kicking FUGA into shape. I had a total off day, my neck hurts like hell, but I could leave the office and things live on. It is so cool to have al these great people around me to make a dream come true. 2007 will be the year of opportunities . DRM will slowly move out, so sell your shares in any company that lives of this threat to human pleasure. Digital music is here to stay and we are at the beginning of something so cool. DRM free will mean a big uptake in sales and services. The downfall of CD sales needs to be com pensated with rise in digital sales.

News from great blog, funny

Sir Chris 2007

Last month my friend Chris got honored for his effort making Holland a better place. It's not an everyday ceremony and me as anti royalty  enjoyed this moment very much. Finally found something positive in the existence of a Monarchy, still worried about our water manager though ;-) But seeing a friend retire made me thinking of the future again. Before you know it life flies by and things like this 'lintje' (Only if you did your utmost best), like grown up kids and many other growing up thingies happen. What do you want to do? Who do you want to become when growing up and all these questions of life go through my mind.  Big change ahead every day, never a dull moment, new people connecting to the cosmos, issues flying around, disappointments, anger, joy, love, hate, success, failure and everything that makes us human. I know Chris deserved this honor and am glad he got it.

Hello Martin | NEW Blog

Hello Martin New blog from one of the LunkKenner guys ;-) Ebjoy this flying Swede. 

Betting on who let's go DRM first?

Reading the news the last couple of days I can see a momentum is build to let go of DRM in the current deployment. So why not start a betting game? Bet on who by leaving a comment with this post and the name of the Major, date, time, first DRM free portal to offer Major music and announcing executive. The winner gets a CD of choice from Amazon from me ;-)

Who will show courage?

To DRM or not to DRM?

DRM (Digital Retardation Management) is on its way to lalaland.

The fundamental problem with DRM is that it restricts. Just like the bracelet the Dutch government wants to give to mental convicts on a leave. It restricts you from doing what you want. In the case of this bracelet you could argue that the person is convicted and deserves punishment, but after a divine moment of purchasing music, or for that matter any type of art, the buyer doesn't deserve to get punished by restriction.

Secondly the music fan has the choice between Free (illegal) DRM free music with more choice than a human brain can handle services and Paid (legal) DRM restricted (some say protected) music services with limited choice. I don't think we need a rocket scientist to explain why people still go to illegal networks.

Last but not least people are used to becoming non restricted owner of things they buy. Trying to convince different is asking a Spanish fly to cool you down. Music is as fundamental as food,  ever tried to make money renting out a tasty sandwich?

So we should not restrict people before we know them, we should give them the benefit of the doubt. Furthermore we should look at the file sharing networks more as an technology playground. Let's find ways of respecting each others rights and add value to the tech wizards that revolutionized the way the audience listens and accesses music. DRM = FEAR, I say no more fear, let the Music flow and most people that can afford it will pay. And yes it takes two to Tango, so the audience should respect people their rights.

My dear Mom always had a Dutch say. "Zoals de waard is vertrouwd die zijn gasten" (Such as the landlord is, he trusts his guests, or something like that) The point is that you will not sell if you don't trust people first and restrict them with their purchased goods.

Maybe?? DRM can be very useful in leasing or other experimental models, like Rhapsody, but needs to be friendly and clear instead of a PITA ;-)

I look frwd to the financial results of legalized P2P networks that start selling music and empower people to share using the most advanced underlying infrastructures that from a human, economic, technical and business perspective makes the most sense. DARE TO SHARE...