Strategy and Trends in Music

Okay, so I am new to owning an iPod, well actually an iPhone and I am fascinated by all the nuances of digital media. Where to get it, DRM freedoms, and reuse capabilities. Because my iPhone is great for playing music, listening to lectures, watching dumb TV shows and the like. I like it because I can't stand main stream everything. In fact I haven't subscribed to cable in 10 years. Though I do consider myself relatively up to date on music and media, just selectively so. So whats the point of this blog entry? Quite simply, its whats happening to one's ability to find, access and consume the music they like and its effect on the music industry. Clearly strategies are changing on part of both music labels, artists, and retailers.

Apple's got iTunes, Sony/BMG have Connect, Amazon's thrown in their hat (which is different from their new eBook store for their new Kindle product (which i think is brilliant). Then there is Rhapsody/Real Player stores, music.yahoo.com, Walmart.com, Napster, V-Cast, 360 Audio, Windowsmedia and the list goes on an on. And that's just the legitimate stuff. And each retailer tries to lock you in with requiring you to load their download management software (read tracking mechanism).

So will consumers only flock to the easiest place to get what they want when they want it, or will retailers follow the Apple/Amazon model and rope them in with software, or mobile kiosks in their hands (cell phones), pockets (wi-fi enabled mp3 players) and briefcases (ltd web-enabled e-books). That future has yet to be written. Apples (iPhone and iTunes) strategy has been a mix of openness and proprietary approaches. Meaning, that you can buy music (limitations on DRM free), and their iPhone can't load/play all types digital media. And Amazon's Kindle, while a visionary approach to book selling, it has a very limited approach to web access and now PDF reading capability. Clearly that's because they want it to be a book, and not a web app. That will work for a limited audience, but not everybody.

I think Google will eventually weigh in on this (with their considerable mass). They will emphasize their openness of applications and access. They already have a music listing service - you can see it when you search for any music artist (it is not holistic). They have a book search tool as well. They have a purchasing service with Google Checkout. So you put the pieces together.

Now back to the music I mean subject at hand. All this has and will continue to have a profound effect on what music actually gets made, and produced. Democrotazation in music is good only when you can actually find and then buy what you like. I'd love to find some "house" dance music mixed back and forth for legitimate download. So if anyone knows where I could do that, please forward the link.

A very good article on Wired sites David Byrne (musical genius in my humble opinion) on whats going on, and what both artists and labels will be doing in the future. Its not bleak, but worth reading. Here is a salient except from it as he discusses the standard label contract with artists:

Next is what I'll call the standard distribution deal. This is more or less what I lived with for many years as a member of the Talking Heads. The record company bankrolls the recording and handles the manufacturing, distribution, press, and promotion. The artist gets a royalty percentage after all those other costs are repaid. The label, in this scenario, owns the copyright to the recording. Forever.

There's another catch with this kind of arrangement: The typical pop star often lives in debt to their record company and a host of other entities, and if they hit a dry spell they can go broke. Michael Jackson, MC Hammer, TLC — the danger of debt and overextension is an old story.

Obviously, the cost of these services, along with the record company's overhead, accounts for a big part of CD prices. You, the buyer, are paying for all those trucks, those CD plants, those warehouses, and all that plastic. Theoretically, as many of these costs go away, they should no longer be charged to the consumer — or the artist. Sure, many of the services traditionally provided by record labels under the standard deal are now being farmed out. Press and publicity, digital marketing, graphic design — all are often handled by smaller, independent firms. But he who pays the piper calls the tune. If the record company pays the subcontractors, then the record company ultimately decides who or what has priority. If they "don't hear a single," they can tell you your record isn't coming out.

So what happens when online sales eliminate many of these expenses? Look at iTunes: $10 for a "CD" download reflects the cost savings of digital distribution, which seems fair — at first. It's certainly better for consumers. But after Apple takes its 30 percent, the royalty percentage is applied and the artist — surprise! — is no better off.

Not coincidentally, the issues here are similar to those in the recent Hollywood writers' strike.

Will recording artists band together and go on strike?
The rest of the article includes conversations with Brian Eno and other music foward (and backard) thinkers.

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?currentPage=all

Bush orders agencies to appoint 'performance improvement officers' (11/14/07) -- www.GovernmentExecutive.com

Some agencies think that the plans to score well on the PMA is a strategy in itself. While other agencies think that having a budget is a portfolio strategy (i.e. rollup of many OMB 300s), and some agencies use Enterprise Architectures (and transition plans) as their strategy. (I name no names for a reason).

Nonetheless, setting strategic direction is not just a one time or annual exercise. There is the ongoin monitoring, governing, and the associated course corrections that come with understanding the feedback recieved from performance measurement systems. Hopefully, this first step of appointing performance improvement officers will come with a more standard approach to monitoring and measuring performance on a project, program, department and agency level.

FROM GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE:
President Bush has issued an executive order requiring heads of federal agencies to set clear annual goals, lay out specific plans for achieving them, and designate "performance improvement officers" to assess progress toward meeting the goals and report on it to the public. With the order, issued Tuesday and detailed at a press briefing today, the Bush administration hopes to establish a lasting legacy for its management improvement agenda.

The performance improvement officers will be required to oversee agencies' "strategic plans, annual performance plans and annual performance reports as required by law," the order states. The officers also will review the goals of agency programs to determine if they are "sufficiently aggressive toward full achievement of the purposes of the program," and "realistic in light of authority and resources assigned to the specified agency personnel."

"The goal is greater effectiveness during this administration and beyond," said Clay Johnson, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget.
Robert Shea, OMB's associate director for management, said the position of performance improvement officer could be assigned to a career employee in order to establish continuity through the next administration, although a final decision has not been made. If a political appointee is named to the role, Shea said, there must be a career official in place that is capable of carrying on the initiative during the next administration.

The full article can be read here: Bush orders agencies to appoint 'performance improvement officers' (11/14/07) -- www.GovernmentExecutive.com

Middle-Class Dream Eludes African American Families

This article makes one pause and take stock. Why is it that such a large portion of middle class black folk are NOT doing as well as their parents? It seems almost unAmerican. This article unfortunately doesn't answer that question. But some hypothoses may touch on affirmative action roll backs, the lack of cultural support of African Americans outside the church (ie. declining membership in NAACP), or the continued fragmentation of society in general (not just black society).

Certainly the article is worth looking at. Clearly a strategy for dealing with this is necessary and something beyond the 'rising tide raises all boats' theory.


Middle-Class Dream Eludes African American Families

Jefferson Wells, APQC Research Uncovers Key Initiatives That Turn Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance into a Strategic Advantage

Jefferson Wells, APQC Research Uncovers Key Initiatives That Turn Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance into a Strategic Advantage

Jefferson Wells, APQC Research Uncovers Key Initiatives That Turn Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance into a Strategic Advantage
Research Findings Will Help Companies Leverage Compliance to Optimize Shareholder Value
MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--When the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was introduced, the compliance strategy for many companies was simply to apply a short-term fix and meet requirements. Five years later, more and more companies are seeking ways to turn compliance into a competitive advantage. Jefferson Wells, a rapidly growing, global provider of accounting and finance-related services, was the Research Champion for a cutting-edge APQC research study that uncovered several key initiatives that will help companies leverage compliance investments into improved business performance and shareholder value.
Today, Jefferson Wells is prereleasing the results of the research study titled, “Leveraging SOX to Optimize Shareholder Value.” The APQC best practices report includes details of several key initiatives that help companies leverage compliance into a strategic advantage and is now available for download from the Jefferson Wells Web site at www.jeffersonwells.com.
“Having performed more than 4,000 Sarbanes-Oxley engagements for our clients, our Jefferson Wells team was perfectly positioned to translate our SOX expertise into valuable quantitative and qualitative input for the research study,” said Rebecca Albarelli, solutions director of finance operations for Jefferson Wells. “It has been our experience that the companies that take full advantage of their compliance efforts have reduced costs, improved competitiveness, increased process efficiency and reduced overall business risk. It’s great to see this research study validate our own findings.”
As the Research Champion in the APQC study, Jefferson Wells worked with compliance leaders from the study’s best-practice partners: Intel, Marathon Oil, Microsoft and WellPoint. These successful, multi-billion dollar companies served as examples of companies that recognized early on that SOX could yield benefits beyond compliance. This research uncovered several initiatives that leading companies implemented to leverage compliance into a competitive advantage. Below are eight of the key initiatives that Jefferson Wells and APQC recommend companies implement. More details about these initiatives and the other key findings are available in the full research report.
8 Key Initiatives to Leverage Compliance into a Strategic Advantage
1. Become an Early Adopter. By not delaying compliance, companies can better leverage resources, implement continuous process improvements and develop enterprise risk management methodology.
2. Have an Opportunistic Approach. By approaching SOX as a broader business opportunity to improve processes rather than an ad hoc tactical problem, organizations can manage risk holistically across the organization and improve compliance and business performance.
3. Integrate Processes. Rather than simply having an “audit cop,” companies should bring governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) together to create a strategic partnership within the organization that will create a sustainable process.
4. Account for Change. By embedding SOX into the business plan, companies will ensure compliance programs are sustainable and can continuously evolve with changing business requirements.
5. Empower Process Owners. Approaching compliance as a business process will empower process owners to ensure they play a key role in the compliance process and understand how it fits into the overall business plan.
6. Identify Annual Metrics. As with any business process, identifying annual metrics and particularly significant cost drivers will help the organization ensure the compliance process is on track.
7. Utilize a Variety of Methodologies. To successfully leverage compliance for ongoing process improvements, companies should consider Business Process Management, Total Quality Management, Performance Improvement, Benchmarking and Knowledge Management methodologies.
8. Realign Roles and Responsibilities. Define the role of each individual and ensure responsibilities are in line with companywide processes.
“While many organizations focus on the requirement to be SOX compliant, this APQC research reveals that best-practice organizations not only improved the compliance process but took a leadership role in the organization, thereby leveraging and enhancing their roles as strategic business partners rather than mere ‘compliance police’,” said Sebastian Francis, market developer, APQC.
Jefferson Wells also will participate in several APQC-sponsored Webinars. Details on dates, times and registration will be posted on the Jefferson Wells Web site, www.jeffersonwells.com, as they become available.