me*dia*or

15:51

[Hear 2.0] Radio's Innovation Funk

"P&G is on an innovation tear. It will have 30% more new products in core categories in 2010 than in 2009."

In fact, innovation and expansion into new markets are the two primary ways P&G sees itself growing in the years to come.

Recently I was asked about new formats in the US Radio market.

I shrugged, because it seems to me that the hottest new formats in the US are the ones happening off the air and on the Internet.

While we can conclude that innovation costs and is risky (all true), we must also take a lesson from P&G and conclude that without innovation there is no news, and without news there is no buzz. And without buzz there is no enthusiasm. And it's enthusiasm that makes all the other things we want happen.

We gripe that audiences and media obsess on platforms with far less universal usage than radio enjoys. But that obsession is a result of their novelty, not in spite of our ubiquity. That obsession happens because people - all people - naturally gravitate to what's fresh. Try to Google "iPad first day pre-order sales" for verification.

If P&G, a company with far more to lose than yours has, sees it necessary to magnify their investment in innovation, what about you?

As I reflect on my time at Canadian Music Week, where enthusiasm was dripping from the very walls, I come away with one distinct impression: Zillions of black-shirted kids - volunteers - pitching in because they love music and want to be closer to the industry which makes it popular.

You don't see that at the NAB Radio Show.

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15:46

[hypebot] Facebook Beats Google's Visitor Count

Social networking giant Facebook overtook Google's search engine page this week to become the most visited website in the U.S. According to research from web statistics firm Hitwise, Facebook edged google out by .4 percent, after almost tripling in unique visitors from the past year.

Facebook, which first launched to the public in 2004, has become the defacto standard for social networking and has added music and games and enhanced content features. Google has taken steps to counter Facebook by offering a social networking feature for their Gmail service called Buzz that lets users share media such as videos and photos. Google has indicated that they are considering making the Buzz feature a stand-alone service, Bloomberg reported. - via CelebrityAccess

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15:40

[Billboard.biz - News] Study: French Law Fails To Deter Piracy So Far

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15:39

[ZeroPaid.com] Canadian MP Introduces $75(?) iPod Tax

Charlie Angus proposes amendments to the Copyright Act that “will ensure that artists are getting paid for their work, and that consumers aren’t criminalized for moving their legally-obtained music from one format to another.”

The so-called “iPod tax” is resurfacing in Canada with news that New Democratic Party MP Charlie Angus has introduced a a pair of proposals to amend the country’s Copyright Act.

One would extend the Private Copying Levy, first established back in 1997, to portable media players like iPods. Specifically, C-499 says the tax will cover any “device that contains a permanently embedded data storage medium, including solid state or hard disk, designed, manufactured and advertised for the purpose of copying sound recordings, excluding any prescribed kind of recording device.”

This would finally give consumers some much needed control over legally purchased products while simultaneously opening up a new revenue stream for artists in the downloading age.

“Artists have a right to get paid and consumers have a right to access works,” he says in a press release. “This is what balanced copyright is all about. The government has declared their intention to update the Copyright Act. If they are serious then we need to update key elements of the act like the copying levy and fair dealing.”

The other is a “fair dealing” motion (M-506) that would allow reasonable use of copyrighted materials for innovation, research and study.

It states:

29. Fair dealing of a copyrighted work for purposes such as research, private study, criticism, news reporting or review, is not an infringement of copyright.

Angus said that after years of talk, it’s time parliamentarians got serious about updating our copyright laws.

“Digital locks and suing fans are not going to prevent people from copying music from one format to another,” he said. “The levy is a solution that works. By updating it, we will ensure that artists are getting paid for their work, and that consumers aren’t criminalized for moving their legally-obtained music from one format to another.”

However, the renowned Canadian academic and law professor Michael Geist, though “supportive” of the fair dealing proposal, finds the iPod tax troubling. Why? Because the device definition is vague enough that it could also cover smartphones and PCs.

“While the CPCC (the private copying collective) may not target all of these devices, there is nothing in the bill that prevents them from doing so,” he says.

Geist also worries that since video recordings are not included it could mean the introduction of a new tax at a later date, pushing it perhaps to upwards of $100 or more.

Most important of all, though a noble experiment it is, the iPod tax would only cause consumers to purchase iPods and other devices covered by the tax outside of Canada where it didn’t apply. As for how much it would be one can only guess, but the last time around was in the $75 range.

The Canada’s Private Copyright Collective (CPCC) has been pushing for a similar levy as far back as 2007, but those efforts were defeated early last year by the country’s Federal Court of Appeals.

Stay tuned.

jared@zeropaid.com

[Hat Tip]