Great conference, lots of interesting people and discussions, and Singapore is well worth a visit, too (just did not have enough time to look around;).
This presentation is on the future of Radio
Download gerd_leonhard_future_of_radio_radio_asia_2006_june_23_2006.pdf
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"Radio's present market positioning is certainly challenged in many ways yet the future is also wide open for amazing new opportunities which by far outweigh the perils. By and large, radio already has the trust of its listeners (which is crucial in today's networked economy), so 'going digital' and swiftly embracing new technologies, expanding the rights grants wherever possible, getting the listeners (aka 'users') involved and engaged, and taking advantage of synergies of conversion with video, TV, print, wireless, and games is the only the beginning - Radio2.0 will mean a fully converged and multi-platform future.Time-and place-shifted digital radio entails entering the music business in an entirely different way, maybe even going head-to-head with online music retailers and wireless services. Licensing and copyright / usage right issues abound in this turf, and the traditional roles of most players are changing as we speak: record companies simply become music companies (and publishers, too), music managers become 360 service agencies, telcos buy (into) music companies, radio conglomerates start video services, public broadcasters will compete with itunes, handset manufacturers launch radio services... In addition, the 'people formerly known as listeners' are no longer receivers - they are also senders. Witness blogging, podcasting, photo-and video-sharing - this is the advent of the user-creator, or what I call the "Usator". Other megatrends that are impacting radio are the strong trend towards content-eclecticism and the rise of niche-markets and various 'long-tail' offerings, the trend towards decentralized selection of content (i.e. user-rated and tagged programs), the trend toward personalization and mass-customization, and the rise of the 'attention economy'.The way forward for radio is maintain its traditional strength of high-quality programming and trusted editorial work while at the same time significantly shoring up its relevance in a digitally networked entertainment economy, where distribution (i.e. the frequency, the pipe, or the outlet) is a ubiquitous default but attention is scarce. What about the flat fee for digital music, as discussed in France? What will compulsory licensing for digital music distribution mean for radio? Will the previously illegal P2P file-sharing systems become licensed and grow into a major purveyor of cheap and legal music programs; i.e. will we once again see new technologies such as radio, the VCR and cable TV, being outlawed first but then come back fully licensed and significantly growing the market?”