// Focus on Music Publishing
Hosted by the Canadian Music Publishers' Association
With songwriting being at the core of every commercially successful track and album, the music publishers are in a unique position to help build a new music economy. The publishing industry seems to be unaffected by the digital distribution, marketing and delivery of recorded music, but looking more closely, a different picture reveals itself. This session will focus on the music publishers’ point of view on the threats and opportunities that come with digital technology. Issues discussed will include:
- What new challenges are music publishers facing in an economy that is increasingly reliant on digital distribution channels?
- How can music publishers work together in a globalized world?
- With music publishers’ revenues apparently stable (as oppose to their recording industry counterparts), are songwriters safe from the threats that come with free music distribution?
- Is current copyright law sufficient to protect the interests of music publishers?
// Canada: An Emerging (Digital Media) Market?
Hosted by Slacker Personal Radio
Entering Canada’s market seems like a manageable task for foreign digital media companies as it is close to the U.S.’ in terms of culture and geography. However, a closer look reveals a wide range of challenges that force organizations to invest a substantial amount of time and energy to gain market-share in the world’s second largest country. In recent years, we have seen that even well funded media and entertainment companies have launched their digital services in Canada years after the U.S. Canada’s proximity to the U.S. is a blessing and a curse: sharing time zones makes conducting business easy but Canada’s small population (compared to it vast size) makes any investment hard to re-coup. Additionally (and in stark contrast to the US), Canada’s government is heavily funding parts of the creative sector and implementing rules for some media owners to support Canadian content; a system that isn’t transparent for foreign media owners. While some of these challenges are specific to Canada, there is a bigger lesson to be learned about the difficulty of ‘exporting’ digital media and entertainment. Issues discussed will include:
- How can digital media companies access and enter Canada?
- What issues and challenges are presenting themselves when starting business in Canada (or entering any new market)? • What are the unique licensing issues?
- How can the two official languages affect business?
- Why is Canada unique in terms of music programming?
- Given the size, what is a good consumer activation strategy in Canada?
- What part of Canadian legislation will foreign companies need to be aware of when operating in Canada?
// The Israeli Model: A Case for Creativity, Technology and Entrepreneurship
Hosted by transmitNOW, Lev Group Media (Israel) and 2B Vibes (Israel)
The geo-political issues of the region often overshadow Israel’s reputation for being a leader in an entrepreneurial and start-up culture. The economic and political features of Israel are a unique backdrop to a constant flow of new ideas and businesses that are emerging from this ‘start-up nation’. With a focus on how North American and European companies can learn from this entrepreneurial culture, transmission will host their first transmitISRAEL event in 2011. Its local partners, Lev Group Media, will guide us through this process and share their extensive insight into Israel.
- Many technology innovations are coming out of Israel, where is this creativity coming from?
- How does the government support innovation in Israel?
- How do the relationships to the neighboring countries affect the creative industries in Israel?
- How does Israel’s creative output influence global markets?
// Metadata and Rights Management - The View From a Performing Rights Organization
Hosted by SOCAN
Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) are an established and vital pillar of the music industry ecosystem. Although digital technologies have not changed this, all PROs are facing new challenges based on how music is being delivered and consumed. Identifying what music has been used on which channels in order to accurately collect and provide a fair distribution of royalties has been a vital part of PROs. Digital technologies have opened up great opportunities to identify recordings either based on meta data (that can be delivered alongside the recording) or through analysis of the actual sound (“audio fingerprinting”). Due to the large amount of different music delivery technologies, standards will have to be established and various PROs, technology companies and ‘music users’ (such as radio stations and streaming services) will have to work together to find cost-effective and practical solutions. This session will focus on the PROs point of view with regards to the threats and opportunities that come with digital technology. Issues discussed will include:
- How can PROs drive innovation in the field of meta data and music identifying technology in order to guarantee more accurate royalty collections and payouts?
- What are the standards that need to be set in order to be able to identify music usage more easily and what part do governments play in this?
- Critics of PROs often point out that there are high amounts of uncollected royalties that are then paid to the wrong songwriters and publishers. Is this true and how can improved meta data technology help solve this issue?
- With the difficulty of international music licensing being prohibitive to innovation, how can collection societies work together to support new ways of consuming music?
- Royalty rates and rules for music users (such as radio stations) differ vastly from country to country. In a digital environment where content can often be accessed internationally, do we need to harmonize copyright laws worldwide? If so, how can that be done?
// China and the Creative Industries
Hosted by transmitNOW and Splitworks (China)
For a long time, China has been coined as a great business opportunity for all Western companies. With a population of over 1.3 billion people it seems easy to generate revenue in China because only a very small percentage of the citizens will have to be converted into paying customers. However, everyone who has tried to conduct business in China will attest that it’s not that easy. There is a very different business culture in China. Business practices in this relatively young economy cannot be compared to other countries in North America and Europe. It takes years to understand how to trade in China and it requires a sizeable investment in terms of research, relationship building and money. This session will focus on the findings from past transmitCHINA events and presents opportunities in the world’s second largest economy.
- Why is it difficult for Western companies to access China’s media and entertainment market?
- How much interest in Western product can be expected within the massive Chinese population?
- There are always a lot of reports regarding high piracy rates in China. What is the situation really like?
- Given the big differences in the business culture, how can Western companies build long-term relationships with Chinese partners?
- How does the Chinese government control the import of cultural products and what do Western companies have to do to avoid any issues?
// Education and the Creative Industries Sector
Hosted by Royal Roads University
Arts and culture industries contribute significant value to the economy. This phenomenon is universal: cities, regions and countries around the world, are recognizing the role that a vibrant creative industries sector is a magnet for talent, an enhancer of economic performance, and a catalyst for prosperity (Conference Board of Canada [2008]. Valuing Culture: Measuring and Understanding Canada’s Creative Economy). Specific skills, knowledge and competencies are required to capitalize on this prosperity and education is key in order to access the opportunities, growth and potential in the sector. Educational programs and activities should consider the global context, mentorship, practical projects, leadership, communication, and inter- and multi-disciplinarily. This session will focus on:
- Who are potential students who would be interested in educational programs designed for this industry/sector?
- What skills, competencies, and knowledge (i.e., learning outcomes) should they be able to demonstrate? How quickly are those changing?
- In what ways can the University respond? (e.g., approaches? models? undergraduate programs? graduate programs? ‘one-off ’ courses/seminars?, etc.)
- Where and how does education/training fit in a larger matrix that also includes access to capital/expertise, and government intervention/support?