Three things I learned at the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) Convention

Just returning from NAB in Vegas, my mind is ripe with new and reinforced ideas about the broadcast industry. In my short two days attending functions and working my way through scores of exhibits, I came away with a few ideas about what is going on in this industry as it pertains to Music Licensing and the Music providers in the field. 1. IP TV is king The hot topic around the exhibit floor was IP TV. According to Wikipedia, IPTV (IP Television) is a system where a digital television service is delivered using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure, which may include delivery by a broadband connection. A general definition of IPTV is television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional broadcast and cable formats, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks. There were loads of various back-end providers peddling their wares. As a general rule of thumb, more access is better for everyone. I dont believe that the proliferation of IPTV will actually bring more music revenues, but it does offer more people the chance to experience the production...

2. Music Library Competition is STIFF In the realm of production music there is some stiff competition. Production libraries and falling prices continue to make my job more difficult as a licensing agent. This combined with the fact that major labels and publishers are now buying their way into the game with the purchases of companies like NonStop Music and others makes it ever so important that the independents learn to compete in this market. (Two of the most disturbing things I saw were companies named Gratis Music , and of course Royalty Free Music . com)... Disgusted.

We are going to have to start playing the game their way in order to compete (unfortunately). One great thing we have going for us is the fact that our music is actually performed by musicians, rather than midi keyboard and it appears that there is little competition in the Classical field. So this ought to be an interesting year as we embark on bringing in more content revenue competing with a mass market of inexpensive alternatives.

3. The NAB is an event to hit every year and to prepare for on the backend. For us, that means laying tons of infrastructure groundwork to create a real product to take to that market. It is no longer going to be acceptable to simply roll in saying "we've got a crapload of music". The customer today wants to hear that music. They want to search that music and experience that music. That is where the good companies are separated from the greats in the industry. The same applies to anyone in the broadcast field... not just music libraries. This show is FOR REAL. It is the closest thing I have found to CES size-wise. I am looking forward to putting my gameface on and rolling into town with my guns-a-blazin next year.