The music industry sees new disruptive technologies as a threat but it has actually benefited from every previous disruptive technology such as the gramophone, radio, cassettes and CDs. Paul Hitchman of PlayLouder goes into the myths and realities of peer-to-peer filesharing, one of the latest disruptive technologies. He also addresses the importance and potential role of Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology.
The PlayLouder Music Service Provider is Paul's example of a way to bring the music industry's interests and the interests of users together. Customers of the PlayLouder Internet Service Provider are allowed to swap music files; PlayLouder tracks the activity and pays the music industry accordingly, using a percentage of the customer's ISP fees.
Paul ends his keynote with a generic vision for the future from the viewpoint of music consumers and music producers.
Paul Hitchman is the co-founder & Managing Director of PlayLouder. A Cambridge Economics graduate, Paul worked in the music industry for 10 years (including stints at BMG and Warner Music) before founding PlayLouder in 2000. PlayLouder is an award-winning digital music & media company that operates one of the UK's most popular and influential “alternative” music website. PlayLouder has consistently been at the forefront of innovation in online music services, including the first legal downloads in the UK, the UK's first internet-only digital singles, and the world's first virtual music festival. PlayLouder also provides online marketing services to a wide range of music industry clients and produces broadband music content for clients such as BBCi, AOL and Wanadoo.
In 2004 Paul co-founded PlayLouder MSP, a next-generation ISP that offers broadband internet access combined with unlimited legal music downloading for one monthly subscription fee. PlayLouder MSP is the first ISP in the world to license the right for its subscribers to legally share music and in return to pay royalties to music rights owners. PlayLouder MSP was awarded the Popkomm IMEA award for innovation in 2004. Paul co-founded and is a director of Consolidated Independent (CI), Europe's leading provider of internet technology services to record companies, with clients including Beggars Group, Sanctuary, Ministry of Sound, PIAS/Vital, Mute, Echo and Epitaph.
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This free podcast is from our First Tuesday series.
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