blogs.conchango.com

In the second part of our journey with NDM (Non-Digital Man) it was time to track him down and speak to him face to face and see if we can get to the bottom of why he has not adopted a digital lifestyle and see if there is anyway to make sure that he doesn't have a shortened life span by needlessly worrying about stuff that really isn't that important. Lighten his heavy load and put him on the lighter path of enlightenment and enjoyment!

We find our NDM again rushing with his heavy load of two bags across the platform and heading towards his train which is due to depart in 2 mins. There must be something fundamentally wrong in the way that he works / manages his time if he is continually running and rushing that can not be good for him. (Mental note to check his working pattern...)

We catch up with him sweaty and exhausted on the train back home where we ask him a few pertinent questions to get this man on track so here laid bare is our NDM...

NDM is a married male in his early 30's lives in Surbiton with his wife and young son. He drives to the train station each morning and when the queue is low and he remembers he buys a weekly travel card, he has heard of Oyster - but never had time to look into it more. Home life they have a family PC that is a few years old and runs XP. Although he has broadband it is a low entry 1Mbps connection (unlike some of his work colleagues that have some "super Virgin 20Mbps lightening speed connection) Doesn't really spend that much time online when he gets home as he attends to his wife and son, before settling down to carry on some work. NDM works in London as a sales advisor and although he likes his job it's all about the figures that boost his salary. The continued work is completed on his work laptop - which is nothing special - bog standard Dell Latitude, that has been locked down so he can not run any other applications as he has no "administrator" rights - but even then not quite sure what that is. A lot of his work is spreadsheet based, which he then prints off on his own HP printer (which answers the question of why he has half a tropical rainforest in his bag) His company is not really technology focused and as such has no way to update any sales work or access the office servers from home. NDM did try wi-fi once (only once!!??) when his train was cancelled and there was a wi-fi campaign in Waterloo where he received a little booklet and free access key, but alas his PC was so locked down that he needed admin rights to switch it on and took him a good 20mins to find what to do - so gave up in embarrassment of not knowing what to do and frustrated that he was being treated as a "child" by not being allowed to work on his laptop as a responsible grown up. The IT department says that this is due to other employees who downloaded porn, virus applications, file sharing and more porn - so they made an executive decision to keep all company laptops locked down to the bare minimum.

His phone is actually quite good it is an older model of the XDA - but was given it from the last sales guy who left and was never shown what to do with it. It still has some of his contacts on there as well as a couple of pictures and some emails, but as a phone it works well and has a good battery life.

I mention that I have seen him with a Samsung MP3 device - to which he replies his brother in law gave it to him at Christmas time and chucked on a few albums that he likes - and after a failed attempt to get it working on his home PC enjoys the tracks that his brother-in-law gave put on there for him. The portable DVD player was a gift from his wife for his daily commute, and she signed up for a Love Film subscription that delivers movies for him on a rotational basis. He enjoys this and enjoys the escapism that this brings. The frustration lies in that he never knows exactly what will come and sometimes the discs are slightly scuffed and the journey is bumpy and can get some screen freeze. The reason for two sets of headphones is that because he is watching a movie, the little headphones "wouldn't be good enough?"

Time does seem to a be a big issue for him - he picks up the free Metro as he wants to catch up on the daily news - most of his news consumption comes in this form - free and easy to digest bite sized chunks. He reads The Daily Mail on a weekend - but never really has a chance to read it from cover to cover - as there is always things to do.

As we get near his stop - I notice that his bag is stuffed with catalogues - holiday brochures to be more precise! I tell him that I assume that he will be looking over the brochure with his wife so that they can do the booking online? "Oh no" he says "That would be throwing my money away doing that, don't you know there is lots of people lose their money by doing that - also do you honestly think that I would send thousands of pounds over the internet???"

...and with that our NDM leaves, smiles and waves - heading back to his wife and child - leaving me in no doubt that something has to change....

Sometimes I think that the music business today could'nt shock or surprise me anymore - then I realise that while we go through this defining phase where you have to think differently and Generation Y has a very different outlook on how they consume their media - then out of the blue a statement from another has-been!

Step up Mr Sean Feargal Sharkey. The ex-Undertones lead singer and voice of a generation back in 1978 (30 years ago!) Is now a voice of the middle-aged ex-punks (well Feargal was never really a punk - just the angst of a teenager from Derry) for the strangely bizarre BMR (British Music Rights - what the hell do they do - well according to their website:

is an umbrella organisation whose four members (British Academy of Composers & Songwriters, Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society, Music Publishers Association, and Performing Right Society) collectively represent more than 50,000 British music creators and publishers in the UK. We are a leading industry voice in raising awareness, through lobbying, research, education, and PR, of the value of music to the British economy, culture and society.

With members such as MCPS / PRS and MPA (and I'm sure that the PPL must be in there as well) a good bunch of Fat Cats trying to continue to "milk" the artists and industry dry with their licenses and fees, but of course under the "umbrella" of protection and value!

So the latest is that the BMR has just published it's finding from our GenY and guess what the shock and disgust from Mr Sharkey that this generation on their iPods have half their tracks are not purchased and that they have been shared among each other!! So one person buys the MP3 and then gives copies of that to his friends to put on their iPods?? Really?? NO!!!

Feargal goes on to say that when he was a kid in the 60's & 70's he used to go to school with tapes (for the GenY - Compact Cassettes consist of two miniature spools, between which a magnetically coated plastic tape is passed and wound - weird huh!!) The hypocrite - does he not remember the BPI back then with the cassette tape with the two bones going through it saying "Home Taping is killing Music - and it's illegal" That was before he had a couple of hit singles and wants every penny back each and every-time it is played, listened to, sampled, breathed on... of course to ensure that his royalty cheques keep coming in... Back then of course kids (just like today) are very social and passionate about music and in 21st century technology will distribute digital files among friends and servers - we didn't have that in my day or Feargals day - we had tapes and making tapes for your friends was great fun - making compilations and greatest hits so that your friends could share in your latest "find" that you heard on the radio and then went to your local record store and ordered a copy on delicious vinyl!! Back in 60's & 70's you can imagine the musicians of the 40's & 50's disgusted at these kids who were illegally taping music and sharing it among themselves along with a copy of The Beano or Dandy and a pack of Spangles!

Fast forward to todays kids - they have iPods and phones that they can use as their music players - however the premiss is the same sharing among friends and still the industry claims it's illegal - because they are missing out on their cash - never mind that they may just have found a lifelong fan of that artist - if they ever invested long term in artists anymore. So it's no different to what you and I did Feargal only thing that has changed is the technology - and the greed of the music industry as it hits a cataclysmic change in how it is funded and run. With brave and forward thinking bands such as Radiohead and Coldplay realising that there is no need for such greed from EMI (don't get me started there again!!) you have to wonder who is leading the way forward to embrace what GenY are doing and support the artists that they have left?


But then here is the irony - on the very next page a full page advert from Samsung's shiny new mobile the F400 Share - bet you can guess what it wants you to share? Well I can tell you its not The Undertones Teenage Kicks or other mobile numbers - but have actually gone for the real music fan (and not the damn awful brats playing their hiss tiss at high piercing volumes) - hell no - this is state of the art Bang & Olufsen ICEpower! To then share all your MP3s with your friends - why? Because that's what they want to do? Just as kids ALWAYS HAVE!!


Don't you just love irony

Anyone who partakes in file sharing music files on P2P services be aware of what's recently been happening out in the world of illegal music sharing.

If you have been following the story on Friday and some additional information on Sunday via Torrent Freak you maybe interested to know and be aware that in the UK a number (6) of ex-OiNK users have been arrested under allegedly involved in the pre-release uploading of music albums, and accusing them of ‘Conspiracy to Defraud the Music Industry’.

This is a worrying trend for users since the launch of "Operation Ark Royal" where police are working with the BPI & IFPI- they already arrested a 27 year old man last October and the news on Friday that police had made further arrests is the beginning of a trend where prolific sharers of pre-release content are now being targeted.

However unlike eBay years ago - where pre-release CDs were being sold no criminal charges were ever brought against these people - probably because most of these were being sold by either people working within the music business or retailers and radio stations that would receive advanced copies to play before the release date.

So what you have to look at is - if these users are sharing pre-release content - where are they getting their original files from in the first instance??

This has been an issue for many years - and all the digital media age has done has made the sharing of these files more prolific and can cross the world in an instance. I remember the Metallica incident where I Disappear appeared on the old Napster and the band pulled the names of all the users from Napster and threatened to sue every one of them. The case never came to anything - but as mentioned above if this was an early version of the track (which it was) you would have to ask some questions:

1. Who had access to the track in the first place
2. If sample copies were sent - especially as it was not a final version of the track - this must have been an exclusive group of people
3. Where was the originating file sent from
4. Would this / did this harm the sale of the track itself (Yes after Metallica took the stance of pursuing their own fans) but generally NO - increases the awareness of the track

So ask those exact same questions of the people arrested on Friday and you may find that the actual leak of pre-release material came from a source closer to the home of the industry itself an not in fact from the file sharers.

I'm not condoning the actions of the file sharers but the fact that they are being arrested on the pretence of "pre-release" uploading you must assess where the source of the pre-release comes from.

So is this the purpose of these arrests?

I don't think so - the people questioned were quizzed further around OiNK, their understanding of the purpose of the site and what they did as a user there - as well as if the people arrested personally knew OiNK's creator, Alan Ellis - they didn’t.

Alan Ellis is to answer his bail on 1st July 2008 - the same time that the people arrested on Friday must return to their local police stations, one person who was not arrested but was a user of OiNK was Trent Reznor, who loved using OiNK - so there maybe more to this story that meets the eye!

It's been almost a year since a crack team of Conchango experts went up to Bradford and delivered a little flash application that a year on is still being shown around the world and still being discussed at retail seminars as one of the key innovation ideas that has been successfully delivered in the last few years..

So after such a long time sitting in my "drafts" that it was time to tell the story I decided that now is a good time to have a slight diversion from the usual ranting's from deep within the digital media world and have a little spot on the other wonderful innovations that we did a year ago!

The crack Conchango team were dropped into the northern territory of Bradford to work with OTTO (UK) - my first question was "OTTO ? - a carnivorous aquatic or marine mammal part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers - then realised that OTTO was in fact Otto UK (formerly Grattan/Freemans) is the UK subsidiary of Germany’s Otto Versand - the world’s largest mail-order company, and one of the biggest online retailers. Otto UK’s 9,000 staff generate revenues of £815 million per annum through both online sales and approximately 3 million seasonally issued catalogues.

The mission: to deliver a high street experience of browsing through a department store type environment and as one does - gather your items, ready to then go into the dressing rom and try them on for size, colour matching and generally the whole outfit!

Right... make a store experience of trying out clothes and stuff online-  how do we do this - we thought??

Simple, you have some of the most talented guys in Conchango (were all talented here at Conchango - but this team did gel like a good super glue!) - lock them in a dimly lit room - bring in stakeholders and managers from the client that have an opinion and idea of what they want - and bingo in 3 days we have a Plan - and a raft of phenomenal ideas to boot. Then decide that instead of delivering the usual raft of A4 documentation - we decided (well Mr Venter in his infinite wisdom) that lets push the boundaries of what is expected from a discovery piece of work, to show what we really can do if you go beyond what is expected!! So we locked ourselves away in a scabby Hilton business lounge (never heard of wi-fi or customer service??) and spent the day adding all of our elements into a beautiful A3 compendium of work.

The result was that within 48hrs the client arrived in our London offices, went through the compendium with one of the team and our MD and the "Look Book" deal was done!

The next 29 days were full on integration into the clients team, getting to know them, them getting to know us, seeing how we work. Pushing the limits of a tight timeframe which was a stressful time for everyone (losing days and gaining days back) all over the place - but stuck with the 29 days in the end, a wonderful achievement from the whole team and the client was great as well.

So what did we have to do?? Integrate with Scene7 image store, work with Endeca and return product information based on the master slave relationship, hit their mainframe (called The Matrix) which was run by the CIO called.... Mr Anderson! (really!!) Then create a flash overlay that would do all these things while at the same time overlay over a classic ASP framework - with so much work and dedication by Mr van Rooijen we knew that this was going to be possible and achievable.

As I said at the start of this post - there has been a lot about this project that has been discussed all over the world from Australia to North America, Europe and into Asia - and even as recent as today it has been cited in another online discussion http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/138435/Going+virtual.html I have talked enough about it (as I'm sure people at Conchango would tell you!!) and enough press and publications as well.

Although you have to ask the question, why a year after it launched is our Look Book still being discussed. Well quite simply it was designed from a pure retail and ecommerce perspective that we know and understand inside and out - it was created with the user in mind and delivered from a true bunch of professionals. Other copies / imitators have come and gone in that year, because they were either to flashy and had no real retail substance, or not user centric designed enough and therefore too complicated for the user to understand or interact with, and that is why it has stood the test of time and still as relevant as it was a year ago.

Where next then?

We kept up the tradition and delivered a 42page compendium to accompany the final Look Book that had some future thinking and deliverables in there to keep them going for another 2 - 3 years, social shopping, live interaction with your friends, etc... so the possibilities are endless. Also we would like to try a Silverlight version of the Look Book as well - but we'll see what the future holds.

Below some pictures from the Project and Compendiums... or just visit www.oli.co.uk

A little while ago along with my usual ranting and ramblings I actually was strapped down and forced to write in a cohesive and structured manner. This of course goes against the grain of what I do - as I like to ramble on and on and go off in various tangents (I'm like that when speaking as well :) - but when asked by Miss D & Miss B to create a white paper on my thoughts of where the media industry is going I started rambling on like a loon - and then the bombshell - 1500 words!! On THIS topic!!! This is almost a novel with the number of ideas, concepts and models that I have rumbling around my head... luckily Martin came to my rescue and helped make it a readable piece rather than the 2million rambling words that it could have turned out to be!!

Even after this was written back in February / March we have already seen Coldplay deliver their new single for FREE!! Free concerts - so with more to come maybe you need to speak to us ;)

Anyway - the paper is out there somewhere if you want the full on version with pictures or even a free chat with us on this topic then email talktous@conchango.com and we'll set you up ;) - so below is my words and thoughts - nicely edited and delivered to you!! Enjoy!

With customers increasingly accessing music and movies for free, 2008 is shaping up to be a critical year for digital media across the world. How can content owners and resellers respond to the challenges that face them?

The past five years have been marked by a propensity for content owners and resellers to avoid tackling the issues associated with the protection and distribution of their content. Both parties seem to have forgotten or even ignored the most salient element in this whole marketplace – consumers who have traditionally paid for their music and movies.
This stance has led to customers becoming increasingly frustrated and confused by what they can or cannot do. Ironically, it has even driven them to explore the wonders of
peer-to-peer services. As a result, more and more are being turned ‘to the dark side’ as the only place where they can freely access content ranging from the latest music releases through to US television series that are yet to be on air in the UK.

Waking up to the challenges
So what is changing? Why is 2008 turning out to be such an important year? At last, content and rights holders are waking up to the public’s growing
appetite (one that will increase by 40% this year*) for digital content. The result is that growing numbers of
retailers and re-sellers are delivering unprotected content to users – especially in the music sector.
It’s a sign that the market is recognising that
consumers want to be in control; they do not want content owners or digital rights management to dictate how, why, where and when the user should use their content. This is a massive step in the right direction but what else can we expect in the coming months?
Well how does ‘Music will be Free’ sound? Perhaps not everything, and maybe not all the classics and genre-defining music, but free to a point!

How free music adds up to a profitable business
How can giving music away make commercial sense? Well, looking at some basic
principles of digital business, where a digital master file is created and then simply copied, it’s easy to see that the more content is delivered, the more money is being made. However, the real issue is where does this free music come from – and is it really free?
The answer, of course, is not so simple. Yes, music will be free in essence but in return for their ‘free’ music, consumers will be subjected to targetted advertising or sponsorship to some degree that will in essence pay the labels for their content.
This is neither new or a radical shift. What it is, however, is a new business model and dimension to the ever-growing race for digital dominance. Not everyone will be able to compete in this space – as there are specific rules and applications of this model that will eliminate some of the ‘me too’ players in this space but others will step up to the mark and create a new model of excellence for this media.

Goodbye DRM, hello MTR
DRM (Digital Rights Management) is all but gone from the music industry and with it the protection and limitations that have crippled the user and their overall acceptance of this medium. However, as one piece of the puzzle disappears, another will rear its head.
This time, however, the technology is not there to hinder or disable, it is there to enable
and enhance each user’s experience and enjoyment of their media.
MTR (Media Tracking & Reporting) is the initiative that will enable this to happen. Naturally, there will be the usual outcry that that it is just the same as DRM but that sentiment misunderstands the
benefits of the technology. The power of MTR is that it enables
users to share music, track its progress around the globe and report back. As a result, it can transform a single, unobtrusive track into one that is shared among 3 million people across the world.
All signs indicate that the summer of 2008 will be the real tipping point for the music industry. This is when new, innovative business models will appear to take advantage of this huge, connected
market. The consumer will be the winner along with those labels that accept and participate in this new, exciting age.

Entering the movie world
Other types of media such as movies are an all together different beast. Movie production can run into hundreds of millions of dollars and costs are recouped through the tried and tested method of cinema release, rental, pay-per-view, sell-through and retail.
Even if a movie fails to perform well at the box office, the additional sales channels mean that the movie makers/ rights owners still have a chance to get their investment back.

If it ain’t broke..?
So why should movie makers and distributors consider changing a successful sales model? Well, we live in a fast-changing digital world, a world where film fans increasingly want to watch a movie at home when it’s still on cinema release.
There may be reasons why the consumer isn’t sitting down in the front row with a bag of the finest popcorn and a gallon of coke but is willing to pay the same ticket price to watch that movie in their front room. Suddenly you have another stream of income at a premium price point and here again lies a new business model that can be leveraged, exploited and executed using technical expertise.
Will it kill off the thriving cinema industry? No, why should it? These are the very same
consumers who (for whatever reason) weren’t going to trek out the cinema but can now enjoy the movie in the comfort of their own home. It will of course drive down the window times of the lifecycle of the movie but ultimately will also recoup the commercials faster.

As seen on screen
As film makers look to off-set some of these costs, it seems inevitable that we will also see a much clearer and in-your-face advertising model. Product placements won’t just increase but will become increasingly sophisticated.
So, while you may continue to see stars such as Robert De Nero drinking Coke in a movie (for which Coke may pay as much as up to $30million), when that film is distributed via other medium channels such as Blu-ray then something interesting happens. The Coke that
May 2008 www.conchango.com 3
De Niro is drinking can now become an immersive advert that the user can interact with, contributing another dimension to the integrated advertising model.
Would this ever happen? Well, to see how much times and attitudes have changed, let’s take a look at Back to the Future part II. The movie incorporated specific brands that were pushing their ‘future’ thinking such as a Pizza Hut hydrated pizza and Black & Decker. When it was released in the 80s, it was criticised for such blatant advertising but now audiences
would hardly bat an eyelid.
The pace of change is likely to be slower in the movie industry and it’s unlikely that free movies will be as common as music in 2008 but the landscape is definitely moving this way. Once you add up a few major sponsorship or advertisement deals within a movie then throw in digital distribution, you’ll soon discover that producers are suddenly waking up to movies that cost £0.00 to make.

And the winner is...
With this model, the simple answer is that everyone is a winner. Advertisers get their brands endorsed by stars and seen by millions; movie studios reduce their risk by having additional funds supplied by advertisers in place before production; consumers get to watch the same high quality movies where and when they want to.

Becoming a leader of the ‘free’ world
Whether you are content owner, publisher or reseller, retailer of digital media, the ultimate challenge is to work out what a successful business model looks like when the selling price to your customers is £0.00.
Throughout, it’s important to bear in mind that:
1. The consumer perception of ‘free’ is just that - a perception!
2. Retailers/resellers have to subsidise the free catalogue with concepts that can
support a £0.00 price point for consumers.
3. Content owners must still get paid.
A final point to note is that the reseller that must pay the storage, distribution, delivery and associated costs with the media. Therefore, to be able to make any business model work in this brave new world, content owners must review their own cost and revenue models so that both sides can move forward and make digital media a mass commodity.

Moving in the right direction
Not everything will be free to the consumer straightaway so here’s a thought we’re happy to give away.
If a music label demands a cost price of £0.59 per download, it may sell 300 units of that track. However if that label looks closer at their sales model and brings the price down to say £0.29 (an easier price that can be associated against any advertising model) it might see that figure of 300 transformed into sales of 3,000 or more.
Whatever you think of this micro-payment model, the most important thing is to act – and act now. Ignoring the issues of digital media has only made the situation worse for content owners and distributors. Now is the time to work out your strategy and deliver.

** Warning ** Just to point out and to mention - that the site(s) and topic that is being discussed below - if anyone does decide to review any of the content mentioned in my post below - be aware that the sites do show scenes, images and videos of very graphic and explicit adult nature ** You have been warned

NO!

However when 6 grown men start talking about the Porn industry - you don't half get some funny looks from people - even when your discussing it in Vegas!

So why were 6 unkempt men in long stained overcoats talking about the Porn industry? (by the way - any double-entendres are purely coincidental!)

Well the Porn industry is where most of the best e-commerce billing engines are, some of the most secure and locked down "members areas" and the reason why we were talking about this industry: Business Models & Video Streaming.

Perhaps due to it's very nature, the Porn industry gets a hard time of it (steady now..)  - but you look at the growth of Facebook and you think wow that is valued at $xBillion... - but you take a look at something like YouPorn - and suddenly the traffic values almost double that of Facebook - and is one of THE fastest growing websites in the world today. It is a social site where users upload their videos - and other users can comment and rate the videos of the fellow amateurs. It has some of the biggest unique visitors in the world that most business can only ever dream of - and has some nice touches around the flash movies that it previews and delivers.

However it does have some real business challenges - the amount of bandwidth that it uses is well in excess of $1million per week, all the content is free and it has ad support from Google and mixed with some GeoIP and localisation incase you would like to meet "other like minded people in your area".

So the issue is - stats that we have unearthed is that only the videos under 3mins are actually viewed - the bigger ones of 15mins + are normally ignored, the ads are almost irrelevant as the user is there for a specific purpose - and once his "goal" is reached - there is no need to then pursue and ad driven promotion - so dwell time is not that sticky... and conversion of the ads is poor. The other big challenge is the Porn Industry themselves - at any one time there maybe upto 5,000 movies being made in Southern California a day - that is because the life-span of the Porn DVD is 2 weeks - yes only two weeks before it is ripped and then made available on torrents everywhere - so they really only have a 2 week window in order to gain maximum exposure and recoup the costs of the movie.

So now in 2008 YouPorn lead the way with free to view content - the porn industry looks at how it can compete - HD Movies, multi angle and interactive elements are being explored - and of course hoe BluRay will help them reach a new audience by connecting the rich interactive elements with online. YouPorn have also noticed this and have added a new subscription element that does not have "amateurs" but instead full HD quality, with the Porn Superstars and more intuitive scene selections and a whole host more. They have moved away from flash for this and gone with the trusted WMV format that has DRM restrictions - which defies the essence of the original site - but with say 100million eyeballs and a x% convert to the subscription model - that will surely start to pay for some of that bandwidth cost?

So why were 6 men discussing this? Well we were reviewing TV and Movies on line - and where to look to for inspiration and compare business models for of our big clients - 2008 will be an interesting year for streaming media - and apart from the BBC (rant to follow on those guys...) everyone will be looking for the best delivery, the most intuitive platform and retain some sense of commercial acumen to report back to their CEO or CFO that they can sustain a ROI on their business model.

Can it be done? YES - but after 6months looking at where we need to be and what the studios have to offer (take a look at a previous post that discussed this)  - looks like we have just started to climb the mountain - but we do have the knowledge and the brains to deliver to the consumer and return to the investor.

When? Well keep September free and we'll see you on the other side?

Right more "research" - goodness my eyesight is getting worse!

In my quest and mission to inform and of course to put my tuppence worth in in regard to the state of the music industry - I think you have got to look at the state of the business and how the consumer ultimately sees and feels about their music, bands, artists - and dare I say it "heroes"

Does that term even exist in today's MP3 Generation - where they consumer and explore on social networks where it's cooler to be "added" and seen - than to even listen to some artists - I've read on some MySpace music pages that people have had an add - and their only consumption or exposure is the 30sec sample of the mandatory 4 tracks!

So a real fan? A Disposable Hero for a disposable generation! - Well until the next "best" discovery (or plant) is found on MySpace, Facebook....

Look at the history of the biggest selling recordings... (I'm using the US as an example - the biggest territory) it has not really changed over the last 20 years - but what has changed is that the units are still rising...

1. THE BEATLES - 170million units
2. GARTH BROOKS - 128million units
3. ELVIS PRESLEY - 118.5million units
4. LED ZEPPELIN - 111.5million units
5. THE EAGLES - 100million units (Including the biggest US album ever at almost 30million copies)
6. BILLY JOEL - 79.5million units
7. PINK FLOYD - 74.5million units
8. BARBRA STREISAND - 71million units
9. ELTON JOHN - 69.5million units
10. AC/DC - 69million units

OK so the argument would be that this is based on the prolific sales of music during the 60s - 80s - Maybe - but why do the sales keep rising?

At what point does any of the bands / artists become less important, lose their "hero" status - Yes Garth Brooks may not be everyone's cup of tea - but hell he brought Country music to the mass market with its fusion of rock and country that had never been done or accepted before - and the key to Garth's success one of the best LIVE showman on the planet - which in turn resulted in him selling over 120million units.

Even the most hardened music enthusiast will have at least one of the above Top 10 artists in their collection, right next to Arctic Monkeys, Boy Kill Boy or Reverend & the Makers - whether that be a CD collection, or listed on their hard drive alphabetically or on their iPod!

Why?

Because they were and still are Heroes - they created music that lasted generations and inspired more kids to become artists than most (OK I would challenge that a 12 year old potential next Lilly Allen is listening to Barbara Streisand's Memories - but Bab's again is a great artist and wonderful live performer!

So what is the root cause and answer...

The current artists and bands are Disposable - here today gone by the afternoon - re-invented by the evening and in rehab by midnight! There needs to be a long term strategy again embracing the current ways that people consume music and art - LIVE is such an important part of the equation - yes its bloody hard work and long and arduous - but the benefits in the long term are astronomical - the Top 10 above all perform (or used to) in Massive Arenas and Stadiums around the world to sell out crowds - in the 21st Century - you can be there in person - or stream the whole event LIVE via a PPV (Pay Per View) - the technology is there now - and can be an additional revenue stream and allows more people than ever to take part in the event - with online chats, become the director and chose which angle you want to see or download the entire concert on MP3 after the concert is finished - the only restriction now is the imagination of what is a fantastic multi-media opportunity

Or we can continue to churn out artists and bands that can be consumed and be "added" for a day and then taken off the next day as they are no longer seen as the latest and greatest...

Disposable Heroes indeed

(I'm off to rehab, then I'm reforming my band - see you on MySpace! - add you if you if you ask?)