Online Music Entertainment Trends

Even through CD sales are dropping and the global recording industry is struggling to find its footing in a rapidly changing marketplace, and music spending is down, online and mobile formats are gaining momentum.

According to eMarketer, : "online and mobile will grab about 40% of the total music spend in 2009."

The company says that current developments such as Vodafone’s deal with MySpace - they are launching something called the “Vodafone Music Reporter” - will help substantiate this rapidly changing music landscape. The Vodafone Music Reporter is an interactive profile to promote its music services hosted on MySpace. The new venture will create communities for all music fans in the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain.

It seems music fans want, and in fact are now demanding online communities that offer a unique music experience. They also want a mobile music platform that gives fans of its music events the opportunity to be involved online, says eMarketer.

That is why today's marketers need to look to enhance the customer experience via putting together online, mobile and user-generated platforms such as blogs where fellow users can interact.

Beatport Launches Weekly Worldwide Syndicated Radio Show

Did you know that Beatport.com, the recognized leader in electronic dance music downloads for DJs and club music, features weekly top ten DJ Charts where people can buy from 600k+ tracks of House, Techno, Electro, Trance, Drum n Bass, Minimal, Dub Step and ten other dance music genres?

By the way, for anyone who wants to learn how to be a DJ, Beatport.com is a "must know." Why? The discovery of music has become more and more difficult, thanks to the digital world where everyone has a record label. That's why Beatport recently launched a worldwide weekly syndicated radio show called The Beatport 20, which aims to highlight the 20 best electronic music tracks around the globe.

Beatport delivers content in premium-encoded formats that match the professional performance quality standards of the world's leading sound systems. The site lets users to access club music through secure, legal, hi-speed, high quality downloads in MP3, MP4 and WAV formats on a pay per download basis.

The first version of Beatport launched in January 2004 with 79 record labels. By the time their website was revised in January 2005, they soon became the recognized global leader in independent dance music, with a catalog over 100,000 tracks supplied by more than 2,700 signed labels. The site also has music news, a blog, job listings, ads and much more.

For worldwide music discovery, Beatport launched a corresponding community site, Beatportal.com in May of 2007. with the goal to become the most relevant online resource for electronic music, providing music lovers with up-to-date information about electronic music worldwide. This site offers access to music news, industry news, music reviews, Podcasts, videos, DJ profiles, event listings, nightclubs, and much more.

The Beatport 20's music is based on what people are purchasing on Beatport.com, plus upfront picks from Beatport’s in-house team of electronic music experts. The first show is being broadcast this week, so check out the following list of radio stations to see if it’s on your local radar.

Online
Beatport 20 will be available online at Proton Radio every Wednesday 01.00 - 02.00 EST.

The Beatport 20: worldwide broadcast schedule
United States (Las Vegas) - Vibe 94.5 FM - Saturdays 20.00 - 21.00 Belgium (national) - Top Radio FM - various Bulgaria (national) - Nova 101.7 FM -FM -Thursday 19.00 - 20.00 Canada (Toronto & Ottawa) - Club246 (Chin 100.7 FM (Toronto) Chin 97.9FM (Ottawa) Thursday 03.00 - 04.00 Cyprus (national) - Energy FM 107.6 FM - Sundays 21.00 - 22.00 Hungary (Budapest + surrounding area)- Roxy 96.4 FM- Fridays 21.00 - 22.00 India (Goa & Bangalore) - Radio Indigo 91.9FM - tbc Lebanon (Beirut, Mount Lebanon, The North) - Mix 104.4FM - Saturdays 04.00 - 05.00 Lithuania (national) - Zip FM - Wednesday morning 01.00 - 02.00 Macedonia (national) - City Radio 94.7 FM - tbc Russia (Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Kursk, Ulianovs, Belgorod, Pyatigorsk, Essentuki, Georgievsk, Mineralnie Vody, Novosibirsk, Yjevsk, Volgodonsk, Naberezhnye Chelny, Elabuga, Nizhnekamsk, Kurgan, Zainsk) - Energy FM - starts December 1st - tbc Switzerland (national) - www -Rouge FM - on demand
Beatport will be expanding its radio show reach in coming months so stay tuned.

Vocational Acting Schools during Turbulent Economic Times

It is not hard to imagine that many a young person’s dreams for a career in entertainment has been squelched due to the recent financial crisis in the U.S. Student loans are diminishing with strict credit requirements, parents no longer have money to pay for expensive schools costing upwards of $30 to $80 grand per year, yet the industry calls for experience and education. On the other hand, alternative programs like the Film-Connection, are less drain on the budget and also put real practical education in the hands of students for an affordable amount. Even Yahoo had a news story on vocational education today, stating it can "provide individuals with the skill sets they need to pursue careers in high-wage, high skill occupations." These jobs are competitive, and the Entertainment Career Connection’s “learn by doing” method works, by getting a student’s foot in the door for places that can actually hire them, even while they are still taking the course. Here's a new Acting Program in Los Angeles .

The Entertainment Career Connection, Inc., offering certificate programs in all aspects of film making, radio broadcasting and audio engineering, just announced its new Film-Connection film acting mentorship program, offering the most comprehensive private acting training on the market. No other program combines both the truly rigorous craft of an acting program and one-on-one training with an industry professional.

This course is available only in Los Angeles and New York, the company has partnered with the Joe Anthony studios to teach its new film acting course. In addition, the company announced a complete re-design of its Film-Connection film school alternative website.

This industry is notoriously unforgiving to the unprepared. So how actors train is critical to their success, and often makes the difference between those who find work and those who don't. This particular program combines both a rigorous acting craft program with one-on-one, results-oriented career-coaching sessions and an intense curriculum. The bottom line -- it can lead them to generating opportunities rather than waiting for the phone to ring.

According to Jimi Petula, the founder and CEO of Entertainment Career Connection, "Making it as a working actor isn't just about being at the right place at the right time. When opportunity knocks you are either prepared to seize it or not, and if you are not ready you will blow it."

During tough economic times, students in any entertainment field need value for their money. No other program combines both the truly rigorous craft of an acting program with one-on-one result oriented career coaching sessions, so students will have a better chance of working upon graduation."

Anthony's Los Angeles acting program students learn to imaginatively create the world of the story in a way that truly resonates for them as an individual, allowing them to go into any professional situation such as a casting office, on the set or in a rehearsal to do their job with a sense of wonder instead of dread or fear. It is in this state of mind that they are free and able to live authentically and express truthfully -- from "action to cut" while doing their job.

Anthony's practical approach to acting involves strengthening the three specific muscles an actor needs to be truthful and authentic: imagination, or the ability to make fictional circumstances real; empathy, which is the essential ability to be sensitive and vulnerable to circumstances, and; concentration, as opposed to the circumstances of the set.

Students engage in six-month $8,450 program series. This includes both written lesson and in-person coaching concepts focusing on a curriculum of both career coaching and the craft of acting.

The curriculum includes: Getting Started Business Basics, Cold Reading, Monologue, Taking Action, Scene Study, and Launching Your Career.

Visit http://www.film-connection.com/, http://www.radioconnection.com/ or http://www.recordingconnection.com/.

The Economic Downturn's Effect on Filmmaking

Historically, during bad economic times, it is the entertainment industries that flourish - presumably, because people want to forget about their financial woes and drown themselves in happy distracting entertainment. Going to the movies is a good way out. And today, films are more accessible and available via NetFlix, video stores, and now online, meaning it doesn't break the bank no matter what age you are, or how bad off things are financially.

Here is another interesting tidbit. Fifteen years ago, the Sundance Film Festival got 500 submissions. This year, they received 5,000. Virtually all of these are privately financed films. Yet Mark Gill, who recently addressed an audience of film making professionals at the Los Angeles Film Festival, sited that Disney has gone from releasing 47 films in a year not too long ago to putting out only 12 films this year. Many of the “independent” branches of the studios have either been shrunk or dissolved altogether.

Gill also said, “If you want to survive in this brutal climate, you’re going to have to work a lot harder, be a lot smarter, know a lot more, move a lot faster, sell a lot better, pay attention to the data, be a little nicer, trust your gut, read everything and never, never give up.”

Yes, the competition is tough, and economics are making things challenging, but it is also a time where creative people can learn and seize their full potential, both now and later on.

That said, one also might wonder how this economy has effected the film school business, or those interested in programs at recording schools or radio schools for that matter. Because their mentorship programs are so reasonably priced, the Entertainment Career Connection's alternative film schools are really valuable, because people actually get jobs after they complete the programs - 74 percent to be exact. And, there has been a big increase in those taking the company's courses since January 2008. Student registrations in film, radio and recording are running about 160 percent over January 2008 -meaning the increase in the number of people who want to learn how to be a film director, or sign up for an audio engineer program or even those who want to learn to be a sports announcer, has been substantial.

Second Life and Educational Trends in Filmmaking

Have you ever heard of 'Real Life Education in Second Life.' This group is made up of people who are interested in the educational possibilities of Second Life where they say there are more than 400 universities and 4,500 educators participating in the Second Life Educators List (SLED). They are learning how to leverage the benefits of learning in a virtual world in order to assist the students of today.

In the photo: Second Life students role-play a courtroom scene hosted by Peggy Sheehy in Teen Second Life. How cool is that?

One article written by a professor of computer science at Colorado Technical University named Cynthia M. Calonge says, "the benefits outweigh the risks associated with venturing into a virtual world educational platform. For me, the virtual world is my preferred learning and teaching environment."

This method combined with a mentorship program may be the best way to learn in the future. As students learn and participate in social networks, such as our own Entertainment Connection Media Warrior network, they will benefit as they learn the importance of promoting themselves online, while they take our Film-Connection course where they can learn how to be a director.

Today, blogs are becomming a way of life. Everyone's on MySpace, FaceBook, and now Twitter, so imagine the magnitude of virtual classrooms? It would be one way to learn the bookwork in a fun and inspiring way, then go work with your mentor in the real world, at a real job, in training.

The author of The Extreme Future, James Canton, said that one of the top ten industries of the innovation economy is, "8. Education and Learning. The creation of immediate, portable, transferable, on-demand knowledge sources on a scale equivalent to the Library of Congress."

Well, virtual life is not far away as everything is transferred over to the Internet via Web 2.0. watch for 3-D on the Web in Web 3.0.

Trends in Film Education: Malaysian Film Industry Poised to Grow

Finas Director-General Mohd Mahyidin Mustakim said, "At a time when Malaysian cinema stands poised to influence the global film arena, filmmakers need to embrace the importance of marketing their movies," said recently at a meeting held at the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) in Ulu Kelang, Selangor.

It was a meeting that focused on the benefits of sales, marketing strategies, local film/TV show acquisitions for the international film markets. It appears as if they have realized that if Malaysian filmmakers have the right formula to market their films abroad, there’s a lot of money to be made. Many local filmmakers want to make money via films for the overseas market But up until now there has been a gap between how films are marketed locally and how they are marketed abroad.

Now there is a growing interest in film distribution abroad, and that means it is critical that they get exposure to marketing practices that will help these films cross over. It would seem that many could learn by taking some of the courses offered by schools like the Entertainment Career connection: http://www.film-connection.com/, for example, or Los Angeles music recording schools and even New York Radio schools, where mentors help students learn the real trade in a real classroom. Anyone interested in a career in film would benefit.

For those taking part in international film markets, it will make penetrating the international arena easier. Just as an example, with the cooperation of Finas, Malaysian producers have been part in three major international film markets including Hong Kong FilmArt in Wanchai, Hong Kong; and MIPTV and MIPCOM, in Cannes, France.

The statistics on transactions made by local producers at previous international film markets was RM1.57million, not as much as those in Hollywood or even Bollywood, but the important thing is that Malaysian film products are slowly getting the recognition. Many documentaries, animated series and TV shows are the hot-sellers among TV producers from Europe and the Middle East.

Foreign film producers typically like action-packed movies and thrillers.and due to the economy they have been cutting costs and not as active in acquiring programs from other countries. However, much is to be learned including trends, technology to the market ecology.

Finas will be taking part in the American Film Market (AFM) at Santa Monica in United States from on November 5 through 12.

Almumni Get a Mentor to Find a Job

A July 1 2008 article in the Wall Street Journal by Joann Lublin talks about how in today’s tough job market applicants can get ahead by going back to their alumni’s outplacement department to get a coach.

"Not-so-recent college graduates are demanding more career assistance from their former schools as they face tougher employment markets,” the article states, which gives merit to the premise behind why the Entertainment Career Connection schools like the Recording Connection, RadioConnection and the Film Connection with mentors work! And with today’s online social media marketing finally becoming rooted in society, the trend will soon become the norm.

Many schools and universities nationwide are in the process of ramping up their online offerings to alumni to include services such as resume and cover letter writing and editing, guidance for assembling potential employer lists, salary negotiation counseling, alumni yellow pages, re-entry seminars, self assessment workshops, support groups, online links to job resources, and even practice workshops for interviews. Blogs and social media networks are also becoming popular as a means of swapping job leads.

In fact, many universities and colleges are creating job-search programs. According to some statistics we researched online, nearly 20 percent of these institutions are now offering these services for alumni, up from just 5 percent five years ago, with business schools taking the lead.

The word “mentor” was seeded by one of the characters in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. When Odysseus, King of Ithaca named Odysseus went to fight in the Trojan War, he entrusted the care of his son Telemachus and his kingdom to Mentor.

Today, the term mentor is defined by Webster’s dictionary as "a trusted counselor or guide" and schools like the Entertainment Career Connection are also in the process of setting up new social media networks for their students and graduates as well. Once such program is known to our students only, is the http://www.mediawarrior.com/ where students can hook up for resources, meet other mentors and students, and network.