MusicTech Analysis in the Media?

To clarify, when I say MusicTech, I mean as in SFMusicTech, not MusicTech magazine.

There is an opportunity for a media entity to cover the MusicTech space with in-depth analysis and consistency. The industry would benefit tremendously from a media source that was no bullshit and regularly delivered rigorous analysis of the MusicTech Industry.

It’s expensive to be in the music industry and get a grasp on who’s doing what in the MusicTech space. The buyers and beneficiaries of all this technology don’t understand the technology, and the technologists don’t understand that. When the technologists realize the dilemma, they have already severely miscalculated the efforts required to effectively communicate what they do and why it’s valuable and different to the market. Game over.

There are only two conferences that seem to really generate solid information for the US MusicTech market: Midem (which is in France btw) and SFMusicTech (which is only one day and on a Monday this February). Neither is cheap or all that accessible for most people (I’ve never been to Midem and I’m not going next month).

The lack of good analysis is a problem no different from other industries, it’s just more of a problem in Music than most. There is so much to be made and lost based on how the Music industry leverages (or fails to leverage) technology because a large portion of the assets of the industry are digital and consumed via the Internet.

Back to the point…

The media sources for the MusicTech space just aren’t doing a very good job, and no one challenges them and calls them on it. In an effort to be able to look super knowledgable about a company, they box it into a simple term they have created or adopted and then move on. There are a short-list of journalists who put the effort in but do not have the resources to cover this vast, quick moving space with the rigor it deserves.

Without good information, the market makes bad decisions and assumptions about their options for MusicTech. And then, a pirate comes along and screws everything up by making all the technologists look like blood suckers. Most of the founders I’ve met in the MusicTech space have a genuine desire to improve things for the industry and create more value for all involved. They (and I) love music and want the industry to thrive.

If I were Forrester or Gartner, I’d up my ante in this space. NPD shows up at all the events, but the message is essentially the same (not a bad message Russ, just pretty much the same), so they could use some competition.

And if I were BillBoard, I would seriously double down my investment in MusicTech analysis. The opportunity is huge and the competition is a non issue.