The music industry in specific but the entire creative industry at large has huge difficulties. Due to the arrival of technology, such as iPod, iTunes, youtube and facebook, the consumer approach has drastically changed. Even more, illegal downloading has become the norm for many teenagers.
This has created an industry in crisis. EMI announced again a 800 Mio USD year loss with over 4 billion USD in total debt, and in a few years Warner Music Group’s stock price is only 10% of its original value.
However, the entire global market is an estimated 65 billion market, so still a huge domain.
The challenge of this industry is to answer to the following trends:
- the increasing impact of technology of the internet
- the huge opportunities of social media
- the changing market and business model
- the support of young talent
- the involvement of fans
The answer is simple yet complex. The answer is that we need to return to the origins of the music experience. Young talent gets to grow, music IS the experience, fans are involved, not brainwashed. By returning to the relevance of each player, we can create a new model for the music industry, which will lead to investments into young emerging talent.
Bart & Maurice both have a different background. Bart is former CEO of Belgacom Skynet and SVP SBS/Prosiebensat1, and has always been close to a series of music initiatives. Maurice is an acclaimed artists, who co-founded a label and is passioned by technology and innovation. This cross-over combination is a symbol of where the future of music lies: combining music and tech, by creating value and experience for every participant.
Key take-aways:
- Focus on customers: how to you turn passive consumers into active ambassadors via social media
- Business model innovation: creating a new and sustainable model
- Blending: how the mix of 2 industries is resulting into a new ecosystem for creative talent
Bio
Bart Becks is the former CEO of Belgacom Skynet. During his 9 years at Belgacom group, he was deeply involved in the successful launches of free internet, adsl, online media and BelgacomTV. Next Bart became Senior Vice President of SBS Broadcasting Europe, in charge of all digital media & innovation activities in Scandinavie, Eastern & Central Europe and the Benelux. After SBS got acquired by ProSiebenSat1, Bart held a short tenure at Netlog as President International.
Soon afterwards, he founded SonicAngel with Maurice Engelen.
Bart also serves on a variety of tech, media and non-profit boards.
Bart lives alternately in Belgium and Los Angeles, together with his wife and (nearly) 3 year old son Charlie. He is fascinated by music, film and tech.
Maurice has gained international artistic fame with Praga Khan and Lords of Acid. In the US alone, over nearly 3 million albums were sold. Maurice also created music for films (Basic instinct, Sliver, What Women Want, Bad Lieutenant amongst other) and for games (Mortal Kombat). His shows are a combination of music but always often have a technology component.
Additionally, Maurice created the legendary independent music label 'Antler Subway', that got acquired by EMI.
Maurice is fascinated by innovation & creativity, and always looking for the next challenge.
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