Social media – Page 26

Will Spotify crack open the all-you-can-eat music subscription model?

Spotify is one of the hottest online music properties of the moment, currently pushing into the US from its home territory of Europe, where it has over 2 million users in the UK and over 4 million users in the continent. Its founder Daniel Ek recently said that it is doubling revenues every month.

The basic model is providing music streaming from a library of more than 5 million songs, through European deals with all the major music labels plus many independents. Ad-supported free subscriptions are available, or full packages for EUR/GBP9.99 or equivalent per month which include ad-free access and the ability to download over 3,000 tracks to your music player to listen to wherever you are.

Early this decade the all-you-can-eat music subscription model was getting some attention. In my 2002 book Living Networks I wrote:

These twin powerful trends of greater access to content, and increased awareness of quality content, can result in greater revenue for these industries, but new business models are required. For example, US music consumers currently spend on average $60 a year on CDs—equivalent to perhaps four albums. If each of those consumers were given the option to pay $10 per month, and in return get all the music they wanted, it is safe to predict that most would take it up, feel they are getting great value, and the industry would double in size.

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Social Media Strategy Framework in Japanese – ソーシャルメディア戦略構造

By Ross Dawson

Continuing our series of translations of Social Media Strategy Framework, today is Japanese.

See the original post for the full overview of the Social Media Strategy Framework in English and list of translations.

Click on image to download pdf

Please share this with any Japanese speakers.

Also be sure to let me know if you can suggest any improvements to the translation.

FTC regulates blogging! Insights into the new world of paid influence

By Ross Dawson

The US Federal Trade Commission has released its long-awaited update to its “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” to now cover blogging and social media.

The headline news is that:

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.

Those contravening the FTC Act can be fined up to $16,000 per post (it has been increased in the last year from the $11,000 that has been widely reported).

In other words, the world of paid influence that we explored at Future of Influence Summit will be regulated and laid open.

This whole thing is a minefield, and I wish had more time to run through all of the issues, but here are a few top-of-mind points that need to be made about this:

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Social Media Strategy Framework in Portuguese – Modelo Estratégico das Mídias Sociais

By Ross Dawson

Continuing our series of translations of Social Media Strategy Framework, today we are launching the Portuguese edition.

See the original post for the full overview of the Social Media Strategy Framework in English.

Click on image to download pdf

Please share this with any Portuguese speakers who would be interested.

Also be sure to let me know if you can suggest any improvements to the translation.

The Big Shift in economic structure and why knowledge flows are becoming a fundamentally important business driver

By Ross Dawson

A couple of years ago Deloitte tempted John Hagel away from independent consulting to co-chair a new think-tank, now called the Deloitte Center for the Edge. I have been a long-time fan of John’s work, and find many parallels with my own path and research.

The Center recently released its first major study, the Shift Index, which was accompanied by an article in the July-August issue of Harvard Business Review, titled The Big Shift: Measuring the Forces of Change.

When the Shift Index was first announced, I was immediately drawn to look more closely because of its first key finding:

The performance gap between winners and losers has increased over time, with the “winners” barely maintaining previous performance levels, while the losers experience rapid deterioration in performance.

This matches exactly one of the main messages I have been preaching since the beginning of the recession, for example in my keynotes at the MegaTrends conference in Abu Dhabi and my TEDx presentation in San Francisco on Future of the Enterprise: this is a time of increasing divergence in organizational performance, and adopting new strategies and activities is essential to avoid rapid erosion in competitiveness.

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Social Media Strategy Framework in Dutch – Sociale Media Strategie Kader

By Ross Dawson

Continuing our series of translations of Social Media Strategy Framework, today is Dutch.

See the original post for the full overview of the Social Media Strategy Framework in English.

Click on image to download pdf

Please share this with any Dutch speakers who would be interested.

Also be sure to let me know if you can suggest any improvements to the translation.

Social Media Strategy Framework in Spanish – Encuadre de Estrategia de Medios Sociales

By Ross Dawson

Continuing our series of translations of Social Media Strategy Framework, today we are launching the Spanish edition.

See the original post for the full overview of the Social Media Strategy Framework in English.

Click on image to download pdf

Please share this with any Spanish speakers who would be interested.

Also be sure to let me know if you can suggest any improvements to the translation.

SME Tech Summit in Sydney on 1 December – book the date!

By Ross Dawson

The Insight Exchange is going from strength to strength. Its next major event is the SME Tech Summit, to be held on 1 December in Sydney. The Insight Exchange’s CEO Beth Etling has put together an extraordinary agenda for what will be a landmark event in the space. Keynote speakers include Tim Pethick of Nudie fame (see interview with Tim on the event blog) and the always-provocative and insightful Mark Pesce. Check out the complete agenda for the rich array of content and learning that will be available on the day.

Go to the registration page to see the very attractive offers and great early bird specials, which expire 31 October.

How did the event come about? It is now clear to anyone in business that technology is fundamental to how they work and bring in revenue. However only a small minority of companies have both the resources to use technology effectively, and the ability to keep on top of fast-moving but absolutely critical trends such as cloud computing and social media. There is a massive opportunity to assist smaller and mid-market businesses to deal with these issues.

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