Jenni Murtagh 09006351

Student: Jenni Murtagh (09006351)
Chosen blog: Future Of Music - www.futureofmusicbook.com
Chosen post: 8 Key Trends For The Next 5 Years - http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/2009/05/8-key-trends-for-the-next-5-years/

Author: The blog i have chosen to follow for my assignment is The Future Of Music by David Kusek. Kusek was a co-developer of the revolutionary Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), co-inventor of the first electronic drums at Synare, and founder of Passport Designs, the first music software company. He also runs a consulting business Digital Cowboys providing advice and services to Nokia, Pepsi, AOL, BMG, EMI, A&M Records, Boston Acoustics, Roland, Yamaha, Intel, IBM, Island Music, Nettwerk, Ovation Guitars and others. He is currently Vice-President of the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Topics: The blog seems to centre around the mass-market music industry, with there also being a strong discussion of music formats, publishing, marketing, copyright and creation.

Interaction: The blog was created in March 2005. There has been a steady flow of posts, with at least 10 per month since it's inception.

Target Audience: It's target audience appears to be those heavily involved or interested in the music industry. There are many references to things like companies or formats that would not generally be understood by the mass public. Nevertheless, the blog is written in a very user-friendly way, and i found it enjoyable to read despite my lack of involvement in the music industry.

Layout/Embedded Artifacts: The layout of his page is very well categorized and easy to navigate. The blog often contains videos and pictures, and has a list of links to other blogs of the same interest.

Favourite Post: The post i have chosen is a very interesting post called 8 Key Trends For The Next Five Years. The post is actually based on the ideas of a colleague of Kusek's called Gerd Leonhard. In the post, Kusek and Leonhard discuss 8 predictions for the next 5 years in the area of digital media, explaining and discussing each. While the majority of the trends are a positive step forward, there were two that stood out as a little worrying - the decline of most forms of physical media, and paying for privacy. I don't believe physical media will be abandoned within the next 7-10 years, as suggested by the blog, as i think there is still a generation out there that aren't as comfortable with the digital age as my generation. As for paying for privacy, i can see this happening, and it worries me.

My comments on this blog: http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/2009/05/8-key-trends-for-the-next-5-years/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jenzerr