The Curious Englishman In New York: Day 110 - World In 2013 Festival Gala Dinner

As an MBA student at Mountbatten, you are provided with a variety of privileges. One of these being tickets to the World in 2013 Gala Dinner. Since I arrived, I have been so psyched about coming to this event.

Unfortunately, the evening did momentarily get of to a bad start. Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor of The Economist, informed us that Sean Parker, (Napster founder, Facebook co-founder) and Daniel Ek (Spotify founder) would not be joining us. They were the guest speakers. However, being the well informed student that I am, I was not surprised. This was because of the announcement that Metallica were going to release their entire back catalogue onto Spotify. Even if you are not a Metallica fan, this is a huge step for online music and digital streaming. If you head on down memory trip lane and remind yourself of the bitter feud that Sean Parker/Napster and Lars Ulrich/Metallica were embroiled within over illegal downloads of their music, this is certainly the last thing you would expect. In fact, it would be not that crass to presume that if Sean Parker and Lars Ulrich are in the same room, it is probably because it' s a court room!

Nevertheless, I believe this does have significance. Metallica were not the only band to hold off from releasing their back catalogues onto Spotify or other streaming services. For example, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin do not have a legitimate presence on Spotify. Ultimately, this has all been due to a lack of confidence in their ROI (return on investment). Until the last few years, bands haven't been able to see digital streaming as a viable revenue stream so have held off. It is now becoming the norm.

As I have been exposed to so many predictions recently, I am going to make a prediction of my own. I believe that in 2013, major music labels and bands will release more and more of their back catalogues. Therefore transforming how we listen to our music. This could mean that as Spotify grows, iTunes could diminish and physical CDs could practically become non-existent. Some customers may feel that streaming an unlimited amount of music is more practical than actually owning the track or album. Google "Long Tail Model" by Chris Anderson and this may make more sense.

Ok, back on track (get it...)

As I said Sean and Daniel could not be at the event, which only led me to think that The Economist would not be able to replicate such high profile names in such a short period of time. I could have not been more wrong. Mr. Franklin, went on to casually announce that Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google will be taking their place. Astonishing!

Mr. Schmidt went on to talk about Google Glass, spectacles with a virtual dashboard that analyses everything in front of you (a.k.a RoboCop Vision) and driverless cars. Products that if realised to market, would be both life changing and world transforming.

This was my best night in New York so far. Great people, great food, great drinks and an opportunity to prat around on the stage at the end of it all!