Saturday, January 31, 2009

When Creators Unite

It is because the internet is transparent, affordable and open to the masses, 1.4 billion of us, that its impact has been so profound. I Imagine profound levels of change for Creators when Internet based systems for this group empower and unify their collective mass to benefit from shared basic needs. In our world those shared basic needs are the ability to "be heard" and make a living.

The day is fast approaching when the universe of hits market creators and participants of digital content like songs, sound recordings, photos, and videos, will unite with their hobbyist and aspiring professional brethren. The combined numbers are staggering.

I researched the professional associations like the AFofM, AFTRA, BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, SAG, Screenwriters Guild and other associations of professionals in the digital content creation business. By comparing the ratio of models and actors to screenwriters and director as well as the ratio of musicians to bands and writers to songs in professional market, I have developed a projection of the number of Creators in the total market. By comparing these ratios to creator indicators in the digital content market like the number of bands on MySpace and Facebook, and photographers on Flickr, and video producers on YouTube and additionally the numbers of models and actors in photos and videos, I come up with an astounding 578 million participants. And I have many reasons to believe this maybe low. Two of those reasons are I haven't included counts for software developers and graphic artists.

My research wasn't intended to created a firm foundation of statistical data, it is an estimate. However, there are 6 billion of us on the planet and we all have right and left hemispheres in our brains. It stands to reason that at least 8% of us are using our right hemispheres to create things that could become digital content even if it is created out of pleasure activities.

If there are 578M potential digital content creators, how many of these people have the potential to disseminate works they create. Since the Internet is the vehicle enabling the global distribution of digital content we could limit our scope to those people on the net. The internet penetration reached 21.9% of the global population on June 30, 2008 according to internetworldstats.com. Maybe it stands to reason that I should reduce the total available market (TAM) of the 578M to the 21.9 percent who are on the net and get a Served Available Market (SAM) of 126M people who are creating and on the internet. I personally think this number is again conservative considering the fact that the ratios used to estimate the TAM were based on internet content excluding important sectors, and not including both digital and non-digital forms of the content types mentioned.

Regardless of how you wish to look at it, the number is HUGE. When a small portion of a HUGE population unite to create change, surprising things happen. MyWerx is creating various types of "value" for this HUGE group so they and the people who believe in them, and work with them can unite. Together we can create new systems for conducting business that are fair, transparent, and affordable to everyone. In that kind of market, talent, work ethic, and opportunity create a recipe for success on a much grander scale. Get involved. Every creator and every work counts. In the internet age, every voice has an opportunity to be heard. Do something about it!!

(The photo above was made available by Creative Commons permission ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffwerner/45939339/ )

Friday, January 9, 2009

Malcom Gladwell Speaks to Creativity and Perseverance

The following link was sent to me by Tim DuBois. It is so pertinent to the MyWerx community. This is a story on creativity and the dedication required to reach a dream.

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/video-gain-2008-gladwell

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Apple Drops DRM - For Pete sake Don't Panic!

The answer to the piracy problem in the early 2000 was DRM (digital rights management). The technology failed to deliver at making the market "safe" for creators of digital products. Don't read too much into this announcement from Apple.

In case you didn't know EMI and many independent record companies released products through ITunes prior to this announcement without DRM. Now the rest of the 10m tracks will be by the end of the quarter. Part of the message is that now ITunes downloads will work on other types of devices.

One concept behind these decisions is that to thwart piracy, the price of digitally distributable product has to come down and you have to give consumers the conveniences they want. So now we will see $.69, $.99 and $1.29 downloads. Make it easy, make it cheap and you sell more of it.

What can you say, it is an imperfect world and at least we are witnessing movement. The worst thing that could happen is that everything stays the same. It won't do anyone any good to continue playing the victim. Trends are in motion.

Victims give up, go home and don't follow their dreams. This is the season for the Creator of art who is creating it for the right reasons. Create it because you have to, it is who you are. If companies with the overheads of Universal, Sony, and EMI can make money on $.69 downloads, so can you.

This is not part of some doomsday for creators, this is the season of liberation. Wake up, smell the coffee and go create something cool for the world to experience.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Happy New Year! 2009 is going to be an amazing and exciting year.

For the past two months we have been developing an early stage prototype of the first phase of the MyWerx platform. I will be testing the site tonight and plan to launch within two weeks to a control group for feedback and to observe how they will use the application.

I have also started this blog to manage some of this communication.

The blog contains MyWerx vision and mission statements as its initial post and all newsworthy updates and articles will be posted here.

I believe more than ever that the time is right for significant change in our industry, and that the vehicle for change is empowering you and the global community of creators to which you belong. The blog will be the source of ideas for change, the technology will enable change, but you are ultimately the driving force.

Millions of people made PayPal the standard for commerce transactions on E Bay. Once the people spoke, there was no turning back. Not even E Bay with its fire power could turn the tide when they tried to develop a competing solution.

MyWerx vision is to create tools that empower you. You can expect there to be backlash from an industry already turned upside down with change because the internet has undermined its control and the industry is in a state of chaos.

Now you have an opportunity to reshape the future of an industry and establish standards that are structured for the benefit of Creators and their business customers.

Please click the "Follow this Blog" button, and stay tuned to participate in our roll-out of the MyWerx prototype.

Thank you once again.

Sincerely,

Tim R. Smith, Founder
MyWerx

Tim Dubois - MyWerx - Investor and Chairman of the Board - 11-25-08







I am so excited about the relationship that has developed between Tim DuBois and myself. It is truly more than I could ask for or imagine.

Tim is a wonderful man and his resume couldn’t be more impressive. He ran Arista records, Gaylord Entertainment, Universal South, sold well over 100M records, signed Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson, Diamond Rio, put Brooks with Dunn to form Brooks and Dunn (this is one of his many giftings by the way…connecting people), and so many more. He is uniquely left and right brained, a CPA and a hit songwriter with I think 5 number one hits and more than 30 cuts overall, and has produced too many records to mention which include 20 number 1 hits. He is also serving as a Clinical Professor of Media and Entertainment at Owen’s School at Vanderbilt. WOW!

We aspire to make his greatest claim to fame be how he helps change the world of copyright and independent creators by helping me build MyWerx! Tim has agreed to join the company as its Chairman and as one of the company’s first investors. I will serve as President and CEO. I am truly honored to have his involvement.

We are officially on our way!

This is also a BIG THANK YOU, to all of you who have been encouraging me to continue to follow my dream and passion for creative people and their work.

More as it develops.

Tim

MyWerx Mission and Vision

Mission:

MyWerx empowers Creator and their Representatives to Work better together. Together we solve the permission problem.

Vision:

A community empowering creation, collaboration and communication to maximize commerce and collection for creators and their representatives.

Creation: registers and protects your creative works
Collaboration: allows others to contribute to a new hybrid work
Communication: maximizes real time and accurate information exchange between creators and their representatives
Commerce: creates a cost effective marketplace for the evaluation and monetization of any and all creative works
Collection: maximizes the transparent flow of information and money between creators and the users of their works