Thomas Dolby shared his journey in and out and back into the music industry yesterday, during his keynote address at DESIGN West in San Jose, Calif. In a detour along that journey he helped create -- and destroy -- a billion-dollar business in polyphonic ringtones, he said.
The lesson engineers should draw from it all? “Sh** happens,” said the musician.
Technology has opened up amazing opportunities -- and created more than a few problems -- for the music industry, said Dolby, best known for his 1980s hit, “She Blinded Me With Science,” one of three songs he performed in his keynote.
Thomas Dolby showed DESIGN West attendees pictures of his first keyboards.
“You used to have to spend millions just to get out in front of fans,” Dolby said. “When I started out at 17… [you] had to get a cassette tape to an A&R man, then get the radio stations to play it, and all these other things had to fall in place.”
Now the Web can create instant stars and targeted audiences. “The music industry will be like day trading with a music manager behind a screen” building a fan base with social networking tools that identify “qualified listeners with a laser focus,” he said during a Q&A with press.
Dolby created a Web-based mystery game, The Floating City, as a companion for his latest album. It became a forum for 11,000 of his fans trying to unravel the clues.
That is odd, Chuck. But it could be that streaming music was pretty clumsy at first. Even though music downloads started to boom in the late 90s, streaming music was hit and miss. So he might be talking about the time and tech level of the Internet 12 or 14 years ago.
The fact that Thomas Dolby is releasing his first album in 20 years seems to be a common pattern. Tom Rapp (Pearls before Swine) who quite the music business to become a lawyer followed the same pattern. It is: Work the music business until you either a) stop being popular or b) get fed up with it. Next step is many years later when you realize that you still have a cult following. Then get excited and create a new album. After album is released, you discover that you still aren't that popular and return to your business. The Monkees also went through this pattern. Oh, yeah, if you don't return to your business, you become a tired joke working the wheelchair circuit.
So, my prediction is that Dolby's new album won't really sell that well. What he does after that is his decision.
I also am impressed by Dolby's vision and forward-thinking mind. Rather than being stuck in the past, he quickly identifies emerging business trends in his industry and positions himself to be there as these trends unfold. Creative AND sharp-minded.
Almost everyone likes pop music, but Dolby 's comment about Jim Clarke and Marc Andreessen is very telling: They "said that if audio takes an extra second to load their front page, that's too long." Given the effect of music on the growth of the Internet, its ironic that these two visionaries apparently resisted it.
What an interesting career Dolby has had. I didn;t realize he had moved from tech back to music. I'm sure his new album will be quite interesting. Ironic, though, that he is delivering a tech keynote after retiring from tech.
Using almost 200 light-emitting diodes in the front and back of the new 2014 CTS, Cadillac designers are showing how LEDs can change the character of a vehicle.
We looked at a number of sources to determine this year's greenest cars, from KBB to automotive trade magazines to environmental organizations. These 14 cars emerged as being great at either stretching fuel or reducing carbon footprint.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 3
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
1 
