4 takeaways from Sonar+D 2017
In brief
The cultural industry continues to reinvent itself through the commoditization of tools and services, and the new opportunities offered by digitalization: democratization and gamification of artistic creation, engagement with consumers, improved distribution of copyright, use of VR to create new experiences...
Digitalization disrupts Culture (again)!
Sonar* has just held its 24th edition, an opportunity for us to take part in its program dedicated to innovation** in the creation and management of cultural content (audio, visual, VR...).
While the audiovisual industry was one of the first to be impacted by digitalization (of production, content, distribution, etc.), resulting in a profound change in revenue models for players in the value chain, it is now preparing for a second phase in its transformation.
Here's a look back at the 4 major trends of this year's edition.
1/ Content (from everyone) is king
Today, content creation is vital to any organization, so much so that there arecountless tools dedicated to the creation, management and distribution of audiovisual content. The Audiu marketplace (UK), for example, enables amateur musicians to benefit from feedback and mentoring from professional producers and artists on their creations. The simplification and gamification of creative tools is also a major trend, offering everyone the chance to become a creative. In bulk: Dada Machines (GER), Dat0 (NL), Elektron Music Machines (SWE), HumOn (KOR), CameraFi Live (KOR), Melodics (NZ), Oval (SP), Revibro (SP).
2/ Engagement (with everyone) is the queen
Creating enticing content to promote your brand is not enough. You also need to emotionally engage your customers through experiences. This is what the JNB Music (IRL) platform offers, a kind of virtual juke box that allows anyone to choose the music playing in the bar/restaurant where they are, using an app in the colors of a drinks brand, for example. Fashtime (UK) uses the time spent on its social network to engage a dialogue between a brand and its customers.
3/ Better distribution of royalties
Broadcasting audio content automatically opens up a system for collecting taxes for broadcasters and distributing royalties to copyright owners. As this system is biased by the impossibility of knowing what music is being played in all public places, it relies on radio broadcasts to establish its ranking of the most-played and therefore most-remunerated artists. Numerous initiatives have been launched to solve this problem, such as JNB Music (see above), which collects data on the works broadcast and monetizes them with the collecting bodies, or Resonate (GER) and Dot Block Chain (US), which use blockchain to control distribution and thus better remunerate artists.
4/ Virtual Reality is everywhere
Sonar+D has dedicated an entire hall to VR! Become a cosmonaut, travel back in time, enjoy interactive experiences in Mixed Reality(see our last newsletter): in all, there were almost 20 installations on offer, not to mention the many start-ups active in the field who were also present. In particular, we'd like to highlight In Flight VR (GER), which is teaming up with Airbus at a parallel hackathon to address one of the industrial group's key issues: how to improve the experience of travelers on board the manufacturer's aircraft?
As mentioned above, the cultural industry was one of the first to be impacted by digitalization, and it's interesting to note the direction in which it is now heading. By opening up to as many people as possible, by simplifying exchanges between players in the value chain, by constantly seeking to improve engagement with the community, by building bridges with established players to open up avenues of creativity. Could this be an indication of the future direction of innovation in industries undergoing the first phase of their digital transformation? It would be presumptuous to say so today. But let's hope so.
* Sonar is a 3-day electronic music festival held every year in Barcelona.
** The Startup Garden is an initiative bringing together 30 startups from all over the world active in the cultural sector.
