Ethos by Randy Elrod - How To Create Culture

Vote For My Friend Jason At The Indie Label Tonebox Records For Wired.Com Best Business

Wired.com has really given my friend Jason Bradford (and fellow Tweet) a great opportunity and some exposure for his Indie label/distro company. After months of judging, his company is one of the five finalists of the WIRED Small Biz Program of the year. The small business owner with the most votes will win $40,000 in prizes.  Some how the other guys got a huge jump on him!!!

Let's use the power of social media to help Jason win! Spread the word.

I just voted and it took five seconds. Simply click the number beside "ToneBox Records".  The link on Wired.com is HERE.

And Jason's very awesome label link is Tonebox Records

A quick vote would be absolutely awesome !!!!  :) Jason is an innovative, entrepreneurial hero to me! Let'e help him win.

Atlantic Records Exhibits More Record Label Stupidity

When Will Record Companies Learn?

My daughter and I were looking for Estelle's new single "American Boy" and were unable to find it on iTunes. I vaguely recalled seeing something about the song in my latest issue of Billboard Magazine.

It seems that Atlantic Records has made the decision to make Estelle's album available in the U.S only as a physical CD or full album download at non-Apple retailers.

The iTunes policy of not bundling tracks as album-only purchases means that opting out of digital single sales means opting out of iTunes.

Atlantic's decision further illustrates the stupidity and continual practice of scarcity and fear rather than the mercantile theory of abundance proven in, oh yeah, just a few years ago, let's see, in 1776 by Adam Smith in his classic The Wealth Of Nations. When will the music industry get a clue?

A Real Life Example

When I informed my daughter about the decision, she promptly said, "Okay, fine, then I will not buy the song or the album. I don't buy music that is not on iTunes anymore. It is too risky and inconvenient." Other factors for Ethos include paying extra for a hard shell case and CD for which I don't care to find storage space and while I'm not a tree-hugger, I cannot ignore the fact that is very bad for the environment. The cases and CD's just don't disintegrate. And furthermore, I may not want the other songs."

Conclusion

Even if this decision jacks up album sales temporarily, it feeds the monster of putting only one good song on an album, and that is the kind of bone-head decisions that have caused this crisis for the music industry in the first place. Another example of trading the ultimate for the immediate.

Teens Not Watching Beijing 2008 Olympics

The Olympic opening ceremony was reportedly watched by "15 percent of the world's population." Needless to say, it was a heck of a weekend for NBC, which paid close to $900 million for U.S. broadcasting rights.

Despite the fact that some Olympic programming will be delayed and many viewers have turned to non-legit sources for live, streaming content, NBC will still probably turn a tidy profit from the Olympics -- the network says it already sold $1 billion in ads for the events.

But one area where NBC may have lost: The teen demographic. Only 46 percent of teens surveyed by Harris Interactive showed any interest in watching the Olympics. And if teens are indeed abstaining, it's not because they think that the Olympics are a crass, greedy commercial enterprise -- in fact, 71 percent of those polled "were likely to agree that the games are about more than merely medals and marketing," according to Harris Interactive. So why won't they watch? Because it's not convenient for them.

"Teens want quick-hitting videos," says Bill Carter, a partner at youth marketing agency Fuse Marketing. "They don't want the lead-up and they don't want the analysis. They just want the video. And I'm optimistic that NBC is doing delivering this better than they have before. Although, to watch the [mens freestyle swimming] relay this morning, I still had to download 11 minutes of video, and fast forward through the first 6 minutes to get to the race."

Read more HERE at WIRED.com

Photo: Flickr/kk+

Johnny Bunko-Daniel Pink-Is It Business Or Is It Art? ...

The Sunday before last in my "Love At First Site" link post, I mentioned Daniel Pink's "Free Agent Nation" book, and that it was partially responsible for my decision to quit my day job. (See also the No Asshole Rule).

Imagine my surprise when I received a very kind e-mail from Daniel himself thanking me for the kind words about his book and telling me about his "innovative new effort" (my words) of creating the first business book in the highly addictive Japanese comic format known as manga.

I read Johnny Bunko last night  and it is both insightful and beautiful. Daniel has provided us a rare combination of right and left brain thinking. And, it just plain feels good-to hold in your hands and flip through.

Mr. Pink was kind enough not only to send me a complimentary free copy, but also provided an extra for a giveaway. So for the second week in a row, I will feature a giveaway on Watercooler Wednesday. Participate next Wednesday and you will be entered in a drawing to win a free copy of this innovative and insightful book. 

If you can't wait 'til next week, you can buy it HERE. And at less than $11.00 it is a steal!

Get this book!! You will thank me, a lot!

LifeWork 2.0: Five Ways To Engage Your Clients In The Digital World ...

1. Authenticity - Tell people who you are as a person. Your successes AND your failures. You must personally engage with your clients/fans on your MySpace page, blog, microblog, digg, etc.

2. Intimacy - Mobile/Web services such as text messages, Twitter, and SayNow provide the new tools for communication. They provide an intimate connection between you and your clients/fans.

3. Elasticity - "Fail Quickly" That is the mantra of echo music CEO Mark Montgomery. "Don't be afraid to say, 'This isn't working, maybe we need to try something different.' And then when something works, go with it."

4. Audacity - In a world of radical transparency, consumers are not just looking for a slick PR campaign, they are looking for something more organic. Web 2.0 sites like YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia and Squidoo help build your complete picture. Be bold enough to make yourself accessible to consumers.

5. Reciprocity - Empower your clients/fans. Use the Web to rally them to get things done. Have them make noise for you.

This outline is from a one-day seminar that Spence and I will be hosting. It will be coming soon to a city near you. It is called Lifework 2.0: How To Rule Your World Through Blogging, Social Networking and Micro-Blogging.

LifeWork 2.0 is designed for entrepreneurs, artists, management and corporate leaders.

For more info and registration details contact me HERE

Expelled-A Movie By Ben Stein-Has Ethos Clapping With One Hand ....

How can a scientific assumption made 149 years ago when the knowledge of a single cell was infinitesimal remain undisputed by academia in a world of nano-technology and double helix genomes?

I distinctly remember sitting on a bus a few years ago traveling through the English countryside toward Oxford and talking with an Englishmen who delighted in telling me that "the thing that is wrong with you Americans is that you do not care to debate passionately". It was ironic to me as I watched the screening this evening for Ben Stein's Expelled movie, that it was a majority of the Oxford academia that did not care to debate this archaic 149 year old assumption.

This documentary is a must see!! Two thumbs WAY UP! 

Ethos claps one hand today because I am appalled by the lack of conversation and debate of this issue in the global education system. Especially the American Education system. Beware the sound of one hand clapping  in a world of no debate on this issue.

If phrases such as: "Intellectual Terrorism" and "Deprivileging Of The Human Race" intrigue you, then this movie is for you. However, If a world where dogs are Gods and humans have no hope of meaning is more your "cup 'o tea", then this movie probably won't interest you.

Opens in selected theatres April 18. Spread the word!! Be sure to watch the "1 minute 19 second" trailer below.

Hollywood Taking Serious Anti-War Stand...

Over the next few weeks, the war will land at many more local multiplexes, thanks to prominent feature films starring Robert Redford, John Cusack, Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones - and co-starring the war either in the background or in your face. It is unprecedented for so many Hollywood films to depict a war in anything but flattering terms while the country is still fighting it... Why now? Filmmakers feel many Americans are seeing a sanitized, bloodless view of the war in the mainstream media.

Shortly after Bush's re-election in 2004, and with no end of the war in sight, filmmakers and screenwriters said they felt an urgency to produce films in time for the presidential campaign season - or at least as Congress continues to debate the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Read more HERE.

Nashville: A Call To Creative Convergence...

Here is an article I have written with intent to publish and also to present as an expanded talk. I would value your edits and comments...HERE.
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When asked about prior knowledge of Nashville, Irish guests visiting O’More College of Design answered, “Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jack Daniels and country music.”

We who call Music City home know there is much more to this great area. Nashville is known as “The Athens Of The South” because of its myriad institutions of higher education. In the late 1800’s our city was known as one of the most refined and cultured cities in America.

Today we are a metro area that claims more musicians per capita than anywhere on earth. The Schermerhorn is one of the finest Symphony Halls in the world. We have a Film Festival, Screenwriter’s Conference and the Nashville Children’s Theatre was ranked by TIME magazine as one of the top five children's theatres in the country.

Within her environs she contains world famous Music Row, music powerhouses BMI and ASCAP and over 180 recording studios. The Nashville area is also home to more than 80 record labels, 130 music publishers, 40 national producers of ad jingles, 27 entertainment publications, 5,000 working union musicians, the Contemporary Christian Music Industry and major book publishing companies, including Ingram Industries-one of America’s largest privately held businesses.

The new downtown library is one of the finest in the world and its building project involved an extraordinary amount of community input. The most visible benefit of this involvement is the Public Art Program, which brought in local graphic artists, authors, photographers, painters, sculptors, and metalworkers to enrich the building.

Total employment impact of the music industry is more than 54,000 jobs and economic impact totals $6.38 billion.  Billion. Seattle, Austin, Memphis and the state of Georgia combined totals only $3.14 billion.

This “green” multi-billion dollar arts business also brings the advantage of a clean industry. Brains-not buildings and factories-house the power of the creative class, producing beauty rather than toxic waste.

The August 2007 issue of Fast Company magazine recognizes Nashville as a city on the verge of joining Miami, Florida; Barcelona, Spain; and Dakar, Senegal as one of four Cultural Centers shaping the world's future. A convergence city possesses opportunity (a culture that nurtures creative action and game-changing enterprise), innovation (investing in physical, cultural, and intellectual infrastructure that will sustain growth) and energy (that ethereal thing that happens when creative people collect in one place).

The convergence of the creative class into our area can be attributed to several factors. Affordable housing, low cost of living, low crime rates, a temperate climate and distinct change of seasons lure artists from New York and Los Angeles. Carol Colletta, president of CEO's for Cities, says "In a world where we can now work anywhere, we're tending to concentrate in fewer and fewer places. Smart people are choosing to live near smart people."

Like the powerful Medici family of Florence, Italy - Nashville has the ability to patronize the arts as do few cities in the world. We must rethink our buying patterns and look within to our own creatives for art purchases and commissions.

The hope is that when global citizens are asked in the future what Nashville means to them, they will not answer as Edmund Blackadder memorably lamented, “To us the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people”. Sadly, it was probably the citizens of Florence to whom he was referring. For nowhere else were the ingredients that enabled the Renaissance to flourish--a politically-active citizenry, a vigorous humanist movement and abundant wealth--better blended.

Nashville has these ingredients and must seek to enhance them to hold her head high as a global cultural center. A city that chooses not to sit on her creative class as a Renaissance passes her by.

Do We Care Anymore Who Publishes A Book?...

"It is a bit curious,that in this age of branding, both personal and corporate, publishing houses haven't done more to create an identity for themselves and to get that identity out there -- beyond literary agents, beyond book review editors, beyond the folks in the biz, and into the hands of the people who matter most to us: the readers."

Read more HERE.

Chris Anderson: The Technology Long Tail...