There is a massive gap between traditional music industry economics and the rapidly evolving behavior of Asian media consumers. I spent a few days last week at the Music Matters conference in Hong Kong listening to some of the most senior record label executives dissect the complexities of their situation. Contradictions abound. Online piracy in China is rampant, and yet China Mobile made nearly US$1.7 billion last year selling caller ring back tones. Most of Baidu's traffic comes from its illicit MP3 search service, while authorised mobile download services in Japan are growing rapidly.

As always, there was a big white elephant. In this case - what happens when the consumer pressure for music to go free becomes irresistible - whether bundled with devices, streamed through licensing deals, or just downright freely available. When I interviewed Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music and Avril's Lavigne, he was more than ready to face that eventuality. His view was merchandise, events, and packaged fan access products would make up for the loss of CD sales. Paul McGuiness, in a controversial keynote, was less sanguine. He likened ISPs to shoplifters and accused them of rigging the market. Later in the conference, Bob Lefsetz ook cruel and unusual pleasure in ripping him apart.

The Asian music market is a subtle and fascinating study in the new dynamics of digital entertainment. For more details, stay tuned for the next episode of 'The Tomorrow Report' which will contain snippets of the conference, video interviews with some of the big industry personalities and an overview of the relevant market numbers. You can sign up for regular episodes either by email, iTunes or RSS.

The magazine lists the book as one of the top "2008 Design Masterpieces". The article has some great quotes from my art director on the project, Vince Frost.

From the article - Will good design ultimately concede to digital books? Art director Vince Frost thinks so: 'The book has been replaced already. A book is an old-fashioned form of communication. We are all writers and publishers. We make our own content and share it with the world with ease. It's a break-down of traditional monopolies that have controlled monopolies that have controlled our literary diet for too long.' Fitting, Frost has art directed a new book called Futuretainment, which is about the amazing things that have happened and are happening in the digital world. Published by Phaidon, you will note that it is, in fact, a book.

The best and probably only good thing about being sick in bed with the flu is that its the perfect opportunity to catch up on trashy television. And no, I'm not talking about Oprah. Thanks to iTunes I went on a downloading binge that included Lost, Battlestar Galactica and even quirkier titles like Eureka, Kyle XY, the Dresden Files, Jericho, Blade and Surface. And that's when I discovered the catch. A lot of a niche programming that ends up on iTunes also ends up getting cancelled. Anyway, it got me thinking. In an on demand future - just how will television get funded? 

There is nothing quite like getting what you want. Especially if its when you want it. 2007 is shaping up to be the year of 'on demand' entertainment. Apple will consolidate its media pedigree by adding more video content to iTunes as well as bridging the gap between the computer and the home television with its ITV device. Peer to peer technologies like Bittorrent and the Venice Project will go legit, as publishers discover bandwidth savings from decentralised distribution. Upstart aggregators like YouTube will try and toe the line on copyright infringement. And Studios, just like music labels, will wake up to the fact that consumers are starting to view channels as another form of forced consumption like record albums.