Quotable

I seem to be the quote man for my friend Dmitri. At APAP in January, I gave my bit about "obscurity being a great threat than piracy" to the artist that the "world music" community works with.
Now at this years WOMEX, I talked about the development of niches, and the communities to support them. Apparently, he was listening.

"Just back from WOMEX, where two of my favorite quotes were "Music blogs are what college radio used to be" (Yale Evalev, Luaka Bop) and "Give it two years for the niches online to really develop" (Erich Ludwig, online music consultant)."

Follow the link in the title for the full report.

For more (I'm going to scoop myself here), I just sent in my WOMEX report to Dmitri, and I'll post it here as well.

> 1st Favorite WOMEX artist discovery:
[Hmmm. I'm not sure I love the work "discovery" (hints of colonialism,
imperialism and all the rest). However, this WOMEX was a great
opportunity to see a bunch of artists live that I have been hearing
about, or listening to for a long time. Mamani Keita & Nicolas Repac,
Seun Kuti, Balkan Beat Box, 3canal, etc. OK, off the soapbox, onto the
questions at hand. . .]
1. Mayra Andrade - http://www.mayra-andrade.com/pt/accueil.php
> 5-10 words about why you liked this artist:
What's not to like? Beautiful voice, nice variety in her set. Plus
Cape Verdean Creole is so expressive, even though I don't understand a
word, I think I understand perfectly . . .

>
>
> 2nd Favorite WOMEX artist discovery:
Bajofondo Tangoclub - http://www.bajofondotangoclub.com/bftc.html
> 5-10 words about why you liked this artist:
Great stage show, lots of remixes (recorded, not live). However, they
have an awful flash website.
>
>
> 3rd Favorite WOMEX artist discovery:
La Shica - http://www.lashica.net/home.html
> 5-10 words about why you liked this artist:
This one is my wife's favorite. She loved the dancing, the whole stage
schtick, and the way flamenco was brought into a new element.
>
> New idea: T-shirts
> Who did you hear it from:
StrikeConcert.com reminded me of it when they gave me the MarceloD2 Futbol Jersey
> How will you use it:
Not sure, but maybe next year I'll have a box of T-Shirts to pass out, since no one at WOMEX seems to have gotten to the massive schwag giveaway levels seen at SXSW and other conferences state-side, and the first one in wins. Can you say "Free Advertising"?
>
> Describe WOMEX 2007 in 1-3 words:
>
> New company you discovered: Mine (seriously, my business cards got to me shortly before I left)
> Why you were glad to find out about them: That there is a huge need for me (and many many other) to get busy helping people understand and actually capitalize on the digital tools, technologies and opportunities available to them.
>
> New service you discovered that you want to use:
Well, I didn't discover them _at_ WOMEX, but in service of one of my clients, I am starting to understand the full power of iLike.com
> What is cool about them:
You can control (and share control of) your roster of artists/clients on a variety of social networks. In non-tech speak, what I mean is that I can make one change for an artist (add a song, update a link, add a picture, etc), and have it appear on Facebook, GarageBand, and more. This service is the future of a variety of open-source applications that will allow all of us to play with those niches I talked about, once they fully develop.
>
> One thing you will do differently as a result of WOMEX 2007:
Bring my own food snacks to the day time stuff. Must avoid a repeat of
tequila shots on an empty stomach.

>
> One thing you are especially proud of from WOMEX 2007:
Having a good time, getting some work done, and still making time for
my newly married wife! I think she'd be open to coming back (thanks
Sevilla)!!

>
> How would you like to be credited for this article?
> Name: Erich Ludwig
> Company: Erich Ludwig Creative Consultancy
> Position: Instigator
>