The buzz rang across the world. The word was finally out, “Whitney Houston was dead.” On February 12, 2012, Whitney died at the age of 48 years old. It was hard to believe she was gone.
Through the public eyes, the six-time Grammy winner was a beacon of God given talent. Whitney sold more than 170 million albums and singles over her career and received millions from her movies.
Sadly, many experts argue that Whitney will be worth more dead than alive. Forbes writer Zack O’Malley Greenburg said Houston could be looking at as much as $10 million this year in digital sales. Many people attempt to company Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston due to their stardom and international acclaim. Yet, their financial firepower was not the same.
Michael was a musical genius who created lasting content. He sold over 8 million albums in the United States within six months of his death and over 20 million worldwide. On the contrary, Whitney received a much smaller share with artist royalties from her albums.
For example, Whitney’s music has sold over 1 million albums and singles since her death. Additionally, her catalog sales surged with nearly 900,000 individual tracks sold. One of Whitney’s most celebrated songs, “I Will Always Love You,” has also heated up the record charts since her death.
Yet, Dolly Parton, who wrote this song, will receive the greatest benefit from the publishing revenues from the radio play and licensing to commercials and films.
In both situations, the major difference is that Michael wrote many of his songs and obtained publishing royalties as a writer. Therefore, Whitney’s estate won’t be able to soar like other entertainment moguls like Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.
Consequently, good content has lasting value. This content is called intellectual property. It refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. This content is managed with legal documents such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
Henrik Vejlgaard, author of Anatomy of a Trend, argues the power of creators to set trends. He explains, “The prime movers in any trend process will often go by different names, for instance, inventors, innovators, pioneers, or entrepreneurs. They create new products or invent new styles or begin doing something in a completely new way.” Therefore, intellectual fire power can pay more over time.
State your experience with content creation or intellectual firepower. What do you think about the future of content creation in the future?
© 2012 by Daryl D. Green
Nu Leadership Revolution Blog 
Content creation is a very difficult thing to accomplish. If anyone could do it, we all would. Content creation is also called intellectual property. The US government defines intellectual property as imagination made real. It is the ownership of dream, an idea, an improvement, an emotion that we can touch, see, hear, and feel. It is an asset just like your home, your car, or your bank account (USPTO, 2006). I am currently trying to create intellectual property with my business by creating logos, websites, and brand building. This is proving to be very difficult and time consuming. Just like the blog states, intellectual property is worth more when you are the one who originates the ideas.
References:
USPTO. (2006, August 21). National inventors hall of fame and museum. Retrieved from http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/opa/museum/1intell.htm
Chris,
Excellent! Yet, we are all content creators. You are doing it now.
Yet, there is a special talented person who can turn it into a profitable venture.
We need more!
Professor Green
Intellectual property deserves the same rights as one would expect for their property. In today’s age keeping IP protected proves to be extremely difficult. The future of IP will find itself facing even tougher challenges than IP does today. Due to technology and Internet, IP will fight new challenges and obstacles that are not even apparent today. Just a recent challenge for IP is file sharing of music. Example, the teenage creator of file-swapping sensation Napster appeared on the cover of Time magazine as the mass media took notice of an explosion of interest in digital downloads, CD burning, and widespread peer-to-peer file sharing among the general public. But the mass movement to share songs and other digital content online was met with a firestorm of criticism from copyright and patent holders, who struck back with a vengeance, filing lawsuits and pursuing legislative and regulatory remedies for what they regarded as intellectual property piracy on a scale never before envisioned (Theirer, Crews, 2009). Future IP protection will face the same challenges and many unforeseen challenges that aren’t relevant today.
Reference:
Theirer, A., & Crews, W. (n.d.). Copy fights: The future of intellectual property in the information age. Retrieved from http://lfb.org/shop/law/copy-fights-the-future-of-intellectual-property-in-the-information-age/
Young people today are all about creating their own future, and taking control of it. With your example of Whitney Houston not creating her own music, I want to point out that today’s artists are more and more creative. It has become easier to be creative as well. When Houston became a star, you had to be able to play an instrument to create a song. These days’ young artists sit behind their computer to create music. This is the same for creating logos or art, kids can sit behind their computer and create amazing images, edit photo’s and etc. Putting that a side, it may be easy to create something but it remains hard to create a trend. When you are creating something you could never predict if it will become a trend. These day it is all about having a big idea, according to Ben McKean an entrepreneur you need four things when you meet with investors: “Your bio (VCs fund people as well as businesses), momentum (you must show growth), money (you should have cash in the bank), and market (you need to have a Big Idea)” (McKean, 2011). I have experienced myself that finding this trend is not something easy. My roommate and me can sit all night trying to think of a business we could start. But so far no luck yet.
source:
McKean, B. (2011, December 1). Buisinessinsider.com. Retrieved February 24, 2012, from Don’t Get Fooled Into Thinking You’ll Be The Next Zuckerberg : http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-12-01/news/30462025_1_startups-mark-zuckerberg-entrepreneurship#ixzz1nS2v9kQH
Content creation is the future. As Professor Green stated, that is what we are doing at this very moment when we post our thoughts and opinions into the world via the World Wide Web. The Internet has been transformed by a revolution known as Web 2.0, in that we as consumers no longer simply viewers of content (simply viewing web pages), but are now creators with the ability to blog and utilize social networks in order to produce articles, videos, apps, and other forms of media for entertainment and useful value. Creating and effectively marketing intellectual property can be a very valuable and lucrative opportunity, especially for entrepreneurs, because it takes away the financial barrier of building a tangible product. In most cases, all you need is a computer, Internet connection, and some basic know-how about the Web, and good writing abilities. Many experts have become able to market themselves as subject matter experts through the use of twitter and blogging. There is sustainability in this phenomenon, because these postings will last several years after our tenure in this class (unless the blog is discontinued).
Reference:
Rix, Louis. (2012, January 23). 5 Places to Find Inspiring Content Ideas. Retrieved February 25, 2012 from http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/01/5-inspiring-content-ideas/
Content creation is the future, and it is not as difficult as many may think. As Professor Green stated previously, we are doing that very thing right now. The evolution of the Internet into what is now known as Web 2.0, has removed many of the barriers of creating a tangible product or brick-and-mortar business and marketing it for sale. This is great for entrepreneurs. Gone are the days where consumers simply browsed the Internet to read and download information. We now have the power to establish ourselves as subject matter experts through the use of forums such as this, blogs, and social media networks. Some examples of the success of this phenomenon include YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Even in politics, the tide was able to be shifted in the last US Election because of the power of individuals who were able to mobilize and elect the current president despite the views seen on popular television media. The advent of tools such as Google make it very easy to find topics of interest to write about, and connect with others that might be interested in that topic. Sustainability comes into play in that these posts, or digital footprints, will remain on the Web indefinitely.
Reference:
Rix, Louis. (2012, January 23). Retrieved from
http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/01/5-inspiring-content-ideas/
Content creation is the future, and it is not as difficult as many may think. As Professor Green stated previously, we are doing that very thing right now. The evolution of the Internet into what is now known as Web 2.0, has removed many of the barriers of creating a tangible product or brick-and-mortar business and marketing it for sale. This is great for entrepreneurs. Gone are the days where consumers simply browsed the Internet to read and download information. We now have the power to establish ourselves as subject matter experts through the use of forums such as this, blogs, and social media networks. Some examples of the success of this phenomenon include YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Even in politics, the tide was able to be shifted in the last US Election because of the power of individuals who were able to mobilize and elect the current president despite the views seen on popular television media. The advent of tools such as Google make it very easy to find topics of interest to write about, and connect with others that might be interested in that topic. Sustainability comes into play in that these posts, or digital footprints, will remain on the Web indefinitely.
Reference:
Rix, Louis. (2012, January 23). Retrieved from
http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/01/5-inspiring-content-ideas/
Graphic design is defined as the art or profession of visual communication that combines images, words, and ideas to convey information to an audience, especially to produce a specific effect (Dictionary.com, 2012). Technology today has made content creation very attainable for everyone one in society. Before technology one must have had a big break, talent, or know someone. Today, all you need is the software and the ability to use social media and you can be a star from content creation. With the American society changing to become the knowledge worker, graphic design and content creation will take off because these segments are hand in hand.
Reference:
Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Graphic Design
In my profession, (high school business teacher) I have to be creative every day. When I create lesson, they need to be fun, exciting, and yet fulfill the need to teach young adult about how the business world works in today’s society. I have to use my imagination and develop lessons that are truly thinking “outside of the box.” The lessons are unique in content and I feel they are my intellectual property. I think of the lessons, I write them, create the forms needed to complete the lesson and they are used in other classrooms by other teachers. However, I never reap any of the financial benefits. It is at this transition point I think the media makes a difference. Famous singers, writers, and actors get credit for contents and intellectual property because they utilize the media to spread the word about their achievements. I could do the same with the internet on teaching cites and I would be a famous writer of lesson plans.
You may not reap financial benefits now or even close to now. However, I believe that word of mouth is also a powerful advocate of intellectual firepower. This may seem like a strange comparison, but I bet that if students at your school were asked what teacher to take for business, it sounds like most would choose you.
When you are able to create an environment for your clients (in this case, it happens to be students) where you have a competitive advantage (your creativity an lesson plans), you are setting yourself up for success down the road. Other teachers and faculty members are aware of who their students like or dislike. I believe that although educators unfortunately are not financially rewarded like celebrities are, your reputation speaks volumes.
Best wishes, and keep up the good work!
In addition to the immediate and future revenues that intellectual firepower can provide an individual or an organization, there are other benefits as well. Having some form of protection for intellectual property, such as a patent, trademark, or copyright creates a type of barrier to entry for competitors. According to Thomas and Maurice’s Managerial Economics, “The existence of a barrier to entry allows a [firm with monopoly power] to raise its price without concern that economic profit will attract new firms.” In other words, a firm with more barriers to entry has a sustainable competitive advantage because it has some type of attribute that is difficult to duplicate. This will ultimately result in higher revenues for the organization because it can charge a higher price and sell more of its product or service in comparison to competitors.
Reference:
Thomas, C. & Maurice, C. (2011). Managerial economics. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
One of the great inventors of our time is Ray Kurzweil. He is most famously known as the inventor of the flatbed scanner, founder of the a text-to-speech synthesizer, creator of a first reading machine for the blind, and holds numerous patents in the world of artificial intelligence. As a college student at MIT he started a company that used a computer to crunch numbers and match high school students with the best college choice; he sold it for $100,000 plus royalties. Likewise, when Stevie Wonder complained about the limitations of electronic keyboards, Kurzweil used pattern-recognition science to invent the first keyboard that could realistically reproduce the sound of pianos and other orchestra instruments. By inventing technologies and having the business acumen to not only patent his inventions, but to also reap the benefits from royalties, Ray Kurzweil has solidified his financial security for generations to come. In 2002, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Likewise, he has received the National Medal of Technology, the MIT- Lemelson Prize, and eighteen honorary doctorates and honors from three U.S. Presidents.
O’Keefe, Brian (May 2, 2007). The Smartest (or the Nuttiest) Futurist on Earth. Fortune Magazine. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/14/100008848/