Although not heavily advertised, this week is Internet Week in New York City. From June 3 through June 10 there are programs, panels and parties celebrating New York's thriving Internet industry, all for free. This morning I went to a program very much in my area of interest, Time Warner Conversations on the Circle: Entertainment Culture panel.

These were the speakers:

• Scott Donaton, Publisher, Entertainment Weekly, Moderator
• Brett Bouttier, SVP, Digital, Warner Bros. Television Group
• Mark Golin, Editor, PEOPLE.com
• Gillian Sheldon, Supervising Producer, TMZ.com
• Charlie Walk, President, Epic Records

The discussion was basically about the rapidly changing world of entertainment and media. Consumers have more now entertainment than any other time in our history but the ways they are receiving it keep changing.

Charlie Walk of Epic Records had a great deal to say because the music industry has already gone through such vast changes. The changes he has seen are:

• Because of the Internet, any song can break overnight
• We used to get our music from gatekeepers, radio DJs and MTV. Now we program our own music on our computers and iPods. There are no gatekeepers.
• Songs and artists don't get as much of a chance anymore because there are no gatekeepers. Billy Joel, U2 and R.E.M. wouldn't have made it today because they didn't become hits until their 3rd or 4th albums.
• Some artists want their music to only be sold as full albums but iTunes insists on selling songs. The artist would then have to not put their music on iTunes at all which would mean not selling on the number one music selling site.
• The younger generation thinks that music is free

Changes that the others discussed were:

• When entertainment news hits it used to mean getting it ready for the next days news show, then for a story on the Internet, now that isn't fast enough. People want it sent to them on mobile devices. However, what are the best ways to monetize these new ways of sending news?
• Celebrity reporting - along with speed, the readers want truth. Mark Golin of People.com said that even if somebody reads gossip on another site, they will go to People to validate it because of the trust built in. Brands matter.

And then there was one question from an IT consultant that I found very interesting. Most of the changes coming to television and music and all forms of new media involve understanding new forms of technology. This can be difficult for older people not used to new technology and change. Then he asked the panel how he thought the companies were going to address this issue. Nobody said anything right away and then a woman in the audience, I'm guessing in her late 50s, said "they just figure we'll be dead soon so they won't have to deal with it". Besides getting a huge laugh, it stopped the panel from even trying to answer the question.

However this issue is something that does need to be dealt with. In a small way, I am trying to do this on this blog by recommending websites like Hulu, where you can watch TV for free on the Internet and sites like Pandora and FoxyTunes which are great sites for music online. Please let me know if there are any other types of new media you would like me to write about.

See: Internet Week New York 2009 Celebration

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