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I have to try to publicize the very disturbing move by the Recording Industry Association of America and DiMA, the Digital Media Association, to try to slash the royalties paid to songwriters and publishers for the digital sale and performance of their music. Being a songwriter this subject is very important to me.

Historically one of the principal ways songwriters have made money is on the sale of physical recordings like records, tapes and CD’s. But with sales of physical copies of music on the decline and sales of digital copies of music on the increase the one thing that songwriters could count on was their 9.1 cents per unit sold, regardless of if it was digital or physical. Well, not anymore. Yesterday the Copyright Royalty Board began hearings to change this royalty rate to 5 cents per unit sold or less. And even worse, they are proposing to nearly eliminate the mechanical royalty paid to writers for the digital streaming of music, which I believe will be the future of digital music. One justification for the move is that record labels are getting hit hardest by the decline in physical CD sales while music publishers are continuing to make plenty of money.

I can understand this point somewhat if I put myself in some kind of “playground” mentality, but frankly, I don’t have much sympathy for anyone profiting off of music creation except for songwriters and artists. The whole industry could disappear for all I care as long as the art and the artists remained. What bothers me is that the RIAA and the DiMA are proposing something that will GREATLY compromise a songwriters ability to make a living, all because they don’t think it’s “fair” that they’re sitting aboard a sinking ship. Well, I’m sorry that “profiteering” in music isn’t working out for you guys as of late. Maybe since we’re on the “playground” here anyway, the RIAA and DiMA should have a time out in the corner and think about why it is they screwed up their chance to remain viable in the digital age.

Please support the efforts of the National Music Publisher’s Association. While I don’t really care about “publisher’s rights”, they are working on the side of songwriters, and since they have continued to do just fine financially they are really the only hope for protecting songwriter’s rights as well. Lord knows a bunch of broke songwriters aren’t going to be able to stand up to the RIAA.

Real Life,

Real Time,

Real People,

www.Next2Friends.com

Hans Erik
Content Marketing Director
Hans AT Next2Friends DOT com

YouTube has announced that it will be offering nearly all it’s videos for viewing on 3G “smart” phones. They are also releasing an application that allows users to upload videos from their handsets. Ah, the slumbering giant wakes! With the line between the Internet and various mobile technologies melting away, YouTube apparently is trying to cast in it’s lot with the new wave of mobile services. I can’t help but feel that this move is a little too little, a little too late.

Ok, YouTube occupies the enviable position as THE goto place for web video, and opening up access to their millions of videos to 100 million (and growing) mobile users is a logical next step, but in light of what some smaller, adroit companies are doing, I don’t think this incremental move will mean much. And frankly, the mobile technology landscape is already leaps and bounds beyond simple uploading of a video from your handset. The only breakthrough here is that you can finally do it to your YouTube profile.

Now, I apologize for the unabashed company plug, but Next2Friends allows you to shoot and upload and broadcast video from a mobile device ALL AT THE SAME TIME! We’re talking a level of real-time dynamicism that far out paces the likes of YouTube’s static new service. And you will soon be able to not only shoot and store your videos to your profile, but edit your videos online as well.

But, perhaps I should be glad to see all of our thinking at Next2Friends slowly vindicated by the industry. I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery or something like that. I just can’t help but think that despite their efforts to be relevant in the new tech landscape, their model is outdated. But I guess we’ll just stay quiet on that one, we wouldn’t want to wake the giant!

Real Life,

Real Time,

Real People,

www.Next2Friends.com

Hans Erik
Content Marketing Director
Hans AT Next2Friends.com

Next2Friends has announced that it will be holding a contest in which it will be giving away an iPod Touch to the user with the most Next2Friends contacts by February 14th, 2008.

Next2Friends users connect with one another over the new Next2Friends multi-faceted communications platform that enables a level of real-time interaction surpassing all other social networks available today. Whether it’s through live video streaming from any capable mobile device or webcam, or using intelligent profile matching based on real-time proximity, Next2Friends bridges the “virtual world” with the “real world” like none other.

Any Next2Friend user with an active profile is eligible to win. The total number of friends and contacts of all users will be tabulated at 8:00pm GMT, February 14th, 2008 and the winner will be awarded a prize of the iPod Touch. If you don’t already have a Next2Friends account sign up for a free account at www.Next2Friends.com. Good luck and may the most connected win!

Real Life,

Real Time,

Real People,

www.Next2Friends.com

Hans Erik
Content Marketing Director
Hans@Next2Friends.com

Part II of some fun scenarios where Next2Friends could be useful. Enjoy!

NEXT2FRIENDS TAGGING

1) SWF, ISO a man with some serious money! With Next2Friends all it takes is a stroll down Wall Street!

2) Say you’re attending a conference on Physics. You just had a dream that E.T. explained the nature of Dark matter. Next2Friends can tell you who wants to know!

3) You just started a band and are looking for people who like the kind of music you make. Next2Friends can tell you who you should promote to.

4) If you go see a band like yours perform live, you could instantly collect hundreds of potential fans with Next2Friends.

5) SWM, NS, ISO an angel. Must be kind, love dogs, Beethoven, but still be able to talk her way out of heaven. Next2Friends will help you find whatever you’re looking for by matching your profile to the very people that you pass every day! If they exists, Next2Friends will deliver them practically to your door!

ASK A FRIEND

1) You’re out shopping and you see the cutest shirt but you’re wondering if it makes you look fat, so you try it on, stand in front of a mirror and snap a photo to get some instant advice.

2) You’re at a club and are really drunk, in fact your beer goggles are as thick as amber so you snap a photo of the guy/girl you’ve been dancing with all night to get some “sober” advice. Hot or not?

Real Time,

Real Life,

Real People,

www.Next2Friends.com

Hans Erik
Content Marketing Director
Hans@Next2Friends.com

So Next2Friends has fully launched it’s public Beta and I thought it would be fun to come up with some “real world” ways to use the service.

I’ve tackled the Live Video Streaming first which enables users to stream live video from any capable mobile device to any number of end users. Just think, no one ever has to show up to a “sausage party” anymore! Read on:

1. You’re at your older cousin’s wedding, bored out of your mind when suddenly your uncle drops to the floor and starts doing the worm! Man, you never knew he had joints there!

2. Same wedding and suddenly grandpa starts making his dentures dance! You have got to see this!

3. You’re out skating with your friends and find the perfect rail. No one has a camera on them so you pull out your phone with Next2Friends on it. Check out this nose grind!

4. You get a message from a friend that he’s arrived at the party and it’s “mad hot”. The last time he said that there were 50 guys and only 2 married women and a lesbian there. Show me what we’re talking about dude!

5. Some of your friends got tickets to see your favorite band! The show is on a Wednesday night and your parents won’t let you see bands on a school night. With Next2Friends your friends can broadcast the show to you from all of their phones! Something tells me that you’ve got some very important “homework” to do on your computer at 8pm!

6. Parent to child: “So you’re spending the night at Brandi’s house? Show me here mom!” Busted!

7. Real Estate agent in London takes a client in the U.S. on a virtual tour of a home with her cell phone complete with selling points

8. A Grandma gets to witness her grandson, who lives in Connecticut, hit his first home-run as it happens from Florida.

Real Life,

Real Time,

Real People,

www.Next2Friends.com

Hans Erik
Content Marketing Director
Hans@Next2Friends.com

With the recent full Beta public release of Next2Friends, people are starting to take notice of the revolutionary new Social Networking and Mobile-driven communications platform. Sky News has written a feature on Next2Friends in it’s Technology section. You can read it here:

Next2Friends Feature on Sky News

A great introduction to all that Next2Friends has to offer!

Next2Friends allows people to add a profile into a phone and then be notified about people of similar interests. The free phone software already has 12,500 registered users signed up and is being given a beta launch. It can scan up to nine mobiles at any moment and uses bluetooth to exchange profiles with other Next2Friends users who match the required settings. Next2Friends’ founders say it will be used in clubs, where people can set details like “single and interested in music” and find out more about the people they have met. It is being seen as a significant threat to dominant social networking operators such as Facebook.

SKY NEWS LINK 

At this time tomorrow something really cool is happening. Next2Friends is launching its public BETA. Some really great services for your mobile device and the Next2Friends site will be online. We are looking for feedback from as many of you as possible. Please do check it out!

A little about Next2Friends:

NEXT2FRIENDS - The Real World, Virtually.

Next2Friends is a new Communications Platform and Mobile based Social Networking experience that interacts with any Mobile Device (like a cell phone) that allow you to do the following:

Next2Friends Tagging:

Next2Friends Intelligent Proximity Matching assists you in the otherwise tedious task of network building by bridging the “virtual world” with the “real world”. You can use it to meet new people like you, make new business contacts or even to date. Here’s how it works: You set up a Next2Friends profile detailing all your likes, dislikes, quirks and everything that makes you who you are. Then, as you move about in the real world, if you have the Next2Friends software loaded onto your Bluetooth enabled mobile device, Next2Friends will automatically collect and match your data to other Next2Friends users you came into close proximity with. When you next sign into your account you’ll receive notification of all the people you passed throughout the day who share your likes, dislikes, and yes, even your quirks. The rest is up to you! After a while you might find yourself wondering, “are you Next2Friends?” Worried that this could become a way for people to track you throughout your day? Fear not! Next2Friends’ patent pending technology insures both anonymity and privacy via a highly secure implementation methodology and exclusive encryption algorithms so you will only be seen if and when you want to be seen!

Ask-A-Friend:

Have you ever been out and about and just wanted the advice of a good friend? How about the advice of all your friends at once? Next2Friends has a dynamic new way to get instant feedback from all your friends. The service is called Ask-A-Friend. It works like this: Say you’re out shopping for shoes and you find 3 really great pairs of shoes but you’re not sure which ones go best with your jeans. With Ask-A-Friend you can snap photos of yourself wearing all three pairs and then create an instant opinion poll to send to all your friends for a vote. The results are then sent directly back to you. Ask-A-Friend gives you real time results when you need them the most; in the real world!

Live Streaming Video:

How many times have you missed an important family event, or wanted to share a special moment with close friends who couldn’t be with you at the time? With Next2friends Live Video Streaming, you can broadcast live events from any capable mobile device or webcam to your family and friends wherever they are in the world! They can watch the event in real-time with you, as it happens! And if multiple people are at the same event and broadcast on the same channel, any number of end users will be able to choose between the different camera angles being streamed to edit, download or even burn a DVD of the event. Next2Friends Live Video Streaming means no one ever has to miss that first home run again, or that all of us can be eye witnesses to life changing events anytime, from anywhere!

Online Video Editing:

Next2Friends Online Video editing is one of the only online Video Editing Suites available today! Edit videos in real time as they’ re streamed into the site or go back and make edits to and combine videos that have already been shot. Next2Friends gives you the first ever comprehensive set of online video editing tools to turn any event into a full blown video production!

Video Messaging:

Video Messaging is a way to put a personal touch to something we all do dozens of times a week: “leave a message at the beep”. With Next2Friends Video Messaging you can record a message and mail it to anyone to be viewed either on a computer or a cell phone! Be creative, have fun, just imagine what this will do to the game of phone tag! So thanks again for your Pre-Registration. We look forward to serving you and hope you enjoy all the ways that you will soon be able to truly be “Next2Friends”!!! Real life, Real time, Real people, Right Now!! Just wait until you see our roadmap!

And a few photos of some of the mobile device applications: