Former Virgin Product Manager, Warners Catalogue Manager To Keynote Future Of Album Debate

Next MusicTank:  Never Mind The Boxset: The Album Post-iTunesMay 20th 2010 The Basement, PRS for Music, W1•    Strategic Consultant Keith Jopling Finalises Panel, Delegates include HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo•    CD Prices Dip Below £8 For First TimeThe University of Westminster’s music business network MusicTank has confirmed industry veteran Stuart Batsford to keynote its forthcoming think tank on the future of the album.Drawing on both his 14 years in retail (culminating as Rock & Pop product manager for the Virgin Our Price group of over 300 stores) and his later role as Catalogue Manager at Warners, Stuart’s take on how to revive this flagging cornerstone of the recordings business could not come at a more opportune time.  BPI figures released today reveal the average price of a CD has fallen below £8 for the first time, a 28% decrease in the past 10 years.Following Stuart’s keynote, Chairman Keith Harris will turn to strategy consultant Keith Jopling for his thoughts on how many non-music products have successfully reinvented themselves.HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo will help represent the views of major music retailers, many of whom have been clamouring for years about the need for more product innovation.Sony Music's Mark Uttley and Emma Pike will kick off proceedings by presenting findings of the Future Business Research Group’s first ever industry-wide segmentation of the British music buying public.Other panelists include Warp Records’ Steven Hill, MusicDNA’s Dagfinn Bach Pure Groove’s Simon Singleton, Paul Conroy, Universal’s Catalogue and Box Set Consultant and Union Square’s Steve Bunyan in what is shaping up to be one of MusicTank’s most timely and important debates to date.---Event DetailsDate: 20th MayTime: 18:30 to 21:00Venue: The Basement, PRS for Music, Copyright House29-33 Berners Street, London, W1T 3ABTravel: Nearest Tube - Goodge St (Northern Line)PRS for Music is at Mortimer St end of Berners St.Cost: Standard – £35 / trade body members – £30 / members – £25Tickets must be purchased in advance from www.musictank.co.uk FINAL LINE UPPresentation: Emma Pike VP Communications & Artist Relations, Sony Music Entertainment Ltd.Mark Uttley Head of Insight, Sony Music Entertainment Ltd.Keynote: Stuart Batsford Former Product Manager and Catalogue Manager atVirgin and WarnersPanel:    Keith Jopling Strategy and Business Development ConsultantPaul Conroy Music Consultant, Adventures in MusicDagfinn Bach President, Bach Technology (MusicDNA)Steve Bunyan Director Of Marketing, Union Square MusicSteven Hill Head of Marketing and New Projects, Warp RecordsSimon Singleton Pure GrooveAbout the Future Business Research GroupThe Future Business Research Group is a coalition of individuals from across the music business who have come together under the umbrella of UK Music, to conduct an in-depth study into British music fans at the household level – their current habits, their frustrations and worries and their hopes and desires for the future.About Stuart BatsfordStuart Batsford has over fourteen years experience in music retail, rising to become product manager at Virgin Our Price, responsible for Rock and Pop purchasing for over 300 stores for five years.The following five saw him join Warners as Catalogue Manager, initially in the UK progressing to the world ex-US.Stuart has spent the last six years consulting a number of record companies and leading digital retailers, and produced the 2008 Grammy nominated Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra Records box set.Full Event CopyWhilst singles sales have enjoyed a relative boom in recent years, album sales - the bedrock of the recordings business - continue to head south faster than a flock of migrating geese.  Rubbing salt in the wound is the fact that not only are album sales dropping but the average price has dropped to around £8, a double blow which many labels are struggling to come back from.So where does that leave the album in 2010, in an age of digital pick'n'mix how can we convince the public to shell out for a product they've come to expect is in most cases just a few singles padded out with filler.  Many would argue that the rise of iTunes and its ilk has heralded the death of the format once and for all and despite the protestations of the likes of Pink Floyd, modern music consumers just aren't interested in digesting an entire opus in one setting.Whilst the likes of Radiohead and Ash have sworn off the format, embracing the public's undimmed appetite for purchasing single tracks as and when they please, just as many would argue that, though its pulse is faint the album's condition isn't terminal just yet.Leaving aside the actual quality of the music itself, there have been several recent attempts to revitalise the album format with some notable successes.  Just last week Warp Records announced that they would be joining the short but distinguished ranks of labels who are giving away MP3s or CDs with vinyl editions, a policy that stands to shore up their core support.Beyond that sensible policy, many are looking at ways of making the album more desirable. iTunes' LP format, though slow to catch on, has been seized upon by many as a possible solution for the format's woes who would echo the recent praise heaped upon it by Rhino's SVP of global sales and digital David Dorn.This bundling of extra content, lyrics, cover art and the like, is also the driving force behind the recently announced MusicDNA file.  A potential rival to LP, MusicDNA was launched at Midem to much fanfare and its combination of additional rich media and intelligent metadata has excited many within the industry looking for a more desirable replacement for the MP3.The unlimited shelf space of the digital world has enabled innovation in the physical worlds  - with labels increasingly keeping their back catalogue alive with re-mastered editions, anniversary editions, special bonus discs complete with studio outtakes and demo versions.Taking things to the extreme, the Vinyl Factory has proven that people are not just willing to pay for music but pay a premium price when they're getting something special.  Their deluxe editions of albums by the likes of Hot Chip, The XX, Pet Shop Boys and Massive Attack come lavishly packaged with art prints, heavyweight vinyl, bonus discs and in the case of the Monkey, box set hardback books.Needless to say these limited editions come at a price (£255 for the Monkey Box set) but one that their target market appears willing to pay and, jumping on the bandwagon, this year's Record Store Day will see a whole host of acts releasing special editions to catch the record buying public's imagination.  Indeed many DIY artists have figured out that any loss of revenue from sales volume can be countered by cutting out the middlemen completely and engaging their fans directly through the Internet.At the next MusicTank we'll be looking at just what the recordings industry can do to revive the album's flagging condition.  From the sensible to the extreme we'll hear from those who believe that technology, design, and marketing can provide a shot in the arm to the format that gave us 'Dark Side of the Moon', 'Nevermind', 'OK Computer' and 'Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em', as well as hear from those who have turned their back on the album altogether.-ends-ABOUT MUSICTANKMusicTank is the UK's music business network, an initiative of the University of Westminster, set up with the support of 14 UK music industry organisations.MusicTank aims to foster new collaborations and circulate innovative ideas, best practice and cutting-edge strategies to increase innovation and productivity across the business.  Regular think tanks bring hot topics into sharp focus and help pinpoint the opportunities created by disruptive technologies.MusicTank conferences deal with everything from record production to copyright review while occasional social evenings blend the entertaining recollections of music business virtuosos with the opportunity to develop valuable industry contacts.MusicTank aims to override traditional partitions by providing improved access to expert knowledge via musictank.co.uk, the leading music business web-site, offering free industry discussion on new business techniques alongside useful reports and comments from leading lights.www.musictank.co.uk