This is a MusicTank event

As part of the journey that has taken us from wax cylinder, to vinyl, cassette, CD and most recently MP3, this session will consider likely format successors to current portable music devices - the most successful being the iPod.

Whilst undoubtedly a technical revolution in distribution, current limitations of the medium and its devices are such that market penetration on a scale which ousts the CD from its position as format of choice is unlikely in the immediate future.

Opinion has taken hold that the next generation of players will not be developed by consumer electronics manufacturers or the music industry, but by telephone wireless networks. Touted as “a record store in your pocket”, wireless devices are set to launch later this year.

The implications are as diverse as they are far reaching - will musicians eventually be signing deals with mobile manufacturers rather than labels, and will David Kusek's vision of a future in which the consumption of music will be like water - ubiquitous and free flowing - move a step closer?

This session will ask whether tomorrow's technology will better satisfy and accommodate changing consumer demand and consider likely new business models for those parties occupying the digital space.

Speakers:

Keynote - Charles Arthur, columnist (The Independent & Netimperative)
Read: Mobiles as iPod-killer? Think 99 Problems

Panel - Dr Michael Bull, Univ of Sussex Media & Film Studies dept, Steve Mayall, Mobile & Wireless Analyst at MusicAlly, and Barney Wragg, Senior Vice President of Universal eLabs.

others TBC

Chair - Keith Harris MusicTank Chairman / Keith Harris Music Price: £20 / £15 trade body members
(AIM, BACS, BPI, MMF, MPA, MU, MCPS-PRS Alliance)
Time: 18.30 - 21.00. Complimentary drink on arrival.

Venue: Bertorelli Restaurant & Bar First floor private dining room.
Location: 11-13, Frith Street, Soho, London, W1D 4RB

Booking & Details:
To book & for more details visit:
http://www.musictank.co.uk/events_ipod.htm