TED.com

If you have not checked out TED.com you should because it is a great website. TED allows people to share their thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc whit the entire world through videos. These videos create what is called “Crowd Accelerated Innovation.” Crowd Accelerated Innovation is a great tool in driving the advancement of any idea or concept. The idea behind it is that the more knowledge and exposure someone has to a idea, the more people can expand on that idea and make it better.

While looking at this site I came across a video that was entitled “Do What You Love (no excuses).” This video really caught my attention because we often see people working a job simply for a paycheck and they have no passion for it. Gary Vaynerchuk tells us his life story in a very interesting way. He tells us how he walked away from millions of dollars to do something that he loves to do. Although, he tells a very interesting story and the video is very entertaining, the most important thing to take away from this video is his message. His message is, instead of finding a job that you hate to make money, find a way to make something you love doing to make money. Watching his video makes me think of a old saying “if you are good at something don’t do it for free.” That is a loaded statement which says that people will pay for quality, so if you have a passion for something, anything, perfect your craft and the money will come. That is the same thing that Gary states in his video.

My company, Curtis Digital Media, can benefit from a video of this nature. Although Gary Vaynerchuk is a good speaker, he is very relatable and he gives a positive message to other. When relaying this message he seems as like a friend, or a peer. This gives off the impression that anyone can do it. Which Curtis Digital Media we do the exact same thing with our projects. Not only will all of our projects be fun and entertaining, they will also pack a message as Gary Vaynerchuk did in his video.

This video is also great because it is a good confidence builder. He states that it wont be easy, but if you have “Customers, Light, and Desire,” you will be successful. He explains that you need to get rid of doubts, which is easier said than done, but it has to be done so you can give your 100%. Check out Gary’s Video (http://www.ted.com/talks/gary_vaynerchuk_do_what_you_love_no_excuses.html).

RIAA

The Recording Institute Association of America (RIAA) is a professional organization that works with artist and record labels in the music industry. RIAA is a huge organization, they account for the creation, manufacture, and/or distribution of about 85% of all music sold in the United States. The RIAA does research on the shipment and purchasing of music, they also research the current industry trends. With this research the RIAA has develop a formula for calculating sales and labeling them. Most albums and/or artist are either rated gold, platinum, or diamond based on the number of units sold. This has became the industry standard in the United States. The RIAA also gathers information in a by watermarking, and the digital data exchange. Along with the different certifications that the RIAA gives on albums, they also try to control music by censorship. They put labels on albums that warns parents about explicit content.

The RIAA also “works to protect the intellectual property and the First Amendment rights of artist, record labels, researchers,.......” This is a big deal now of days. There is a lot of piracy(stealing music) going on and the music industry is not the power house that it used to be (it is definitely still a power house). The RIAA tries to control this by working directly with the government to develop polices and procedures to deter people from stealing music. The RIAA also work with record labels on copy writes and licensing. 

The RIAA has been a good for the music industry. They help with regulation and allow for advancement. The RIAA gathers information that is beneficial for the consumer as well as t people working in the industry. This organization is a big catalyst for developing industry standards and working with them can help any record label go from good to great.