We all know what happened to music industry when illegal file sharing became the national sport; it crashed. People still, obviously, wanted to listen to music, but found a way to do it for free. The only problem with free and delicious lunches and free and quality chart pop hits that they don’t exist (the latter rarely exists even at a high, high price).  Were music fans being too greedy, or was music industry being too greedy?

I believe most people realise(d) that a good music scene doesn’t come without people paying for it. Just how much was the question. I don’t believe most big music bosses realise(d) that a good music scene doesn’t survive without fans. Should the bosses have looked in the mirror when illegal music started flowing? Maybe instead they could have identified problems with their own offerings. Rather than fighting with the fans surely it would have made more sense to work with them to find solutions.

It’s all going back a little bit already: paid subscription services, rising vinyl sales and the growing popularity of merch all show that music fans are willing to pay. They just resent the idea of dancing to the sound of record bosses’ whistles. And cases like Radiohead’s pay-what-you-want album or Kaiser Chiefs’ outsourced album prove that bands are more than willing to adapt, too.

And the fact is that there will always be a music industry. No matter how much the media, labels and genres have scattered and fans can find the newest stuff online, it’s still powered by the industry. If you are an aspiring garage band – or bedroom and laptop these days – you still need labels’ validation (see article). You need pr, you need money, you need production. You won’t get that cover on NME or slot in Jools Holland without the right contacts. Arctic Monkeys were found randomly on MySpace, true, but they only got properly successful when they got a label behind them.

So, the industry may have crumbled, but it’s looking to re-shape itself. There will always be money in it, just from whom does it come from and to whom does it go to that is the question. And piracy was the wake up call to start noticing the problem. Had it been noticed and dealt differently from the very beginning, a lot of pain and tears could have been avoided.

Brands, as Mr Hed said, take notice. If you have issues with piracy and a lot of spoof around you, it’s a good thing. It means you are loved. And just like marriages, love is not always easy. You wouldn’t hit a nagging wife in the face, would you? At least talk first.

By Maria Kivimaa, Planner.

Twitter’s decision is obviously good for their business. Or is it? Their whole business is based on freedom of expression, giving voice to the people. To people whose voice would otherwise not get heard (or listened to. Hi, Peaches G.). And now this idea is being cruelly axed. What does the brand stand for now? Why does it exist? It maybe growing on the outside, but it has lost something on the inside.

This personally reminds me of a case that happened some years ago in Finland: our newly selected female president (who, admittedly, looks like Conan O’Brien; he actually dedicated whole episodes to this issue) wore a head scarf while visiting Muslim countries.  Was she being wise or a coward? Yes, to be able to promote trade and maintain diplomatic relationships and have a good old chat with men in those countries women must do that. But is it a sign of them giving up their own values? Then again, they are on another territory so should they play by the local rules, no matter how wrong they seem? Who are we, Western wasters, to tell them their beliefs (for example on the dangers of free-flowing woman hair) are wrong and our values are right? Who are we to tell them that equality and human rights and freedom of speech are quite nice things? But if we don’t, who will? The free-thinkers in China won’t be tweeting about it, that’s for sure.

Grow some balls first, Twitter, and then your business.

(Oh, one more thing. As Boing Boing points out, there was also a nice little contribution of $300m made by a Saudi prince a few months ago. Well, coincidences do happen. Don’t they?)

By Maria Kivimaa, Planner.

Nokia most trusted phone brand of 2011 

Nokia has emerged as the most trusted smartphone brand of 2011 here in the UK. Every year YouGov publishes its BrandIndex league table, which shows which brands in the UK are held in the highest regard. BrandIndex measures how consumers perceive brands, by granting a score based on quality, value, customer satisfaction, corporate reputation, general impression, and likelihood to recommend the brand. The latest table has just been published, and Nokia has come top of its class.

Nokia to fix low battery life issue for Lumia 800 customers 

Nokia is rolling out a fix for the Lumia 800′s battery problem, and it should be arriving on all devices in the next two weeks. Since the Lumia 800 came out last year, many owners have complained that the Windows Phone wasn’t pulling its weight in the battery department.

Nokia & Microsoft – Big winners at CES 2012 

Nokia and Microsoft, who collaborated on the new Lumia smartphone, impressed journalists at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Nokia’s CEO explains plan for smartphone dominance 

Wired sat down with Nokia CEO Steven Elop at CES in Las Vegas for further insight into Nokia’s vision of a mobile future.

Nokia Lumia 710 – Hardware Review 

If you have any comments or suggestions then feel free to send them to vicky.w@inferno-group.com

Click on the image to read the article in full.

Nokia Lumia 900 – top ten tweets

The Nokia Lumia 900 announcement set Twitter ablaze with comment and praise for the powerhouse Windows Phone, launched exclusively with AT&T in the USA. Here are the top ten…

Nokia Lumia 900 unveiled – 10 thing you need to know

The gorgeous Nokia Lumia 900 is the latest Nokia Windows Phone to join the Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 710 in the new Nokia Lumia range. Unveiled at CES 2012, there has been a lot of talk as to why it may be the best Lumia yet.

Nokia Lumia 900 vs Nokia Lumia 800

Now that the Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone has been officially announced at CES 2012 in Las Vegas, we’ve been putting it side-by-side with its little brother, the Nokia Lumia 800, to see just what the differences are and to help you decide which of the high-end Lumia handsets is the one for you.

Nokia Lumia 710 Windows phone on sale in UK

The next great milestone will be the 710 going on sale in the UK next month.

Nokia Lumia takes flight with Jet Airways

The branding of a Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 aircraft with Nokia Lumia as part of the company’s ‘Amazing Everyday’ campaign is not only an interesting and innovative example of OOH advertising, but also an instance of unprecedented level of branding designed over the body of an aircraft.

If you have any comments or suggestions then feel free to send them to vicky.w@inferno-group.com

More tricks with live tiles on your Nokia Lumia 

Get the most out of your Lumia with some tricks that will make your experience even better…

Nokia 900 in line for massive marketing push ahead of US launch 

The companies behind the upcoming Nokia Lumia 900 (aka Nokia Ace) are pushing the new smartphone in a major advertising campaign – reportedly spending in the region of $100 million ahead of its State-side launch in March.

Top Nokia Lumia apps for getting things done 

Five great productivity apps from the Windows Phone Marketplace…

Windows phone as Facebook phone 

If you’re a big Facebook user, you’ll notice the nice integration within Windows Phone. It’s not even necessary to install any other app. After entering your account login at the settings menu, you’ll be able to update status, check-in, post to friends’ walls, check friends’ updates, share photos, view albums, and start a chat.

Symbian – 2011 in Review 

2011 has been an eventful year for Symbian. The maturation of Qt and the Anna and Belle releases greatly improved performance and usability, easily the biggest year on year improvement in the platform’s history. However, this was largely overshadowed by Nokia’s February 11th announcement and the start of Nokia’s switch to Windows Phone. Nonetheless, between numerous software releases and new hardware, such as the Nokia E6, X7, 701 and 603, there was still more than enough to keep us very busy. Read the main stories, month by month.

Symbian – Officially top mobile OS of 2011 

In a recently published report, StatCounter.com has released its findings regarding mobile phone market share for 2011 and the findings are clear; Symbian is the world’s most used phone OS of the past twelve months, with a huge lead over its three biggest rivals, iOS, Android and BlackBerry OS.

If you have any comments or suggestions then feel free to send them to vicky.w@inferno-group.com

Here’s (head of strategy) Bambos sitting in a seafood restaurant in Padstow preparing to tuck into the rather large ‘Fruits De Mer’ special.

Here’s (creative) Mike standing inside the jaw of the dead sperm whale on the beach at Old Hunstanton.

Here’s (producer) Rob AKA The Fat C DJing for 12 hours at Big Chill Bar on Brick Lane on New Years Day after only 2 hours sleep.

Here’s (producer) Sam. “My sister had a baby in September so I instantly became an uncle. Having spent some time with Edie Elizabeth over Christmas i’ve learnt she enjoys sleeping, wriggling, dressing as animals and Top Gear. We are concerned about the latter, but forgive her.”

Here’s a bivouac. But this is not just any bivouac, this is creation of the highest order, built by (digital creative director) Tim and his kids whist out walking over the Christmas break.

We really wanted to show you a picture of (junior planner) Alvaro celebrating as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve. Unfortunately no-one has one because he was locked in the bathroom at the time (true and very funny story).

Before heading off we all exchanged our Secret Santa gifts in Elton’s Bar on the first floor of the agency. There was a nice mixture of sensible, fun, hilarious and down right rude. It was then revealed that the mystery Vespa was to be raffled off to one of our lucky employees. After a few tense moments and some failed attempts the padlock was released by (executive producer) Violette Castagne.

Just look at the reaction, her lucky winning number was 5362! Needless to say everybody was astounded and couldn’t quite believe it, what a perfect surprise. Let’s hope the scooter has found a good home and doesn’t appear on ebay too soon.

After congratulating Violette, all that was left to do was finish off our food and drinks and head on down to Chancery Lane to carry on the party.

We must thank Barini’s who did a great job of looking after us and everyone at The Tassel Club that kept us entertained until the early hours.

Not only is Lea less than a year into her career but only started learning to speak English in February last year, so she took the award for super courage before she even opened her mouth.  Those of us that attended the event left buzzing with ideas and a real sense of awe at the young talent that wowed the room during the open mic session.  And Lea, for her part, spoke passionately and eloquently with many thought provoking ideas. She touched upon why the ad industry needs to start getting ready for her generation because they are coming to take the agency world by storm with new skills and ideas that will transform the way we work. You can see more about the talk and the winners at Brand Republic.