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The secret of the songbook

Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas.

The secret of the songbook

Murray Thom seems to have a Midas touch. In a music industry reeling from the arrival of the digital age, Thom's box set releases (that's right kids, songs actually sold in boxes) of Kiwi music are flying off the shelves. His most recent release, Songbook, went triple platinum in July. He's also the man who brought Piano by Candlelight and Espresso Guitar to an eager nation (well, some of us). What's his secret?

In the latest Idealog, Mark Roach talks to Thom and discovers an industry veteran who remains, at heart, a huge fan of the music. Thom's projects succeed because he creates something people want to hold and to keep. He collaborates with the likes of Dick Frizzell, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the artists themselves to bring the songs and the packaging to life.

Thom is no throwback though: digital music is the future, but he says the industry need to remember a few first principles.

Thom's experience is instructive for anyone dealing with the impact of the Internet: check it out in the latest Idealog or on our website.

TEDx on our telly

We had a blast at New Zealand’s first TEDx event held in Auckland last week. As promised, we were there with our humble videocam, and we talked to many of the speakers and those in attendance. Here’s Dr Robin Kelly on untouched genius.

Who else did we speak to? Well, how about comedian Philip Patston, TEDx Auckland organiser Richard Hollingum, Good magazine editor Annabel McAleer, Kath Dewar of KD Consulting, Justine Munro from the NZ Centre for Social Innovation, headliners Ray Avery and Andy Blood, Nigel Parker of Microsoft, developer Tony Walsh on holographic buildings, and MC and radio host Andrew Patterson. Whew. The interviews are all on our website.

So long, sustainability

It’s not gone without notice that the word 'sustainability' has become much less popular in parts of Wellington lately—in particular, the parts of Wellington that do the governing. Maybe that's not such a bad thing, reckons Celsias.com editor Chris Tobias. The word 'sustainability' has negative overtones for many people: it means frugality, fanaticism, inflexibility, and even poverty and misery. Fear is not an effective motivator, so Chris has some suggestions for moving the sustainability conversation beyond argument and emotion, and onto the wonderful potential of a less wasteful existence. Check it out on our website.

Don’t cry for Argentina—shed a tear for New Zealand

This week the New York Times ran an item on its a Economix blog tracking the shocking decline of Argentina among the planet's wealthy nations. "A century ago, there were only seven countries in the world that were more prosperous than Argentina," notes Edward L Glaeser, and since then it's been overtaken by brash upstarts like Italy and Japan.

Well excuse me Mr Glaeser, but one of those seven countries that Argentina trailed in 1909 was New Zealand—and we haven't exactly threatened the prosperity of Japan or Italy ourselves. Look at this Times graph; everyone to the left of New Zealand was poorer than us in 1909. Everyone above New Zealand is wealthier than us today.

This is why we’re so disappointed that the previous government failed to see through its stated aim to return New Zealand to the top half of the OECD, and why we'd like to see John Key's government commit itself to achieving the task. This isn't about wanting more toys, overseas holidays or dining out more often; it’s about being able to afford the education, health care, infrastructure and quality of life that we want for ourselves and our loved ones. We must reverse this slide.

We've written on this topic on several occasions, and have some ideas for an forthcoming issue. But we'd like to achieve greater awareness than we have so far. Most Idealog readers are well aware of the issue, but we’d like to get more New Zealanders motivated and thinking about how to lift our place on that chart. I'd welcome your ideas; drop me an email or leave a comment.

Get affected

Get ready to welcome the return of two great conferences to the capital, starting with AnimfxNZ, the conference for the animation, visual effects, games & digital film industries at Te Papa on November 5, 6 and 7. AnimfxNZ attracts some of the greatest names in movie and gaming effects to New Zealand and this year is no exception: speakers include Joseph Olin, the president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, Sander Schwartz, a former president of Warner Bros. Animation, and John Stevenson, co-director of Kung Fu Panda. Book your place at the Animfxnz website.

Locked ’stock

Webstock will be unveiling their 2010 speaker lineup on Monday. The Webstock team is in lock-down mode and operating under a cone of silence. However, dedicated Twitter research by the Idealog team can confirm that among the speakers will be Adam Greenfield—Nokia's head of design direction for user interface and services and UbiComp visionary—and John Resig, the creator of the mighty fine jQuery javascript library.

How to market sustainability

Hmmm. Did we just suggest sustainability has had its day? Well, let’s not get hung up on the terminology: a one-day How to Market Sustainability course at the University of Auckland next Friday looks like a winner. It looks at how to sell, promote and market products and services to businesses and consumers who have ethical and environmental concerns and how to avoid greenwash.

It's tutored by Kath Dewar—the same Kath we interviewed at TEDx last week. She promises "heaps" of useful material and case studies to share says "I'm looking forward to a fabulous discussion of the issues among the people who attend." Make sure you're one of them by calling 0800 864-266 or emailing pdcourses@auckland.ac.nz. You can also learn more at the course website and listen to Kath's interview on the subject with bFM.

Quote of the week

"Sustainability was once a word to rally around ... tails wagging, fawns frolicking, rainbows everywhere. That was until everyone from bleach companies to arms manufacturers started touting their sustainability claims"

– Chris Tobias resists the pitch

Previously in Idealog Weekly …

October 30, 2009: Man of the moment

October 23, 2009: By the numbers

October 16, 2009: Pavlova principles

October 9, 2009: The secret of the songbook

October 2, 2009: Free and easy

September 25, 2009: What the world wants

September 18, 2009: A slice of the pie

September 11, 2009: Walking man

September 6, 2009: A calmer kind of business

August 28, 2009: We have issues

August 21, 2009: Mincing about in waistcoats

August 14, 2009: Wired on pop culture

August 7, 2009: Trust is not a commodity

July 31, 2009: Fuzzy logic

July 24, 2009: Game of life

July 17, 2009: Grape expectations

July 10, 2009: Blade runners

July 3, 2009: Free: another word for nothing left to lose

June 26, 2009: Poorly pleased

June 19, 2009: The giver

June 12, 2009: Buggy on down

June 5, 2009: Brand Cambo

May 29, 2009: When the going gets tough, go proactive

May 22, 2009: Bayerische Wasserstoffmotorenwerke

May 15, 2009: Rugger blogger

May 8, 2009: Get on our cloud

May 1, 2009: Easy Tiger

April 24, 2009: Tiki tacky

April 17, 2009: The not-so-great indoors

April 3, 2009: A site for sore eyes

March 27, 2009: Dual control

March 20, 2009: Worth their Alt

March 13, 2009: Biofuels or bio-fools?

March 6, 2009: It's electrifying

February 27, 2009: Experience-rich and theory-poor

February 20, 2009: It's a hundred-and-fourteen-pager

February 13, 2009: Own your mistakes

February 5, 2009: Rules—made to be broken

January 30, 2009: Money: that's what I want

December 5, 2008: Framed by the thousands

November 28, 2008: Spank-branding novelty next week

November 21, 2008: In the Loop

November 14, 2008: Your good health

November 7, 2008: Misfits of science

October 31, 2008: No absence of colour

October 24, 2008: Plain-speaking Peri

October 17, 2008: Rebels with a cause

October 10, 2008: Seoulipsism

October 3, 2008: Fall seven times and stand up eight

September 26, 2008: Don't label us

September 19, 2008: Bloody Graham

September 19, 2008: Dream proposition

September 5, 2008: Taxi!!!

August 29, 2008: Up-Skilling on Idealog TV

August 22, 2008: 144 pages of pure pleasure, plus politics

August 15, 2008: Wash down that Lovemark with a Steinie

August 8, 2008: Strange journey

August 1, 2008: SMElly and happy

July 25, 2008: What a dive

July 18, 2008: Softly and woolly does it

July 11, 2008: The saviour from Timaru

July 4, 2008: Last laugh

June 27, 2008: King Kev

June 20, 2008: Slow ART

June 13, 2008: Killing two birds with methane

June 6, 2008: A combine harvester

May 30, 2008: Gold paint

May 23, 2008: Rock, out

May 16, 2008: Goodwill hunting

May 9, 2008: No wine jokes please

May 2, 2008: Who's bad?

April 24, 2008: Succession success

April 18, 2008: Out now or thereabouts

April 11, 2008: Paint by numbers

April 4, 2008: Reincarnated good

March 28, 2008: Making it

March 20, 2008: Knock three times

March 14, 2008: The customer is always tight

March 7, 2008: Beautiful words

February 28, 2008: Goodnight, I'm off to work

February 22, 2008: The art issue

February 15, 2008: Straight to the top

February 8, 2008: H for hot

December 13, 2007: Nothing in common? Perfect

December 6, 2007: Who needs a beer?

November 30, 2007: Dirty secret goes public

November 23, 2007: Don't speak

November 16, 2007: Worthy work (and free beer)

November 2, 2007: East meets best

October 25, 2007: Raid the fridge

October 19, 2007: Looking good

October 13, 2007: Can't miss it

October 5, 2007: Fresh meat delivery

September 28, 2007: If the walls had eyes

September 21, 2007: Phoenix rising

September 15, 2007: Can we fix it? Yes we can

September 6, 2007: Feats of social engineering

August 31, 2007: Doesn't bite

August 24, 2007: Telling us where to go

August 16, 2007: Tomorrow time

August 10, 2007: Going West

August 3, 2007: How to ... be your business

July 27, 2007: Freaky food

July 20, 2007: Meet the neighbours

July 12, 2007: Free Hollie

July 6, 2007: Green queen

June 29, 2007: The truth about youth

June 21, 2007: Walk this way

June 14, 2007: Times ten

June 7, 2007: The ape woman needs a label

June 1, 2007: Impossible is something

May 25, 2007: Yeah, we're still here

May 11, 2007: Trophy time

May 3, 2007: Friends with the band

April 23, 2007: Why worry?

April 19, 2007: Done by the big jobs

April 12, 2007: A rockin' good read

April 5, 2007: No fear

March 29, 2007: Out to pasture

March 22, 2007: Hip-hop and The Human Touch

March 15, 2007: Crazy Frog and Billy T

March 10, 2007: The Benadryl edition

March 1, 2007: We can be Xero

February 22, 2007: Back on board

December 15, 2006: Free beer

December 8, 2006: December 8, 2006

December 1, 2006: December 1, 2006

November 24, 2006: November 24, 2006

November 16, 2006: November 16, 2006

November 9, 2006: November 9, 2006

November 3, 2006: November 3, 2006

October 26, 2006: October 26, 2006

October 19, 2006: October 19, 2006

October 12, 2006: October 12, 2006

October 6, 2006: October 6, 2006

September 28, 2006: September 28, 2006

September 21, 2006: September 21, 2006

September 14, 2006: September 14, 2006

September 7, 2006: September 7, 2006

August 31, 2006: August 31, 2006

August 24, 2006: August 24, 2006

August 17, 2006: August 17, 2006

August 11, 2006: August 11, 2006

August 3, 2006: August 3, 2006

July 27, 2006: July 27, 2006

July 21, 2006: July 21, 2006

July 13, 2006: July 13, 2006

July 6, 2006: July 6, 2006

June 29, 2006: June 29, 2006

June 22, 2006: June 22, 2006

June 15, 2006: June 15, 2006

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Overheard

• Mark on Bigger, faster, more productive:
  Fantastic! Finally some vision in establishing a key infrastructure to support New Zealand's future prosperity and commercial competitiveness. Good work Rod, Sam and Steve - your country thanks you for your patriotism!  …
• Margaret Holmes on NZ Institute thumbs down Key's agenda:
  Unfortunately it is not just red tape - it is also the laid back kiwi attitude, compounded by educators who think achieving national standards is a bad thing.
• Tim Marshall on Smile, you’re in New Zealistan:
  The target of higher GDP per capita is all wrong. Aiming for it encourages more production and consumption, often at the expense of quality of life. We need to construct a Genuine Progress Index (GPI) to guide policy. Fr  …
• Peter McL on New note:
  "You got caught up in events at EMI.." and yet shes STILL with EMI - their local branch is distributing her new album. Wonder why?
  
  I blogged some more of Hollies comments on the details behind the fallout  …
• Phil Wollerman on Smile, you’re in New Zealistan:
  Brilliant, insightful article, VH.
  
  This situation has principally arisen because - simplistically - the world no longer wants what we are intrinsically advantaged in supplying.
  
  And yeah, it doesn't look like our co  …
• Anon on Smile, you’re in New Zealistan:
  The answer lies in a) increasing the returns to capital and b) decreasing the cost of capital. To do a) we need to reduce corporate and income taxes and replace them with land, resource, pollution and infrastructure char  …

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