Yet another dispute on the issue of resource exploitation and land, between a mining company and a First Nations group. The potential New Prosperity mine project at fish lake may be scrapped due to a supposed land violation of the Tsilhqot’in people’s claim on the area as a tribal park. 

The $1.1 billion copper-gold project came to a halt after Tsilhqot’in people declared the area to be a part of their land. Whether or not the claims of their declaration are valid, Native land has long been a sensitive issue that natural resource companies are hesitant to act upon. This is an external threat factor (on the SWOT analysis) that could potentially harm the project and the company’s revenue. Due to the fact that aboriginal issues are highly regarded especially in British Columbia, it is also a distinctive cultural/social issue. Even if their tribal park claim deems invalid, this still might become a loss for the company from years of court disputes and law suits. Another important factor is that this is also a environmental issue which the company must deal with very careful to avoid any type of consequences. Needless to say that mining will exhaust the ecosystems around it, which in the long run, may cost the company more resources to take preventative measures to damage the lands, especially where the First Nations group depend on their abundance of natural resources to thrive. There’s no way around the issue of aboriginal land disputes, except to negotiate the First Nations and hopefully work out a solution that is beneficial to both parties. The fate of the New Prosperity mining project remains undetermined.

 

image: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/2035/mine+opponents+fight+survival/8880792/story.html

Luxury shoemaker Jimmy Choo is debuting plans for an IPO on the stock market that could value up to $1.3 Billion dollars, in order to fund its expansion in Asia. The brand has been bought by German investment firm JAB in 2011. The brand has long been a high end favorite since its creation, its retail price ranges from $600 to $4000 for a pair of shoes, worn by royalties and celebrities alike.

The interesting thing about this article is that it relates to one of the topics covered in class about IPO, Initial Public Offering. JAB has agreed to a float of public stake 25% in the London Stock Exchange. This is an excellent example of a company with strong branding emerging in the stock market that could be a enormous success. The fact that shoes are among one of the fastest growing segment in the luxury market, and Jimmy Choo is undeniably a global, recognizable label, going public is a wise decision.

Also, the company is hoping to raise $400 million dollars for its expansion specifically targeted in Asia, opening up 10 – 15 stores a year could impact its revenue stream in the long run depending on how popular the brand becomes. It initially opened its first stores in London but its trend was spread to the US due to high exposure by celebrities and TV show.

 

Article Source: Jimmy Choo Is Planning An IPO To Fund A Massive Asian Expansion

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-jimmy-choo-unveils-london-ipo-to-fund-asia-expansion-2014-9#ixzz3FKRwJL83

 

 

while doing some late night net surfing, I stumbled upon this interesting article about The $1,078,000 Reason Every Pop Song Sounds the Same. This article reveals the commercial reason behind the trend that every pop song out there is getting more and more homogeneous. With the same four chords, it seems that record labels and songwriters are getting less and less creative with music. The article compares the 1% of the financial and economic equity issue with a similar situation in the music industry. Only the most popular artists at the moments can afford the best songwriter, beat makers to ensure that it has the perfect “pop veneer” that is sure to make a hit. Record labels are making a lot less money than they use to due to piracy, therefore less willing to take the risk to give new songwriters.

There is a lot of investment that record companies put in to making sure that their songs are guaranteed a profit. Singer Rihanna’s popular single “Man Down” costed an estimated $1,078,000 to produce.  Of that, approximately a million goes towards marketing the song, putting in on the radio, movies trying to gain exposure. Which is surprising, my knowledge about the marketing behind the popular music we listen to was very naive. Why does a already popular artist’s song need to be marketed? Shouldn’t artists sing their own creation and let the mass audience decide whether if it is a good song or not? My assumption after reading this article is that, big record label companies are not willing to risk losing profit to invest in new artist and new music, but rather heavily invest in those who are already successful in the industry and requiring them to sing what is only mainstream and ‘pop-like’, and therefore creating less diversity despite having new technology to do so. In my opinion, behind the glitz and the glam, the music industry is struggling. As consumers, we could change this by reinvesting our purchasing power so that record companies have the incentive to diversify the type of music they produce.