As a music fan, understanding how the music industry works has always interested me. This article from the Globe and Mail discusses the affects of online music streaming on the revenues of artists.

Though technology has allowed for a greater distribution of an artist’s music around the world, it has also brought many issues as well such as illegal downloading and file sharing. For an artist, this is a huge problem if consumers have free access to their music. Online streaming sites such as Pandora, Rhapsody, Spotify, and Rdio have appeared in response as a way for customers to listen to music without actually purchasing it. For each stream, artists receive small amounts of royalties paid directly to them. However, just this week Pandora is lobbying for the “Internet Radio Fairness Act” to be passed, which would cut artist royalties by 85%. For many struggling artists, this is a significant drop in revenue.

In this digital age, more and more people have been turning to online streaming as a legal alternative to purchasing music. Even so, online streaming has not been a fool proof solution as the music industry is still losing out on an incredible amount of money from the millions of people who continue to obtain their music illegally.

Article: In online streaming, artists see their revenue trickle

I’ve seen Car2Go everywhere around campus but never had the chance to check out the company. After seeing Carly’s blog post about Car2Go, I wanted to learn more about the company and what it stands for.

Car2Go is trying to make renting cars more simple and convenient by letting customers just hop in, drive, and then park. By using low-emission and energy-efficient cars, Car2Go is also helping the environment. Their goal is to take more and more privately-owned cars off the road as people begin switching to use their services. As Carly noted, Car2Go is a great example of how a company is sustainable and displays corporate social responsibility, which is a topic we covered in class.

However, not everyone is happy with this new company. According to this article, complaints have arisen from people in Calgary who are annoyed with Car2Go’s preferential parking. In addition, Car2Go vehicles have been taking up limited parking spots in residential areas and residents are not pleased about it. As Car2Go continues to expand and its fleet of vehicles grows, it appears this problem will persist. Car2Go will need to find a way to continue letting customers have convenience while trying to avoid irritating the residents of the city.

The popularity of smartphones has been exponentially rising within the last few years and its end is nowhere in sight either as new technology is constantly being developed. We can now listen to music, take pictures and videos, access internet, and use a GPS all on one device. Are these phones soon going to be taking over our wallets as well? Certainly seems like it.

In a recent poll done by CIBC, 47% of Canadians would consider using their smartphones as credit cards. Many people already use their smartphones for online banking so it seems like using phones as credit cards is the logical next step. One simple scan of your phone and your purchase goes through. Easy as that!

Starbucks is an early leader when it comes to using smartphones to make purchases. Customers can load money onto their mobile Starbucks card and automatically pay for their drinks by scanning their phone – while earning reward stars at the same time. With the way technology is changing, maybe next time you forget your wallet at home it won’t even matter!

Article: Canadians ready to use smartphones like credit cards