"This is definitely a bright spot in an industry that can use some bright spots," Alexandra Patsavas, Hollywood's most in-demand music supervisor told The New York Times recently.
She was referring to one corner of the music business that has not been laid waste by digital downloads and is actually throwing struggling musicians and the music industry a lifeline.
The soundtrack.
Last month, the packaged soundtrack to the hit movie The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which is released in the UAE this weekend, went to the top of the US Billboard chart. It was the first time a soundtrack had achieved this feat in years.
But then insiders knew it would. Patsavas had been the subject of major buzz in the music industry for the last few months. A spot on the New Moon soundtrack was the most coveted gig in music and pitches for inclusion arrived at her desk before she started the job in January. In the end, indie acts such as Death Cab for Cutie and Thom Yorke could count themselves lucky enough to hitch a ride on a bona fide cultural phenomenon. So far, the album has sold 22 million copies. The New York Times called the soundtrack "practically a miracle" for the beleaguered music business.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Don't Stop Believin', the first single from the popular high school TV dramedy Glee, went gold, selling in excess of half a million downloads. Glee: The Music, Volume 1 hit stores and iTunes earlier this month, and, propelled by the show's dedicated online fan base, debuted at No 4 Billboard chart.
TV and film are driving sales in the troubled music market like never before, says the Q! magazine editor Paul Rees. While talent shows such as The X Factor and America's Got Talent create brand-new stars who sell CDs by the truckload, films and TV shows are giving established musicians a chance in an increasingly tough market place.
"As direct marketing schemes go," says Rees, "soundtrack albums are pretty much faultless."
"If you're an artist that's successfully branded with a film as enormous as Twilight, you get a lasting benefit beyond the movie and the soundtrack itself," James Diener, the president of A&M/Octone Records told The New York Times. "You're able to access marketing dollars that the film company has been spending beyond what a record company could or would spend."
It's a process that has certainly worked for Imogen Heap. The New York Times noted: "If Imogen Heap's goal was to reach a generation of maudlin, tech-savvy 20-somethings, she could hardly have done better than lending her voice to the final sequences of the film Garden State and television's The OC."
"The CDs and the tour hardly make any money at all," the twice Grammy-nominated musician said last month. "Soundtracks put food on the table."
TV and film are also helping lesser-known musicians build their careers. Songs by the LA based rock musician Brandon McCulloch, who tours and records under the name Silver, have been featured on the TV shows One Tree Hill, Smallville and The Deadliest Catch. For McCulloch, it's been a welcome opportunity to reach a wider audience.
"TV placements equal publicity and money, and these are the things that help you survive," he says. "Would I like to get more of my stuff on TV shows? Absolutely."
The reason TV shows often support music by lesser-known artists is simple: they are cheaper, says McCulloch.
"The music supervisor is working with a budget, and it's exponentially more expensive to license an established hit song, or a song from a super-famous band," he says. "If you can produce a song that is sonically and stylistically competitive or catches someone's ear the right way, you may make a music supervisor really happy by saving him or her tonnes of money.
"Inclusion on TV shows has given me lots of album sales from all over the globe. I can't believe how far away some of my record sales are from. I get e-mails from fans of the shows who are now fans of my music, " he said.
But are artists worried they are cheapening their music by allowing it to accompany teen dramas, vampire movies and documentaries about deep-sea fishermen?
"The term 'sell-out' used to be thrown around a lot," says McCulloch. "Most real artists do not adhere to this philosophy. I like writing for TV shows. The 2005 season finale of Deadliest Catch did a nautical montage to my song Transmissions and it looked really cool. I loved it."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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