BasBasBas.com

Category: work

  • Catching Up: Ecosystem Music Marketing, Internet Filters, The Clouds and DIY Tips

    Just like a few weeks ago, it’s time to bring you up to date with what I’ve been doing. Showcasing some articles I wrote for Official.fm, Techdirt and Hypebot.

    I did some more writing, but these are the most relevant. Enjoy!

    Keep up with me on Twitter or Tumblr (or Facebook if we have ever physically met).

  • Recent articles + news about my thesis!

    Hi everyone!

    I recently started blogging for Techdirt, so keep an eye on that blog or my profile to see more articles by me. Of course, I’ll throw out updates like this one every once in a while, so you don’t have to follow me in 3 different places.

    Two articles I recently did for Techdirt:

    There will also be an expansion of The Ugly Dance case-study soon, so keep your ears and eyes open (I suggest by following me on Twitter).

    The main reason many of the readers of this blog found me, is my thesis on digital communication strategy for the new music business. I am almost ready to publish it and send it out, so if you’re not on my distribution list already, put yourself on there. I promise not to spam you too much. 😉

    Also, I’m moving to Sofia, Bulgaria next week and I would love to find a job that let’s me apply my knowledge and expertise in digital communication strategy and leveraging the power of the ecosystem. If you can help me out or know anyone that can, please get in touch.

    Twitter: @Spartz
    My LinkedIn profile
    Email:

  • To fail or not to fail… Piratenpartij 2.0

    I’m writing this post in English for two reasons. The first is that I find it easier to express myself in English, having lived abroad a lot over the last years. The second is that the eyes of pirates worldwide are upon us!

    For the last few months I’ve been the campaign manager for the Dutch Pirate Party. Even though last night’s results are disappointing in one way, we’ve accomplished something to be proud of. From being a very small group of people, we’ve formalised a political organisation, jumping all the bureaucratic hurdles along the way. We made it. With hardly no grassroots activity (except for in Brabant) and almost no funds, we’ve managed to convince thousands of voters (exact number unsure at this moment) and to reach millions of people. As a communication specialist I have to say that’s a spectacular result, even though it didn’t get us a seat in parliament.

    If you look at the below map, you can see there are pirates almost everywhere in The Netherlands!

    Via twlevo.

    Now we face a choice. To fail or not to fail. So we didn’t get seats in parliament, which isn’t easy to accept, seeing the fact that some of us sacrificed their lives for this, over the last months. What we do have is national awareness and support! We cannot let our ideas, our principles, our vision go to waste.

    What we need to do is ORGANISE. In my eyes, the most fundamental challenge in our campaign was having to cope with almost zero grassroots activism. That’s why I believe the main focus of the Pirate Party in the next months, should be on setting up local chapters that are self-organised modules in a lean mean Pirate machine. The idea of local groups is to give our formal organisation a more informal character and base. This informal character will attract a lot more people that can support the organisation in a lot of ways. These local groups will have FUN first and they’ll combine it with activism. That’s the opposite from what a lot of us have been doing in the last months: work hard first and hopefully have fun along the way.

    We cannot let our new government ignore the fact that copyrights and the patent system are up for reform. We cannot let them take away more privacy without being challenged. We need to get the local organisations growing, so that we can group together whenever it is most needed.

    We’ve worked hard. We can be proud of ourselves.
    We said we wanted to remix politics; now we’ll have to!

    For a free information society.

    Yaaarrs truly,
    Bas

    P.S. Let’s support the people of Piracy Festival (June 19, Utrecht). They still need some volunteers. See you there!

    (this post is a crosspost from the Pirate Party blog)

  • Yaarrr

    You might have noticed it’s gone a bit quiet here. That’s because I’m busy as communication manager for the Dutch Pirate Party which is aiming to get multiple seats in parliament with the June 9 election. More or less every moment of my day is spent doing things for the Pirate Party.

    Most of the regular readers know me as someone who’s quite involved in the music industry; these readers probably also know that the Pirate Party aims to drastically reform copyright (and other intellectual property laws). I believe the Pirate Party serves the needs of music creators and fans/consumers better than the current industry lobbies and with reforming laws, it will do a much better job facilitating ‘music 2.0’ and the recording industry has (see: Spotify, imeem, Pandora, Last.fm or all those other struggling music 2.0 initiatives).

    More important than that, is civil liberties. We live in an age of digitalisation; an age that has made copyrights impossible to maintain without seriously infringing on the rights of civilians and destroying the openness of the internet. We have a choice. Either we jump into the digital revolution and safeguard our liberties, or we let the big corporations convince the government to ‘industrialize’ the digital. The industrial revolution is over, it’s time for a new reality.

    To further understand why I’m involved in this worlwide movie, check out the video below and the website of the Dutch Pirate Party (in Dutch).

    Uppsala Declaration
    http://int.piratenpartei.de/Uppsala_Declaration
    Important instruction for all pirates
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUe-Ebe8dWU
    Pirate Manifesto parties at a glance
    http://int.piratenpartei.de/Pirate_Manifesto_parties_at_a_glance

    Edit – Oh yeah, and I’m also a Pirate Party candidate for parliament 😉
    http://twitter.com/Spartz

  • Follow Friday: blogs that keep me up to date on the new music industry

    I’m borrowing one of my favourite Twitter memes called Follow Friday, though I hardly ever participate. On Fridays, many Twitter users recommend their followers to follow interesting people that they themselves are following. It’s kind of like networking. Actually, it’s more than just ‘kind of’ like networking!

    I always find it really tough who to recommend, but I love the principle. That’s why I have decided to recommend some of the blogs I subscribe to so I stay in the know about developments in the (new) music business. Maybe you can recommend some to me too?


    Billboard.biz
    A rather traditional source of information – not too forward thinking, but has some interesting case studies every now and then.

    Digipendent
    Looks at trends in music & the digital world.

    Digital Audio Insider
    Describes itself as a blog about the economics of digital music and I think that’s quite an accurate description.

    Digital Music News
    Definitely one of the best blogs out there on this topic! So I gave it some sweet italic loving!

    Digital Noise
    A CNET blog about music and technology. Hightlights lots of interesting innovative initiatives in the digital music business.

    FileShareFreak
    A blog about filesharing, piracy, torrent sites, lawsuits and other fun stuff.

    Future of Music Coalition
    A non-profit organisation looking at the future of the music business and how artists can cope with the rapid changes.

    Hypebot
    A blog about the new music business. Hardly misses a thing. Very impressive!

    Make It In Music
    Artists have to take more and more control of the tasks record labels previously used to take care of. This blog educates them on how to do that. Also interesting for people who are simply interested in the music business, but not as an artist.

    me*dia*or
    Kind of a monitor of the music business blogs. Everything in one place here, but I prefer visiting the individual blogs / reading their RSS feeds.

    Media Futurist – Gerd Leonhard
    The blog of Gerd Leonhard, who’s a media futurist. He appears to be touring constantly, speaking at conferences about technologies and how our society could adopt them. He shares many of his presentations, slideshows and ideas on his blog. Great material! Also check out the interview I had with him about the future of music distribution.

    MIDEM(Net) Blog
    MIDEM is one of the world’s biggest music business conferences. MidemNet is its simultaneous digital music business conference. The blog is filled with interesting analyses by industry experts.

    Music Ally
    The corporate blog of this digital music business information and strategy company.

    Music Business and Trend Mongering
    A blog about the great ideas and trends in the new music business.

    Music Think Tank
    Awesome blog about what works and doesn’t work (and why!) in the music industry. Highly recommended.

    MusicBizGuy Speaks
    A music business veteran’s view on the new music business. Very impressive track record and highly insightful articles.

    Net, Blogs and Rock’n’Roll
    A blog about the digital discovery of music and entertainment.

    New Music Strategies
    The name more or less speaks for itself. Sporadic posts, but high quality guaranteed.

    P2P Blog
    Lots of news about innovation in peer to peer technology.

    p2pnet
    About filesharing, peer-to-peer technology, RIAA madness, and innovation in the sharing of digital information.

    Remix Theory
    A blog about remix culture.

    Rocketsurgeon’s Music 2.0 Directory
    A listing of all the tools and services participating in the ‘new media revolution’. Very cool.

    RouteNote’s Blog
    RouteNote’s a company specializing in the distribution of artists’ music to (digital) music stores. Their blog offers a great look into the world of digital music distribution.

    Techdirt
    About innovations in technology and how this affects government policy and the economy around us. Probably my favourite blog of this whole list.

    The Daily Swarm
    A bit like me*dia*or, in the sense that it aggregates content from other places and links back to the full articles. Sometimes they catch something I had missed, so I try to keep up with them as much as I can.

    The Forrester Blog for Consumer Strategy Professionals
    Not necessarily about the music business, but definitely gives great insight into marketplaces that are changing because of technology. These guys are really on top of the trends and give valuable insights into them.

    TorrentFreak
    Another favourite blog. They ask some very tough questions to the music business about how they deal with filesharing. Also has a lot of news about torrent trackers, politics, what’s hot in the filesharing networks, and much much more.

    TuneCorner
    TuneCore also specializes in distributing signed artists’ music to digital music stores. On their blog, great tips about music and technology, insights into the new music business, and how to use the web to your advantage.

    Wired | Music
    Wired is a technology news website and has a music section too. Great read! They have a very talented staff.

    ZeroPaid
    Another (good) blog about filesharing.

    Whenever I spot a great article worth reading in one of these (and other) sources, I share them via Google Reader, so have a look at my shared items and subscribe to them!

    What are blogs you would recommend? Did I miss any good ones?

  • 24 hour trip to Prague

    A busride through EuropeI’m about to embark on a 24 hour busride to Prague with my girlfriend. I’m invited to speak at a conference about social dynamics and hope to change some lives with the speech I will give there. I’ll be staying with a friend of mine who’s a DJ and who’ll be playing at 3 gigs that weekend, but before having a blast in Prague, I’ll have to make the best of my time in the bus.

    I believe it will be a wonderful trip. Instead of flying across Europe from the south east to the center and seeing only clouds, we’ll be driving through a bunch of countries of which we’ll be able to see the beautiful landscapes and nature that they offer. Last summer I got in a car that was going from Holland to Bulgaria and even though it was exhausting, it was a great experience to witness the diversity of Europe. It made me feel a lot more European at the same time.

    Also, when we arrive, a day after leaving, we’ll really have the feeling that we’re somewhere else – which I sometimes miss after a 1 or 2 hour planeride. Let’s hope all goes well and it won’t be too boring. 😉

    I’ll be publishing some pictures of the trip if I manage to get any interesting shots and else expect a bunch of pictures from Prague up soon!

    Wish me bon voyage and I’ll speak to you soon!

    Image by René Ehrhardt, shared under a Creative Commons license on Flickr.

  • How I’ve Lived Part 3 – My Flat in Sofia (Video)

    After part 1 and part 2, we’ve moved 4 years through time and we’ve reached the present moment!

    So, for all the friends and family around the world… This is how I’m living now. 😎

    Also available on Vimeo.

    And to my fellow expat bloggers who are reading/viewing this… please do something similar! I’m very curious to see how you’re living! 🙂

    BasBasBas.com is about my life abroad. I regularly write about my adventures in Istanbul, Bulgaria and travels in the region, but like to ponder about the future also. If you’d like to stay up to date, you can subscribe to my RSS feed or get email updates in your inbox. You can also follow me on Twitter.

  • How I’ve Lived – Part 2

    Part two of How I’ve Lived where I talk about all the places where I’ve lived since moving out of my parents’ place 3.5 years ago. Part 1 is here.

    Zaagmolenkade, Huize Te Laat (Map)

    Huize Te LaatWhen I got back to Holland I first moved back to my parents but really want to live in my old city, Utrecht, again.

    How I Got There

    I looked at a few places online and replied to some, was invited to one. They were renting out a furnished room for 5 months, since one of the guys was moving abroad for his study. I figured I’d take the offer and just find something new in the summer – but it turned out I was moving to Istanbul, so everything worked out perfectly.

    How I’ve Lived There

    It was an all-male house and in the half year I lived there I lived with Remco, Niels, Jurre, Tim and Pim. It was an all-male house with a nice living room and everyone had quite spacious rooms. The bathroom and kitchen were also quite big. This is the only time I’ve lived in an all-male house and I never expected to enjoy it like I did. After this place I moved to yet another all-male place…

    Turkish Prison, Istanbul (Map)

    Well, not really Turkish prison, it was a state dormitory in Istanbul and one of the better ones. It just wasn’t for me though.

    How I Got There

    I decided that in Bulgaria I didn’t get the culture shock I anticipated, so I decided to take it one step further. The language course I was taking housed me in this place for 3 weeks. I couldn’t wait to find my own apartment.

    How I’ve Lived There

    Well, I got some flu from the climate change, so I spent a lot of time near the toilets, which were not European toilets, no they were holes in the floor, with a little tap for water and a little bucket to use for washing your ass… with your hand. There were no power outlets in the room, so I had to go to communal study areas to charge my telephone or to use my laptop. There was also no wireless internet, but there was an internet cafe in which I spent quite a lot of time. See the video below for my impression of this place:

    There were some fun parts. Every morning I’d meet with the international students for breakfast and we were off to the language course and in the evening we’d often leave the place to go have a beer somewhere. It was nice, but it still sucked. More than Uilenstede. Much, much more.

    Moda, Kadıköy, Istanbul (Map)

    How I Got There

    I got in touch with an agent and looked for a few flats. We were in a rush because we had to move out of the dorms, but plans fell through and in the end we couldn’t finance the flat we found. I got to work with some friends at my university and called a whole bunch of places, but with no luck. I ran into a Danish guy I knew and he gave me the card of his landlord and told me the guy had more places. I then called him and he said “ok, can you meet me in 1 hour at the Starbucks in Moda? Ok, bye”. Well, I rushed my way to find the place, since I had never been there before. I found it on time and the guy showed me three affordable apartments. I said I’d probably be interested in one of them and the guy immediately gave me the keys. I told him I’d have the rent in a week as I needed to find some flatmates, which was no problem.

    How I’ve Lived There

    I found 3 flatmates; one from Germany, one from Italy and one from Poland. 2 guys, 2 girls. I figured it would work well, however I should have listened to my feelings when getting my flatmates in. There was one person that didn’t sit too well with me from the beginning, but I ignored my gut feeling, because I really needed to fill the flat up and let this person in. Because of this, I could never really feel at peace or at home in the apartment, which was a shame, because it was in a beautiful location. Looking back, I also realize I had a slight culture shock and it was hard to deal with that if there’s no place where I can really be at ease and feel at home. Also, just when I arrived I got some stomach flu – maybe because of the change in climates – and it stayed with me for about 4 months (maybe it was stress though). It was a great half year though, living in Istanbul. I had a really light schedule in university and had plenty of time doing things that really mattered; like developing my knowledge about topics I’m interested in and networking with people there – oh and of course hanging out with fellow students.

    The apartment was really close to the sea, so every day on my way to school I’d pass by palm trees and a stunning view of the Bosphorus. Annnnd another video of the apartment:

    That’s it. Part 3 soon… Including a video of my newest apartment here in Sofia, Bulgaria! 🙂

    BasBasBas.com is about my life abroad. I regularly write about my adventures in Istanbul, Bulgaria and travels in the region, but like to ponder about the future also. If you’d like to stay up to date, you can subscribe to my RSS feed or get email updates in your inbox. You can also follow me on Twitter.

  • Silence!

    In case you’re wondering why it’s been so quiet on this blog lately… There are a few reasons.

    • I’m working on my graduation thesis about the Future of Music Distribution which is quite hard work;
    • I’m working for a record label here in Bulgaria, working on the internet side of things, mainly promotion;
    • I’m doing an assignment for a political party here and helping them out with their internet campaign, since the parliamentary elections are coming up;
    • I’m making videos for SpinEARTH.tv – although haven’t finished any recently… Actually, I attended a show and accidentally deleted the video I made there. F!!K!
    • I’m going to be speaking on a conference about self-development and social psychology in Prague next month and brainstorming about what I want to say. I want it to be groundbreaking and paradigm shattering!

    On top of all that, one of my best mates visited me for 7 days last week annnnddddd we saw the sun come up quite a few times.

    Will resume a more regular blogging schedule soon though. 🙂

    BasBasBas.com is about my life abroad. I regularly write about my adventures in Istanbul, Bulgaria and travels in the region, but like to ponder about the future also. If you’d like to stay up to date, you can subscribe to my RSS feed or get email updates in your inbox. You can also follow me on Twitter.

  • Bulgarian employees sick a lot, Turkish not – Work mentalities compared

    Graph of average annual sick days taken per employee around the worldResearch done by consultancy firm Mercer for The Economist has shown that out of their selected countries for research, Bulgarians take the most sick days per year.

    Have a look at the graph on the right, you can click it for a larger version.

    Coincidentally, I  don’t just live in the country with the highest number of sick days, but have also lived in the country with the lowest number of sick days taken per year; Turkey. Whereas Bulgarians take an average of 22 sick days per employee per year, Turks take just 5. This might be due to very different work mentalities.

    In Bulgaria there is a saying: “They pretend to be paying me and I pretend to be working.” As you probably know, Bulgaria is a rather poor nation (the poorest of the EU), but besides that I’ve also noticed something else in the work mentality of many people. I’ve heard a lot of expressions of powerlessness. People believe they can’t change things, things are just the way they are… This is logical, given the history of Bulgaria, which consists of 500 years of Ottoman occupation, about 40 years of freedom, followed by roughly 50 years of a communist system.

    I’m not saying everyone in Bulgaria is like this, but having worked in Bulgaria, I completely understand the above mentality… The pay for most jobs is quite low and when you try to make a difference, it’s really tough to seriously get things done. The high number of sick days could also be explained in a different way also. Since Bulgaria is a country with a very tough climate and it’s also quite poor, maybe the national health level is not so high. Who knows (research firm Mercer doesn’t).

    For Turkey it’s very different. When I started a job in a restaurant, they wanted me to spend all the time that I wasn’t in university in the restaurant. I was working from 10 in the morning until 10 in the night on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and was working from 3 in the afternoon until 10 at night on Wednesday and Thursday. I had class from 9 to 5 on Monday and Tuesday and from 9 until 2 on Wednesday and Thursday. Every day I started early in the morning and finished late at night. It was very exhausting. This is the work mentality in Turkey though. They’re not the most effective workers, but they work a lot and they work very hard generally – even when they’re sick.

    It’s a rather dangerous thing comparing Turkey to Bulgaria, so let me add that I don’t think either of the work mentalities is better than the other. The Turkish work mentality is quite fanatical and insane, although worthy of admiration. People seem very stressed and they need a break (come on, let people take a day off when they’re sick). The Bulgarian work mentality is generally lazy and a bit powerless. Most people I know here would agree with me. Bulgarians need to be given the feeling that they can actually change something, can actually make a difference, can actually achieve something, plus they shouldn’t feel like their bosses are “pretending to be paying” them.  The Bulgarians I know that feel like this, are achieving great things and inspire me constantly. An injection of motivation would be great for the work mentality and with recent protests of farmers and students, things are looking up, because who would take to the streets when they feel powerless?

    Bulgarian protestPhoto by kozzmen

    Is your country listed? How do you think your country racks up? What’s the work mentality in your country? Does it match with your own work mentality?

    BasBasBas.com is about my life abroad. I regularly write about my adventures in Istanbul, Bulgaria and travels in the region, but like to ponder about the future also. If you’d like to stay up to date, you can subscribe to my RSS feed or get email updates in your inbox. You can also follow me on Twitter.

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