Does Björk's forthcoming album, Biophilia, signal the future of the music industry? It looks that way: the content, which will be premiered at the Manchester International Festival in the UK in June, will encompass "music, apps, internet, installations and live shows", according to a press release, and will later be released through iTunes and the App Store. It will celebrate the science of sound, and the "infinite expanse of the universe, from planetary systems to atomic structure".
The performances will be as out-there as the technology, with the singer using specially designed instruments, such as a 30-foot pendulum that harnesses the earth's gravitational pull to create musical patterns, making visible the physical processes that some of the tracks are about.
Sounds ambitious, although until it's out, we have no way of knowing if it's anything more than a gimmick, along the lines of Justin Bieber's new app, Justin Bieber Revenge, which users can play by tapping along to the music on their screens. In the meantime, we can whet our appetites for the Björk release by downloading an iPad app called Solar System, to which the artist contributed an orchestral instrumental track that will also be on Biophilia. The app includes Nasa footage, 3D images, animations and diagrams, and went on sale for around the price of a music CD.
Musicians have been releasing apps for a while now, and it's become impossible to keep up with how many artists have their own official or unofficial apps. The Cribs, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and almost every other big seller you can think of have them (except the metal band Nine Inch Nails: their app was rejected by Apple in 2009 for offensive content.) It's a smart idea: another revenue stream in a business that's terrified of losing everything to free, pirated downloads.
The apps' content takes all kinds of different forms. The British guitar-pop band Mcfly, for example, have released one for £2.99 (Dh18) that allows fans access to a live stream of their recent Wembley Arena concert. In June, David Bowie will release an app version of his 1975 single Golden Years, which can be remixed and exported as an MP3. And Black Eyed Peas have released an app called BEP360 through which a music video looks like virtual reality, shifting as the handset is moved.
The best apps make full use of all the possibilities of a hi-tech handset: earlier this year British rapper The Streets released an app allowing users to scan barcodes of household items in shops, such as tins of baked beans, unlocking access to extra material in the process.
The above are all add-ons: games or distractions rather than creative content, and some apps simply give users access to news and tour dates. Others have been used as a way of revamping whole albums and making the idea of shelling out a bundle of songs, rather than individual tracks, worthwhile again.
The Universal Music Group has recently created iPad app versions of classic albums, such as Nirvana's Nevermind, which come with social networking features, documentary video and live footage. (The songs themselves are only excerpted, though.)
Apple tried something similar to app albums a couple of years ago with iTunes LP, which added digital liner notes, artwork and lyrics to the music for a bit more money than the basic album, but it didn't catch on. Perhaps the rise of apps will change people's minds about paying a bit extra for added content, especially with a high-profile, innovative star such as Björk getting involved.
There are reasons to welcome this new technology: firstly, it might quell fears within the music-industry that pirated content is killing music. It's true that tours are lucrative for some bands, but only the big ones. Carefully created apps overseen by the artists themselves could provide a much-needed new revenue stream for big and emerging bands, and rehabilitate the idea of the album in the meantime.
Secondly, the possibilities for innovation are overwhelming. Well-designed apps could see us interacting with music in a whole new way, making use of the time-keeping feature, GPS or data-transfer capabilities of electronic tablets and smart phones so that special content is released only when you stand in a certain place, or at a certain time of day, for example.
It's not all good news, though. One of the problems with buying music in the form of an app is that it's locked into one device: once you've bought it on your iPad, for instance, you can't transfer it to another computer or phone - even an Apple one. This was also a problem with iTunes LP - there were difficulties accessing the music from more than one piece of hardware.
There's another complaint surrounding the idea of musicians collaborating with Apple as well. Why are free-thinkers such as Björk and Damon Albarn, who created the Gorillaz album Plastic Beach on an iPad and was quoted in the music press as saying: "I fell in love with my iPad as soon as I got it", giving away so much free publicity to one of the world's most successful American companies? Many see Apple, with its high prices, market control and software that's incompatible with non-Apple products, as anything but the salvation of the music business.
"I hate to sound like an old man now," Jon Bon Jovi was quoted as saying last month, "but you mark my words: in a generation from now people are going to say... Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business."
Bon Jovi's beef was that iTunes takes some of the serendipity out of record buying. We no longer take a chance on something because we like the sleeve - but we can also assume he won't be making an iPad app any time soon. There's a chance he's right with his first "old-man" assertion, though, and his romantic ideas are a result of his advanced (49) years rather than his wisdom.
Whether we welcome them or not, however, it looks as though apps are the future (until something else comes along) and Björk's forthcoming "app-album" may be the first glimpse we'll get of the form's possibilities.
Make room on your hard drive.
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
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Persuasion
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Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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.”
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
BeIN Sports currently has the rights to show
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Serie A
Juventus v Fiorentina, Saturday, 8pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports
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The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, Group C
Liverpool v Red Star Belgrade
Anfield, Liverpool
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
