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• Gerd Leonhard
• 16/08/2012
• Futurist, Switzerland
• Music and Media Futurist, Keynote Speaker, author, and blogger. Gerd has written five books, most recently publishing a hand-picked collection of his own essays and blog posts in an anthology dubbed The Future of Content.

With over 25 years in the media, technology and communications industries as an author, writer, entrepreneur, strategic advisor, keynote speaker and presenter Gerd has a unique perspective.

Gerd currently focuses on the following industries and sectors:

Recorded Music & Music Publishing; Radio & Broadcasting; Telecom & Wireless; Social Networking & Web 2.0; Social Media and User Generated Content; Online Gaming & Virtual Worlds; Film/TV/Video; Print/News/Journalism; Advertising & Branding; Public Relations & Communications; Education & Training; Cultural Policy

A frequent keynote speaker at major industry conferences (including the FT Media Conference, MIDEM, Popkomm, CMW, Musexpo, Imobicon and Digital Hollywood) as well as a company consultant, Gerd’s clients to date range from SonyBMG, the BBC, ITV and the European Commission.

An authority on topics ranging from user generation of content, the attention economy, the 'wisdom of the masses', content syndication, business and revenue models for content producers, copyright issues in the internet economy and what mass media becoming personal media actually means for all concerned.

Gerd is the co-author of the oft-quoted must-read for music industry professionals bestseller The Future of Music published in 2005, as well as the author of Music 2.0 published in January 2008. Gerd recently launched his own YouTube channel and has appeared on the BBC, NBC, CBS, DRS, ZDF and Airang TV.

Gerd is based in Basel, Switzerland.