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The NFL offseason is here and warming up with free agency approaching. This also means several teams have to make critical decisions regarding QB, especially the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants. Lamar Jackson is still without a contract extension as the franchise tag window opens. Nick Wright explains why the Ravens should trade Lamar, then reveals several trade scenarios, including a QB swap for Justin Fields and a trade to the Las Vegas Raiders. Meanwhile, Daniel Jones switched agents and is reportedly seeking at least $45M a year. Nick shares his advice to the Giants, which is the opposite of the Ravens situation: franchise tag Jones.

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CANNES - The beleaguered global music industry enters the decade hoping to turn a corner by tackling piracy head on while drumming up new sources of revenue. Grim statistics this week from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) show sales falling by some 30 percent since 2004 as piracy surged. But a huge 12 percent leap in revenue from digital channels between 2008 and 2009 should help lighten the mood at the industry's biggest annual get-together starting Sunday at the MIDEM trade festival in this Riviera resort. The figures show digitally-bought music now accounting for 27 percent of total music sales -- 4.2 billion dollars of 15.8 billion dollars in 2009. "Our vision is music availability everywhere, at any time and in any place. But the biggest question is how do we monetise it in an environment of widespread piracy," Eric Daugan, Senior Vice President Commercial Strategy, Warner Music International EMEA, said in an IFPI report released Thursday. Battered by the slump in CD sales worldwide and the slow response to rampant illegal music downloads and new digital platforms, the industry is finally stepping up efforts to reverse its fortunes. Next week's trade fair will be "all about how to monetise access to music," MIDEM Director Dominique Leguern told AFP in an interview. "Today, the number of technical solutions and different offers (streaming, downloads, etc) are multiplying ... We want to highlight these opportunities and show participants how to access them," he added. Many of the world's leading online, advertising, video, mobile and other technology leaders will also be sharing expertise in new revenue streams, including MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta, who will give his first keynote address outside the United States. Guitarist Ed O'Brien from British band Radiohead, which shocked the record industry in 2007 by allowing fans to decide how much they wanted to pay to download their new album, will also fly in to discuss the band's use of the Web to reach audiences. "The music industry is finally seeing the Web as an opportunity more than a threat. Social software and devices such as the iPhone open new, extraordinary opportunities to innovate," said Daniel Ek, CEO of Sweden's music streaming service, Spotify. This year's MIDEM is offering for the first time a wide range of matchmaking and networking sessions as well as conferences on how to finance and develop artists' careers beyond the simple CD -- using social networks such as Twitter and YouTube -- or tips on how to get music used in films, TV series and video games or advertising campaigns. "We are focusing heavily on learning, education and networking because we have to help our participants to identify those elusive revenue streams," Leguern stressed. Thanks to the world economic crisis and the strain in the music industry. attendance at MIDEM is expected to be down for the second year running at around 7,000 participants. But managers of music sensations including Blur, Mika, James Blunt, Lily Allen and the Artic Monkeys will be in town to talk about how they are gradually taking on the former role of record labels by helping guide their artists' careers and manage their rights. New countries attending for the first time this year include Iceland, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Ghana, Madagascar and Vietnam. Asia will be making waves with Korea, Taiwan and Japan due to showcase their latest talent -- including Japanese dance act Amwe, Taiwanese indie singer and composer Crowd Lu and Korean girl band F(X). But it will be the sounds of South Africa on centre-stage as the Country of Honour kicks off a packed programme of events to promote its culture ahead of its hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup this summer. ChannelNewsAsia Follow Me @Twitter.com/ChasinMoPaper
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London Times Online Reports ‘The greatest fear people have is that of being themselves. They want to be 50 Cent or someone else. They do what everyone else does even if it doesn’t fit where and who they are. But you get nowhere that way; your energy is weak and no one pays attention to you. You’re running away from the one thing that you own—what makes you different. I lost that fear. And once I felt the power that I had by showing the world I didn’t care about being like other people, I could never go back.’ 50 Cent 1. See Things for What They Are - Intense Realism Reality can be rather harsh. Your days are numbered. It takes constant effort to carve a place for yourself in this ruthlessly competitive world and hold on to it. People can be treacherous. They bring endless battles into your life. Your task is to resist the temptation to wish it were all different; instead you must fearlessly accept these circumstances, even embrace them. By focusing your attention on what is going on around you, you will gain a sharp appreciation for what makes some people advance and others fall behind. By seeing through people’s manipulations, you can turn them around. The firmer your grasp on reality, the more power you will have to alter it for your purposes. 2. Make Everything Your Own - Self-Reliance When you work for others, you are at their mercy. They own your work; they own you. Your creative spirit is squashed. What keeps you in such positions is a fear of having to sink or swim on your own. Instead you should have a greater fear of what will happen to you if you remain dependent on others for power. Your goal in every manoeuvre in life must be ownership, working the corner for yourself. When it is yours, it is yours to lose - you are more motivated, more creative, more alive. The ultimate power in life is to be completely self-reliant, completely yourself. 3. Turn Shit into Sugar - Opportunism Every negative situation contains the possibility for something positive, an opportunity. It is how you look at it that matters. Your lack of resources can be an advantage, forcing you to be more inventive with the little that you have. Losing a battle can allow you to frame yourself as the sympathetic underdog. Do not let fears make you wait for a better moment or become conservative. If there are circumstances you cannot control, make the best of them. It is the ultimate alchemy to transform all such negatives into advantages and power. 4. Keep Moving - Calculated Momentum In the present there is constant change and so much we cannot control. If you try to micromanage it all, you lose even greater control in the long run. The answer is to let go and move with the chaos that presents itself to you - from within it, you will find endless opportunities that elude most people. don’t give others the chance to pin you down; keep moving and changing your appearances to fit the environment. if you encounter walls or boundaries, slip around them. do not let anything disrupt your flow. 5. Know When to Be Bad - Aggression You will always find yourself among the aggressive and the passive aggressive who seek to harm you in some way. You must get over any general fears you have of confronting people or you will find it extremely difficult to assert yourself in the face of those who are more cunning and ruthless. Before it is too late you must master the art of knowing when and how to be bad - using deception, manipulation, and outright force at the appropriate moments. Everyone operates with a flexible morality when it comes to their self-interest—you are simply making this more conscious and effective. 6. Lead from the Front - Authority In any group, the person on top consciously or unconsciously sets the tone. If leaders are fearful, hesitant to take any risks, or overly concerned for their ego and reputation, then this invariably filters its way through the entire group and makes effective action impossible. Complaining and haranguing people to work harder has a counterproductive effect. You must adopt the opposite style: imbue your troops with the proper spirit through your actions, not words. They see you working harder than anyone, holding yourself to the highest standards, taking risks with confidence, and making tough decisions. This inspires and binds the group together. In these democratic times, you must practice what you preach. 7. Know Your Environment from the Inside Out - Connection Most people think first of what they want to express or make, then find the audience for their idea. You must work the opposite angle, thinking first of the public. You need to keep your focus on their changing needs, the trends that are washing through them. Beginning with their demand, you create the appropriate supply. Do not be afraid of people’s criticisms - without such feedback your work will be too personal and delusional. You must maintain as close a relationship to your environment as possible, getting an inside “feel” for what is happening around you. Never lose touch with your base. 8. Respect the Process - Mastery The fools in life want things fast and easy — money, success, attention. Boredom is their great enemy and fear. Whatever they manage to get slips through their hands as fast as it comes in. You, on the other hand, want to outlast your rivals. You are building the foundation for something that can continue to expand. To make this happen, you will have to serve an apprenticeship. You must learn early on to endure the hours of practice and drudgery, knowing that in the end all of that time will translate into a higher pleasure—mastery of a craft and of yourself. Your goal is to reach the ultimate skill level—an intuitive feel for what must come next. 9. Push Beyond Your Limits - Self-Belief Your sense of who you are will determine your actions and what you end up getting in life. If you see your reach as limited, that you are mostly helpless in the face of so many difficulties, that it is best to keep your ambitions low, then you will receive the little that you expect. Knowing this dynamic, you must train yourself for the opposite—ask for more, aim high, and believe that you are destined for something great. Your sense of self-worth comes from you alone—never the opinion of others. With a rising confidence in your abilities, you will take risks that will increase your chances of success. People follow those who know where they are going, so cultivate an air of certainty and boldness. 10. Confront Your Mortality - The Sublime In the face of our inevitable mortality we can do one of two things. We can attempt to avoid the thought at all costs, clinging to the illusion that we have all the time in the world. Or we can confront this reality, accept and even embrace it, converting our consciousness of death into something positive and active. In adopting such a fearless philosophy, we gain a sense of proportion, become able to separate what is petty from what is truly important. Knowing our days to be numbered, we have a sense of urgency and mission. We can appreciate life all the more for its impermanence. If we can overcome the fear of death, then there is nothing left to fear. Extracted from Robert Greene and 50 Cent’s new book The 50th Law, published by Profile Books

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