This time last year, each member of the MusicRadar team revealed their predictions for 2009. Some we got spot on, some were kinda... well, a bit off, frankly. So we're going to have another stab at it - we present, for your reading pleasure: MusicRadar's 52 things that will define 2010.
As before, we've attributed each prediction to the contributing team member so they can revel in praise when their predictions come true. Or be publicly humiliated when the opposite happens, as the case may be...
Enjoy!
New Year's predictions: 52 things that will define 2010
1. Ableton and Cycling '74's Max For Live will be a smash success, finally taking Max/MSP to the music-making masses. Chris Wickett
2. Apple will add some kind of full-track streaming element to the iTunes Music Store. Ben Rogerson
3. The Libertines will reform this year. I know I said it last year too, but this time it will happen. Chris Vinnicombe
4. Now that Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck have already played concerts together, Jimmy Page will join them in a real Yardbirds reunion. Joe Bosso
5. Melodyne's DNA technology will spawn countless imitations and alternatives, making polyphonic pitch editing an everyday task. Chris Wickett
6. MySpace will become virtually obsolete. Chris WIckett
7. A large US-based instrument manufacturer will release a Michael Jackson signature guitar. Chris Wickett
8. The BitTorrent protocol will evolve to better function without the need for legally targetable torrent trackers. Chris Wickett
9. Governments worldwide will finally come to accept that copyright laws created before the rise of the internet do not work for IP online. Chris Wickett
10. Apple will release something beautiful, sleek and revolutionary that none of the MusicRadar team will be able to afford to buy. Again. Chris Vinnicombe
11. Noel Gallagher will release a solo record. He'll claim it's the best thing he's ever written before its release, only to immediately denounce it afterwards. Chris Wickett
12. There'll be more totally integrated hardware/software products. Native Instruments' Maschine has proved that they work and that there's a demand for them (and, of course, they can't be cracked), so expect other companies to follow this model. Ben Rogerson
13. Dubstep will simultaneously break through into the mainstream and be disowned by those who created it. Ben Rogerson
14. The world will watch in wonder as an artist appears on Later With Jools Holland playing an Eigenharp. Ben Rogerson
15. D'Angelo and Lauryn Hill will both release full-length studio albums (hey, we can dream) Ben Rogerson
16. Teenage Engineering's OP-1 will be released and become 2010's must-have piece of music technology hardware. Ben Rogerson
17. The first USB 3.0 audio interfaces will be released. Ben Rogerson
18. Propellerhead Software will released an iPhone app that works like a mini version of Reason. Ben Rogerson
19. MGMT's Congratulations will either be the album of 2010 or sink without trace. Ben Rogerson
20. Having pillaged the music of every act of the last 70 years, the two largest instrument-based game franchises will put out their final editions: Guitar Hero: Robert Johnson; and Duke Ellington: Rock Band. Chris Wickett
21. More new, preposterously-monikered genres will be loved by scenesters for ten minutes then sink without trace. See you at the crunge night at the Hoxditch Arse & Feathers in October. I'll be the one wearing a Scrabble board as a necklace. Chris Vinnicombe
22. Apple's 4th generation iPhone will launch with even greater music-making potential. The groans of those of us locked into 18 month contracts with the old handsets will be audible from space. Chris Vinnicombe
23. 2009 saw the processing planets of proper multi-thread support and 64-bit architecture align in both Windows 7 and OS X Snow Leopard. This means it's finally time for software manufacturers to start tapping this potential - 2010 will see new plug-ins and processes of gargantuan complexity taking convolution effects and physical modelling to new levels. Chris Wickett
24. Jay-Z will guest on a new single by The Ting Tings. Ben Rogerson
25. Now that the RATM campaign has kicked down the door, Christmas 2010 will see too many disparate anti-Cowell movements, allowing next year's SyCo protegé to cruise to number one. Chris Vinnicombe
26. The physical media dodo will occupy even less of the music and movie sales market, as faster broadband speeds facilitate a growth in lossless and HD downloads. Plus, nobody is buying computers with optical drives any more. Chris Vinnicombe
27. U2's 360 Tour will finally turn a profit - a year after it started. Joe Bosso
28. That Joaquin Phoenix rap album? We'll still be waiting on it. Joe Bosso
29. Now that their reunion album has stiffed, Creed will break up again. Hey, we can dream... Joe Bosso
30. Now that an artificially distressed Guitar Hero controller has been released, you might be forgiven for thinking that the relic phenomenon has jumped the shark. Not so. We predict new extremes of the faux-old in 2010 as the trend spreads from guitars and amps into the drum and hi-tech markets. Chris Vinnicombe
31. Following the success of Novation's Launchpad, we'll see more affordable matrix-based controllers from other manufacturers. Ben Rogerson
32. Multi-gigabyte ROMpler instruments will start to fall out of favour as musicians come to realise that synthesis-based plug-ins do the job perfectly well and are much more convenient. Ben Rogerson
33. Steven Tyler will rejoin Aerosmith. Ben Rogerson
34. Despite continually stating that it's not going to happen, Robert Plant will still be quizzed about the possibility of another Led Zeppelin reunion. Ben Rogerson
35. Amy Winehouse's new album will be delayed until 2011. Ben Rogerson
36. Inevitably, Robbie Williams will rejoin Take That. Ben Rogerson
37. Melodyne Editor will become the producer's go-to tuning plug-in of choice, consigning Auto-Tune to the novelty FX bin. Chris Vinnicombe
38. More bands will abandon the practice of releasing albums and simply release songs instead. Ben Rogerson
39.England's official Word Cup 2010 single will be risible, and whatever fans adopt as their unofficial anthem will ultimately win the chart battle. Chris Vinnicombe
40. At least one software developer will tell us that it's releasing a plug-in that will automatically make your music sound good just by choosing a single preset. Ben Rogerson
41. Linux's viability as a music-making operating system will continue to increase. Ben Rogerson
42. As more and more software goes 'into the cloud', a well-known developer will release an application that works online rather than being installed locally on your computer. Ben Rogerson
43. The first hit single recorded entirely on an iPhone will make UK chart history. Chris Vinnicombe
44. The Stones will tour in 2010, without Ron Wood. He's been a bad boy lately. And when the Stones say you're bad... Joe Bosso
45. Apple will finally release a multi-touch tablet computer. Chris Wickett
46. Musicians will use the Apple tablet as a controller in the same way they do JazzMutant's Lemur. Chris Wickett
47. Spotify will go nuclear as jail-broken Apple Tablets will support the streaming service. Chris Wickett
48. Hot on the heels of this year's YouTube ukelele trend, banjos will come right back into fashion. Chris Wickett
49. The first X Factor competitor will appear on Strictly Come Dancing. Chris Wickett
50. Rage Against The Machine will appear live on the X Factor. Chris Wickett
51. Mythical 14-minute Beatles track Carnival Of Light will finally see the light of day. Chris Wickett
52. Some of the predictions above won't happen. Ben Rogerson
