Rounding up recent tech news that impacts livelihoods in the creative community …

Wearables projected to grow steadily while hearables segment grows rapidly
On March 20 research firm IDC estimated that wearable devices will see five-year compound sales growth, more than 18 percent through 2021, with more than 102 million units having shipped in 2016. Most of this segment is smartwatches and fitness trackers, at least for now. Hearables — earworn devices comprising a variety of functions, from simple amplification and correction of audible sound, to seamless synchronization with a host of wireless devices for telecom, music, and gaming purposes — shipped 700,000 units in 2016. Clothing in the wearable tech category shipped 1.3 million units. Future devices are expected to converge with outerwear that supports headphones, earbuds, speakers, and helmets with audio. IDC Mobile Device Trackers Senior Research Analyst Jitesh Ubrani said the future of wearables and hearables is with a broader audience that "frequents fashion outlets over tech outlets." Separately, on March 16 research firm CCS Insight estimated that sales of hearables will rise to 11 million units by 2021.

Amazon is testing verified brand registry of leading intellectual property
To fight counterfeiting, Amazon Marketplace Vice President Peter Faricy told Reuters on March 20 that a brand registry is now in testing. As early as next month, leading retail brands are expected to be able to upload key art, report counterfeiters, and Amazon as well as its users will also be able to flag counterfeits. There will also be a label called "Transparency" available to brands that shoppers can use to compare official information with labeled merchandise. Faricy emphasized that efforts like this must be ongoing and continue to evolve in order to succeed. Making their marketplace more secure, for authorized and legitimate resellers who play by the rules, should result in immediate improvements at Amazon while serving as an influential best practice for other e-commerce retailers.

Facebook, Nielsen collaborate to measure multi-platform advertisements
On March 21, Facebook and Nielsen Catalina Solutions announced the launch of a new quantitative tool to measure advertising effectiveness on television, desktop, mobile, and combinations linking television with a second screen. Reporting on tests, Facebook by itself did better than just television, but the two in combination consistently did better than either by itself.

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