As we end the year, Hypebot asked some our favorite thinkers, writers, and friends to answer two questions - one looking forward and the other back. Here Benjamin Campbell, Founder + CEO, OurStage.com, anwsers.

Hypebot: What do you see as the most important business and consumer trends that will shape the music industry in 2011?

Benjamin Campbell: I think musicians and fans understand more than ever just how symbiotic their relationship is.  

An informed, motivated, fan base can change the game for an artist - pushing them to the top: whether it's financially supporting them, helping spread the word about them online and via word of mouth, or judging them up in the rankings like we do on OurStage.com. 

In 2011 I think we'll see a further advancement of the tools that allow artists and fans to interact online - more direct interaction with passionate fans, more ways for those fans to spread the word, and more ways for the artist and fans to reward each other. 

I also think 2011 will bring a further consolidation in the industry.  Many of the media-darling music companies of just 3 years ago have either gone bust or been gobbled up for pennies on the dollar. 

This process is likely to continue in 2011 - with both MySpace and EMI on the rocks.  I think that by the end of the year we'll see big money being spent in the industry again to assemble the key components of a new-world-order platform - one with sufficient scale to actually have the industry reconsolidate around it.

Hypebot: Since this is ultimately all about music, what were your top musical moment(s) of 2010?

Benjamin Campbell: When OurStage band "Mission Hill" opened for Bon Jovi in front of 60,000 fans at Gillette Stadium; When 16 year old OurStage artist Sarah Solovay opened for John Mayer; When OurStage band "Kill the Alarm" totally rocked the OurStage MTV Showcase in NYC with their song "Sit Up". 

Sorry to have all my best musical moments be so OurStage-centric....but I'm very passionate about what we're doing.