Media, and the industries within it, have gone through tremendous transformation since the Internet boom ten years ago. 2000-10 was a decade of disruption - death of the old media and birth of the new. Last week, I discussed how business intelligence, mobile and web have and will continue to cause substantial impact to the retail industry. For the media industry, these technology trends have been amplified even more, assisting in the creation of micro-industries (i.e. streaming music and video and e-publishing) and remaking others (newspaper, broadcasting).

Here are the 3 leading skill sets and their salaries assisting in the ongoing transformation of the media Industry in 2012.

Mobile Developer: $101,000 - $115,000. One technology skill-set that is consistent across the board for media - including, but not restricted to publishing, advertising and broadcasting - is mobile application development. There is a global crave and obsession with mobile applications right now - thousands of iPhone and Android apps are being created per day. With this rapid growth and demand comes an even higher demand for mobile developers.

A common theme that I've heard, in terms of technological growth in media, is that "mobile developer" is a very broad term. A common conversation I have with CTO’s is the different types of mobile developments - Java for Android, iOS, Objective-C, Blackberry apps - and how they're utilized in different areas of media.

--Aaron Bata, Senior Media Account Director 

Check out our 2012 Technology Outlook to see what mobile development languages are trending.

PHP Developer: $80,00 - $137,000. PHP is the most widely used language for building websites. While salaries vary depending on the specific focus of the PHP Developer, overall, PHP developers have seen a steady increase in salary due to the growth of global media.

PHP is used by approximately 5 million developers around the world, primarily for building Web pages with content that is routinely updated or changed, as well as for building web applications. It is the sixth most widely used programming language worldwide.

-- InfoWorld

Web Designer: $49,000 - $89,000. Within web design these days, there are many more possibilities than basic computer browser website development. The design, navigation and user experience of a website directly affect customer experience and chance of becoming a repeat user, such as online gamers or national news outlets. Both UI and UX web designers must gain experience in the mobile web.

Mobile Internet usage is set to overtake desktop Internet usage by 2014, and what’s more, the way people use their mobile devices to browse is very different.

--- Forbes

The right IT tools in the hands of the right IT professionals is critical for a creative industry to remain competitive. Learn more about industry specific technology in our 2012 IT Salary Guide. Stay tuned next week to learn how IT in healthcare has grown and changed over the past year.