Recently, I purchased a DVD from Amazon in the UK. It arrived promptly the next day, which was impressive. I popped it into my computer to watch but realised that I hadn't set my DVD region yet on that machine. I didn't really want to. Since I travel frequently between the USA (region 1) and the UK (region 2), I like to keep my options open. I wasn't ready to commit. Right about then, my iTunes auto-loaded, whereupon I was informed that I was entitled to download a digital copy of the movie for my personal consumption. Okay, I thought, that's a relief. This way, I could transfer the digital copy to my AppleTV and watch it on the big screen. That would make a nice change. Following the instructions detailed by a 20th Century Fox page for the film that had popped up within iTunes, I … [Read more...]
What does Crowdpower mean for Entertainment?
I just wrote an article on Nomadz, "Dematerialising Posessions into The Cloud." In it, I wrote about the effect of the weightless economy on goods and services, inspired by the work of Rachel Botsman and her thesis, 'collaborative consumption'. What I didn't do was discuss at length how this will affect the entertainment industry... Even if DVD sales disappear, they will be replaced by something else. Thankfully to those of us in the Industry, people still like watching movies, television and other forms of passive entertainment. But it seems increasingly unlikely that people will want to 'own' this content, unless they are a big fan of the content creator (see, "The Sky is Falling - the End of DVD?") In other words, people will want the experience but without the ownership. Much of … [Read more...]
“Sometimes you have to destroy your business in order to save it” – James Surowiecki
That's the final sentence of an intelligent and sobering article in the Oct 18 edition of The New Yorker, written by James Surowiecki and entitled, "The Next Level." In the article he charts the rise and fall of 'category killer' stores like CompUSA, Circuit City, Toys R Us, Barnes & Noble and, now, the defunct Blockbuster. The reason for their rise was their ability to stock incredible volume and scope of a single category of goods at unbeatable prices. The reason for their demise is their inability to cope with the Internet. This is an all-too-familiar cycle. You would have thought that business leaders would have wised up to the fact that technology invites disruption, which in turn invites new titans of business that know how to cater to a shift in the balance of power. But we … [Read more...]
The Sky is Falling – The end of DVD?
The Studios have tried playing Chicken Little for some time now when it comes to DVD sales. But the truth is - like many things in life - far more nuanced than all-or-nothing armageddon. Once upon a time it was the 'Digital Video Disc'. Then, it became the 'Digital Versatile Disc'. Now, it's not looking all that 'versatile' and certainly a lot less 'digital' when compared to alternatives that put data in the Cloud (such as VOD). Consequently, DVDs are on the wane - but not dead. Despite what Hollywood thinks, the world does not revolve around North America. And this has become ever more true of the film market. The US may still be the largest homogenous marketplace but Box office in Europe is already outstripping American B.O. (e.g. Shrek, Toy Story 3, etc). And there's a similar story … [Read more...]
