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The Boss Is Dead
If your customers can't get what you've got, you lose
"Content is king" was the oft-repeated mantra as the Internet proliferated, along with buzz words like "convergence" and "synergy."
But that boss is dead. The new boss is distribution. If your customers can't get what you've got, you lose.
I was thinking about this over the past weekend, driving around town, doing my usual shopping and other errands, listening to the new Bruce Springsteen album.
It dropped last week. Did you know that?
Oh, it's "scheduled" for "release" in about a month, but it leaked all over the Internet on Thursday. The quality (and bit-rate) of the files was adequate, though not ideal, but sufficient for computers and iPods. I'll probably buy the official CD when it does come out. But that's just me.
The fact is, content providers are no longer in control.
When NBC just tried to play hardball with Apple over its contract to distribute their shows on its iTunes Store, they demonstrated their cluelessness. They think that switching from iTunes to Amazon is going to get them better distribution and more revenue?
As Seth Godin pointed out in his blog, "For fifty years, NBC's major asset was that there were only three TV networks. That meant that all other things being equal, there was a 33 percent chance you'd tune in ... Now, NBC has a .00001 percent chance of being picked at random, and plenty of competition for attention."
The music business is dying, but it's not because people don't like music or because of the re-emergence and proliferation of one-hit wonders. It's because of the fatal failure to monetize distribution.
Content isn't king. Distribution is.
Content is a vital part of the process, but without controlling and profiting from its distribution, the echo you'll hear will be your own voice.
Richard Pachter is the MOLI View's contributing editor for Business.
But that boss is dead. The new boss is distribution. If your customers can't get what you've got, you lose.
I was thinking about this over the past weekend, driving around town, doing my usual shopping and other errands, listening to the new Bruce Springsteen album.
It dropped last week. Did you know that?
Oh, it's "scheduled" for "release" in about a month, but it leaked all over the Internet on Thursday. The quality (and bit-rate) of the files was adequate, though not ideal, but sufficient for computers and iPods. I'll probably buy the official CD when it does come out. But that's just me.
The fact is, content providers are no longer in control.
When NBC just tried to play hardball with Apple over its contract to distribute their shows on its iTunes Store, they demonstrated their cluelessness. They think that switching from iTunes to Amazon is going to get them better distribution and more revenue?
As Seth Godin pointed out in his blog, "For fifty years, NBC's major asset was that there were only three TV networks. That meant that all other things being equal, there was a 33 percent chance you'd tune in ... Now, NBC has a .00001 percent chance of being picked at random, and plenty of competition for attention."
The music business is dying, but it's not because people don't like music or because of the re-emergence and proliferation of one-hit wonders. It's because of the fatal failure to monetize distribution.
Content isn't king. Distribution is.
Content is a vital part of the process, but without controlling and profiting from its distribution, the echo you'll hear will be your own voice.
Richard Pachter is the MOLI View's contributing editor for Business.
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15:47 EDT, 10.Sep.07