Music industry to replicate Hollywood

[doug osborne]

Music industry to replicate Hollywood

[Anderton]

I guess it's good that the digital download thing is taking off, but look at those numbers -- 180 million songs? Given an average of 10 songs on a CD, that's equivalent to 18 million CDs worldwide -- not exactly impressive.

 

Digital downloads have a way to go, and P2P is still ruling the roost. Content release "windows" may help in the short term, but doesn't address the issue of the industry's need to come up with a model that's better than P2P. THAT's what it's all about.

[doug osborne]

 

Originally posted by Anderton ... look at those numbers -- 180 million songs? Given an average of 10 songs on a CD, that's equivalent to 18 million CDs worldwide -- not exactly impressive.

 

 

Or is that equivalent to 30 or 40 million CDs that consumers bought to get one or two good songs (as one common argument goes)?

 

 

 

Originally posted by Anderton Digital downloads have a way to go, and P2P is still ruling the roost. Content release "windows" may help in the short term, but doesn't address the issue of the industry's need to come up with a model that's better than P2P. THAT's what it's all about.

 

 

Is this the boat that the music industry missed somewhere in 1998?

[zone_ahead]

like popular acts will go on tour and play their new songs, and then a while later you can buy a single and then sometime after that the full album then later download it off if itunes?

 

is this what they mean?

[doug osborne]

The music industry (probably fortunately) can't be directly compared to the movie industry, in that the record companies do not normally directly profit from the live shows as movie companies do from theatrical exhibition.

 

The suggestions in the article

 

 

ranging from exclusive tracks posted on iTunes or pre-release ring tones to live CDs released long after an album

[zone_ahead]

ok, totally missed that paragraph in the article.

 

i agree, very underwhelming. and actually doesn't really seem all that different from what they are doing now.

[spokenward]

The original reasoning for "release windows" in theatrical was a hierarchy of revenue streams. Theatrical had the highest level of return by virtue of the participation in theatrical ticket sales. The movie distribution companies receive a sliding percentage of ticket sales as the release plays out (higher at open - lower at close). Then to the pay per view window in cable, satellite and airline markets. Then to video release within a six month or so cycle. Then to cable / broadcast (1 year or more). This scenario repeats itself in international markets.

 

However, DVD releases on a sucessful title now dwarf the revenues produced by the other post-theatrical release windows which puts pressure on those timelines. Most studios are contemplating eventually moving to "day and date" releases for DVD. They assume that this can insulate them from digital piracy and give them the benefit of sharing the ad and marketing impressions.