Unfortunately the large retail music store is a dinosaur. It does matter because it was also a social gathering space, and that's one thing that buying music online lacks.
- Tony Beliech, a former Virgin Megastore employee
In Ben Sisario, "Retailing Era Closes With Music Megastore," New York Times, June 15, 2009
The real estate firms that own the last of the large record stores in New York City have determined that the land is worth far more than the store sales are worth. They are consequently shutting the store and leasing the location to a fashion chain. Mundane as this reason for closing is, it does reflect the larger trend away from CDs and other physical music recordings. "From the industry's peak in 2000 -- when some 785 million albums were sold -- until the end of 2008, album sales fell 45 percent, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Even with the rise of iTunes and other online outlets, however, CDs have remained consumers' format of choice, though that advantage is slipping. As recently as 2006, CDs accounted for more than 90 percent of album sales. Last year that proportion dropped to 84 percent, and so far in 2009 it is 77 percent."
There are also still many small music stores in New York City, some even still selling vinyl records. Most album sales today are made at chains such as Walmart and Best Buy; FYE is also a factor. ''The Titanic that is physical media started slowly sinking in 2000,'' said Michael McGuire, an analyst with Gartner, a market research firm, when asked about Virgin. ''Certainly this is a traumatic event for those who worked there, but it's an expected product of the digital transition.''
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The Rise of Web Video
[B]roadcast mode is dead. Now is the time for co-creation, user distribution and a true democratization of video content.
Tom Smith, managing director of Trendstream
In Gavin O'Malley, "Report: Online Video Fastest-Growing Medium In The History Of The World," Online Media Daily, May 29, 2009
Trendstream is a social media research consultancy, and so it has a vested interest in highlighting the popularity of the rapid growth taking place in the sharing of online video. The major broadcast and cable networks would dismiss Smith's comment. They would point out that the viewing of broadcast and cable television still takes up substantially over 95% of Americans' time with video. Nevertheless, Trendstream is using its findings from a survey (carried our by research firm Lighstream) of 1,000 "active web users" to point to the quick growth of watching clips online. The company claims that "with 72% of US Web users watching clips online, Web video outstrips both blogging and social networking, and is now the leading 'social media platform.'"
In recent months Hulu and other sites for network-quality video have gotten much news, but Trendstream notes that most of what goes on around video is the downloading and uploading of short clips. Moreover, "users of all ages now generate far more content than traditional broadcasters and collectively contribute the majority of video content to the Web."
Tom Smith, managing director of Trendstream
In Gavin O'Malley, "Report: Online Video Fastest-Growing Medium In The History Of The World," Online Media Daily, May 29, 2009
Trendstream is a social media research consultancy, and so it has a vested interest in highlighting the popularity of the rapid growth taking place in the sharing of online video. The major broadcast and cable networks would dismiss Smith's comment. They would point out that the viewing of broadcast and cable television still takes up substantially over 95% of Americans' time with video. Nevertheless, Trendstream is using its findings from a survey (carried our by research firm Lighstream) of 1,000 "active web users" to point to the quick growth of watching clips online. The company claims that "with 72% of US Web users watching clips online, Web video outstrips both blogging and social networking, and is now the leading 'social media platform.'"
In recent months Hulu and other sites for network-quality video have gotten much news, but Trendstream notes that most of what goes on around video is the downloading and uploading of short clips. Moreover, "users of all ages now generate far more content than traditional broadcasters and collectively contribute the majority of video content to the Web."
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Beyond TV's 30-Second Commercial
...the whole industry is moving toward a different model where deciding whether something is a hit or not is not just based on how much you charge for 30 seconds of advertising.
Brad Adgate, senior vice president for research at Horizon Media
In Edward Wyatt, "Despite Lower Ratings, Cash Flow Rises for ‘Idol’," New York Times, May 10, 2009
Despite declines in audience ratings over the past few years, the American Idol TV show is still making enormous--and growing--revenues for its owners. But the money is increasingly coming from more than the standard 30 second commercial: "The deals, which include products as disparate as ice cream and trading cards, as well as the more familiar partnerships with iTunes and AT&T, have driven tremendous growth in the profitability of “American Idol,” according to the public financial statements of the parent of 19 Entertainment, the company founded by Simon Fuller, the creator of the show." Fox Television, which broadcasts the show, also makes money by spinning off syndicated versions of it.
The activity is clearly not limited to Idol. Everyone in TV is trying to find "ancillary revenue streams" for their materials as audiences for individual programs decline with channel fragmentation and the amounts networks can charge for commercials consequently decline as well. One gauge sponsors of program deals like to see is audience "engagement" in the material. And Idol certainly still has that: "Last week, viewers cast 64 million votes, the most ever for a nonfinale episode."
Brad Adgate, senior vice president for research at Horizon Media
In Edward Wyatt, "Despite Lower Ratings, Cash Flow Rises for ‘Idol’," New York Times, May 10, 2009
Despite declines in audience ratings over the past few years, the American Idol TV show is still making enormous--and growing--revenues for its owners. But the money is increasingly coming from more than the standard 30 second commercial: "The deals, which include products as disparate as ice cream and trading cards, as well as the more familiar partnerships with iTunes and AT&T, have driven tremendous growth in the profitability of “American Idol,” according to the public financial statements of the parent of 19 Entertainment, the company founded by Simon Fuller, the creator of the show." Fox Television, which broadcasts the show, also makes money by spinning off syndicated versions of it.
The activity is clearly not limited to Idol. Everyone in TV is trying to find "ancillary revenue streams" for their materials as audiences for individual programs decline with channel fragmentation and the amounts networks can charge for commercials consequently decline as well. One gauge sponsors of program deals like to see is audience "engagement" in the material. And Idol certainly still has that: "Last week, viewers cast 64 million votes, the most ever for a nonfinale episode."
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Web Publishers Organize to Demand Ad Revenues From Sites Using Their Material
What we are saying is maybe there is a middle ground If people are taking full copies of your content—why don't you take a revenue share?
Jim Pitkow, CEO of Attributor Corporation
In Jessica E. Vascellaro, "Startup Tries to Rally Publishers With Ad-Sharing Proposal," Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2009
Attributor has technology that identifies copies of its clients' articles and videos that websites take from other sites. Sometimes the sites use full copies, which is a copyright violation. WHen it finds such content, Attributor sends the sites a note requesting that that they the content off the site. Attributor now has a new approach: It wants to allow sites to keep the content up but to share the advertising revenue they generate with the copyright holder. It has organized a group of publishers, called the Fair Syndication Coalition, to go to the advertising networks that serve ads on pages that are full copies of copyrighted material and demand some of the money that the ad networks would send to the sites carrying the material.
This approach is by no means straightforward. It's by no means clear that the ad networks will want to share the money without first getting permission from the websites. Moreover, many sites deal with more than one advertising network. It might be difficult to notify the relevant party of a copyright violation.
A larger question, which the article doesn't discuss, is whether the Fair Syndication Coalition will eventually go beyond wanting cash for full article to wanting cash for use of part of the article-- an activity called scraping. That approach will be sure to raise much controversy among websites.
Jim Pitkow, CEO of Attributor Corporation
In Jessica E. Vascellaro, "Startup Tries to Rally Publishers With Ad-Sharing Proposal," Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2009
Attributor has technology that identifies copies of its clients' articles and videos that websites take from other sites. Sometimes the sites use full copies, which is a copyright violation. WHen it finds such content, Attributor sends the sites a note requesting that that they the content off the site. Attributor now has a new approach: It wants to allow sites to keep the content up but to share the advertising revenue they generate with the copyright holder. It has organized a group of publishers, called the Fair Syndication Coalition, to go to the advertising networks that serve ads on pages that are full copies of copyrighted material and demand some of the money that the ad networks would send to the sites carrying the material.
This approach is by no means straightforward. It's by no means clear that the ad networks will want to share the money without first getting permission from the websites. Moreover, many sites deal with more than one advertising network. It might be difficult to notify the relevant party of a copyright violation.
A larger question, which the article doesn't discuss, is whether the Fair Syndication Coalition will eventually go beyond wanting cash for full article to wanting cash for use of part of the article-- an activity called scraping. That approach will be sure to raise much controversy among websites.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Email Marketing and Politics
This is the first time a politician of any kind has used the internet for daily one-to-one dialogue.
- Steve Cone, Chief Marketing Officer at Epsilon, a database marketing agency
In Michael Bush, "Why Watch Obama? Here Are 13 Million Reasons," Advertising Age, April 13, 2009
During the presidential campaign, President Barack Obama amassed a database of 13 million fervent supporters. After the campaign the Democratic National Committee took over the database and began an email campaign to reinforce and mobilize Obama supporters for the long haul. "Turn out the database has continued to be one of his biggest assets, and the 'permanent campaign,' as it has been dubbed, continued to roll on after the election, with e-mails from President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and campaign manager David Plouffe asking supporters to identify ways to get involved in their communities, donate money to the DNC and to the inauguration ceremony." For example, the president recently signed one email that asked people to support his proposed budget by phoning the email recipient's local congressional representatives. (The phone number was included in the email.)
Marketers are marveling at the effectiveness and organization behind the activity, which they say consumer products firms should learn. But some worry that the DNC might be starting to commit an email sin that too many marketers commit: Sending out too many emails and risking the audience's annoyance.
- Steve Cone, Chief Marketing Officer at Epsilon, a database marketing agency
In Michael Bush, "Why Watch Obama? Here Are 13 Million Reasons," Advertising Age, April 13, 2009
During the presidential campaign, President Barack Obama amassed a database of 13 million fervent supporters. After the campaign the Democratic National Committee took over the database and began an email campaign to reinforce and mobilize Obama supporters for the long haul. "Turn out the database has continued to be one of his biggest assets, and the 'permanent campaign,' as it has been dubbed, continued to roll on after the election, with e-mails from President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and campaign manager David Plouffe asking supporters to identify ways to get involved in their communities, donate money to the DNC and to the inauguration ceremony." For example, the president recently signed one email that asked people to support his proposed budget by phoning the email recipient's local congressional representatives. (The phone number was included in the email.)
Marketers are marveling at the effectiveness and organization behind the activity, which they say consumer products firms should learn. But some worry that the DNC might be starting to commit an email sin that too many marketers commit: Sending out too many emails and risking the audience's annoyance.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Ghostwriting Tweets: Part of PR's Future
It’s 140 characters. It’s so few characters. If you need a ghostwriter for that, I feel sorry for you.
- Shaquille O'Neil
Noam Cohen, "When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking," New York Times, March 26, 2009
Basketball star O'Neil is reflecting the "purist" notion that many athletes take toward the use of Twitter, a microblogging tool that allows people to post messages 140 characters in length. And while certain celebrities agree with O'Neil, others have people writing in their name to the thousands, even hundreds of thousands, who follow their "tweets."
While many online commentators think the Twitter ghost-writing practice is in bad faith, defenders of the practice insist that stars are brands with personas. Just as companies have twitter feeds that show their products well, so celebrity brands should have tweets that reflect a public-relations approach. The point is reflected in comments by a business partner of rapper 50 Cent, who does not write tweets signed by him: "He doesn’t actually use Twitter,” Chris Romero said of 50 Cent, “but the energy of it is all him.”
- Shaquille O'Neil
Noam Cohen, "When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking," New York Times, March 26, 2009
Basketball star O'Neil is reflecting the "purist" notion that many athletes take toward the use of Twitter, a microblogging tool that allows people to post messages 140 characters in length. And while certain celebrities agree with O'Neil, others have people writing in their name to the thousands, even hundreds of thousands, who follow their "tweets."
While many online commentators think the Twitter ghost-writing practice is in bad faith, defenders of the practice insist that stars are brands with personas. Just as companies have twitter feeds that show their products well, so celebrity brands should have tweets that reflect a public-relations approach. The point is reflected in comments by a business partner of rapper 50 Cent, who does not write tweets signed by him: "He doesn’t actually use Twitter,” Chris Romero said of 50 Cent, “but the energy of it is all him.”
Friday, March 27, 2009
Canoe Ventures Paddles to Cable's Future
The cable industry gets it. We have 18-year olds. We know what the internet is. We are not Luddites.
- David Verklin, CEO of Canoe Ventures
In Wayne Friedman, "Death Greatly Exaggerated," Media Daily News, March 25, 2009
People are still watching lots of "television," according to Nielsen. The company found that viewing in 2008 increased five minutes in 2007 over 2008. Manish Bhatia, president of advanced digital services for the Nielsen Company, says the "average person spends two minutes watching a video online. If I were to fast-forward, we will probably be spending more -- not less -- time with TV."
But what "television" means is changing dramatically. As Bhatia notes, people interactions with video online is pushing programmers and marketers to transform TV into an interactive medium. That is where Canoe paddles in. It is a consortium of cable operators representing 96% of U.S. cable TV homes. By late 2009, , will be able to send targeted commercials to zones based on incomes. In an example, Verklin said “American Express could get to advertise their Green card nationally, while its upscale gold card will target a ‘zone’—households with income of over $100,000.” He added that “the holy grail of TV marketers” will happen by around 2012, when advertisers will be able to customize their offers to individual households based on a huge variety of data about them.
By 2012 or a bit later, "television" to people may well mean bringing internet video, broadcast stations, and cable networks together to the large flatscreen home set, as well as to desktops and laptops. To attract marketer-specific audiences, cable operators may well begin to customize news and entertainment as well as ads based on viewing, demographic and lifestyle data. All this raises important issues around privacy as well as placing people in information "silos" based on marketing categories.
- David Verklin, CEO of Canoe Ventures
In Wayne Friedman, "Death Greatly Exaggerated," Media Daily News, March 25, 2009
People are still watching lots of "television," according to Nielsen. The company found that viewing in 2008 increased five minutes in 2007 over 2008. Manish Bhatia, president of advanced digital services for the Nielsen Company, says the "average person spends two minutes watching a video online. If I were to fast-forward, we will probably be spending more -- not less -- time with TV."
But what "television" means is changing dramatically. As Bhatia notes, people interactions with video online is pushing programmers and marketers to transform TV into an interactive medium. That is where Canoe paddles in. It is a consortium of cable operators representing 96% of U.S. cable TV homes. By late 2009, , will be able to send targeted commercials to zones based on incomes. In an example, Verklin said “American Express could get to advertise their Green card nationally, while its upscale gold card will target a ‘zone’—households with income of over $100,000.” He added that “the holy grail of TV marketers” will happen by around 2012, when advertisers will be able to customize their offers to individual households based on a huge variety of data about them.
By 2012 or a bit later, "television" to people may well mean bringing internet video, broadcast stations, and cable networks together to the large flatscreen home set, as well as to desktops and laptops. To attract marketer-specific audiences, cable operators may well begin to customize news and entertainment as well as ads based on viewing, demographic and lifestyle data. All this raises important issues around privacy as well as placing people in information "silos" based on marketing categories.
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