Strand Books - Standing Firm Against the E-Tide (WSJ)

Meet The New Boss, Worse Than The Old Boss? - #music #disintermediation

the publishing industry "watched everything that happened to the music industry and they learned almost nothing"

I think far from destroying the music business, he put it on a path to redemption,” said Tom Freston, former head of Viacom and MTV. “With the iPod and iTunes, Steve not only created his own ecosystem, it turned out to be one that was contagious and created opportunities not only for his computer business, but for all the Apple products that came behind it.”

Mr. Jobs was initially pegged as a technologist who didn’t understand the media and entertainment businesses, but his track record as an operator is pretty enviable. In 1986, he bought the company which would become Pixar from George Lucas for $5 million and invested $5 million more.

Operators are catching on, and companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and Verizon are making applications available on the iPad that enable viewers to access cable content through the device. Some are also building apps for the next generation of connected TV platforms, hoping that IP applications could provide a better user experience for their subscribers.

But even so, they will also need to compete with services that are offered at a fraction of the price of most pay TV offerings. Netflix and Hulu Plus are both available for $8 a month, much less than the average $70 bill cable subscribers pay. To get young people on their first jobs and in their first apartments to sign up, cable, satellite and IPTV providers will need to find ways to be more competitive.

To pick a couple of examples more or less at random, last year Barry Diller of IAC said, of content available on the web, “It is not free, and is not going to be,” Steve Brill of Journalism Online said that users “just need to get back into the habit of doing so [paying for content] online”, and Rupert Murdoch of News Corp said “Web users will have to pay for what they watch and use.”

Diller, Brill, and Murdoch seem be stating a simple fact—we will have to pay them—but this fact is not in fact a fact. Instead, it is a choice, one its proponents often decline to spell out in full, because, spelled out in full, it would read something like this:

“Web users will have to pay for what they watch and use, or else we will have to stop making content in the costly and complex way we have grown accustomed to making it. And we don’t know how to do that.”

The portability of content from device to device represents the future of media consumption. But the device market is constantly shifting, due to changing consumer preferences and an evolving electronics landscape. Device manufacturers, marketers and publishers alike are challenged to make content available where, when and how their end users want to consume it—and that is anywhere, anytime and on any device.

Certain stalwart brands will survive and even thrive because of a new scarcity of quality content for niche audiences that demand more than generic information. The chip that was implanted in me when I arrived at this newspaper — you might call it New York Times Exceptionalism — leads me to conclude that this organization will be one of those, but the insurgency continues apace.

Those of us who covered media were told for years that the sky was falling, and nothing happened. And then it did. Great big chunks of the sky gave way and magazines tumbled — Gourmet!? — that seemed as if they were as solid as the skyline itself. But to those of us who were here back in September of 2001, we learned that even the edifice of Manhattan itself is subject to perforation and endless loss.

CEO Lesson Two: Get your company through media meltdown as fast as possible. Rupert Murdoch is clearly not there yet — he spent the week threatening to sue the BBC and Google for “…stealing content.” You might be able to replicate your old model for a time, but, as the Forrester reports states, “…you do so under a sun that is gradually sinking on the horizon.” The more time you spend in the meltdown stage, the fewer resources you’ll have to work with during your recovery — cf. Gourmet.

CEO Lesson Three: Use your leadership to prod, push, cajole your company into Stage Three. No, it won’t be easy and you could very well lose your job in the process — note that Reed Elsevier’s Ian Smith left the company this week after spending nine months on the job. Your executives may only know the old way. Your board may only know the old way. You see lower operating margins ahead. You don’t have a clear pricing model.

The book industry has not received cheery news for a while. Publishers and authors alike have relied upon sales of general-interest hardcover books as the foundation of the business. The Association of American Publishers estimated that these hardcover sales in the United States declined 13 percent in 2008, versus the previous year. This year, these sales were down 15.5 percent through July, versus the same period of 2008. Total e-book sales, though up considerably this year, remained small, at $81.5 million, or 1.6 percent of total book sales through July.

. The drop in combined print and digital ad revenue last year, 16.6 percent, according to the Newspaper Association of America, was the worst since the Depression. But it looks rosy next to 2009, when revenue fell 28.3 percent in the first quarter and 29 percent in the second.

In the last few days, signs of life have been seen from struggling retailers, and the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, and others have speculated that the recession has ended. Media executives, including Rupert Murdoch, have talked about advertising starting to rebound. Last week, shares in several newspaper companies, including Gannett, McClatchy and The New York Times Company, jumped 10 percent or more, to their highest prices this year.

Does the fate of network radio have anything to teach today's old-media executives? Three lessons come to mind: Network TV lost vast amounts of money in its early years. It was only because the existing ­radio networks were willing to subsidize TV that it survived—leaving CBS and NBC at the top of the heap in the '50s and '60s, just as they had been in the '30s and '40s. The old media of today have a similar chance to prosper tomorrow if they can survive the heavy financial losses that they're incurring while they develop workable new-media business models.

Established radio performers such as Benny and Hope, who embraced TV on its own visually oriented terms, flourished well into the '60s. Everyone else—­including Fred Allen—vanished into the dumpster of entertainment history. The same fate awaits contemporary old-media figures unwilling to grapple with the challenge of the new media, no matter how popular they may be today.

what media moguls would want to preserve on the Web and mobile platforms is the dual-revenue stream from subscriptions and advertising.

The Shift Index is focused on three sets of main indicators: * Foundations, which set the stage for major change * Flows of resources, such as knowledge, which allows businesses to enhance productivity * Impacts, which help gauge progress at an economy-wide level

But the biggest burden falls on the clicker, the person who follows the links. The extra layer of indirection slows down browsing with additional DNS lookups and server hits. A new and potentially unreliable middleman now sits between the link and its destination. And the long-term archivability of the hyperlink now depends on the health of a third party. The shortener may decide a link is a Terms Of Service violation and delete it. If the shortener accidentally erases a database, forgets to renew its domain, or just disappears, the link will break. If a top-level domain changes its policy on commercial use, the link will break. If the shortener gets hacked, every link becomes a potential phishing attack.

The fundamental obstacle for online publishing, according to the president of the Interactive Advertising Bureau: "It couldn't be more straightforward," Randall Rothenberg says. "It is a disequilibrium between supply and demand." Yeah, that about sums it up. As (my former Ad Age colleague) Rothenberg details, "Today the average 14-year-old can create a global television network with applications that are built into her laptop. So from a very strict Econ 101 basis, you have the ability to create virtually unlimited supply against what has been historically relatively stable demand."

“In 2009 and 2010, all the two-newspaper markets will become one-newspaper markets, and you will start to see one-newspaper markets become no-newspaper markets,”

The eccentric selections intimidated some patrons. But many others, enthralled, frequently used the word “adventurous” to describe their forays through the shelves. It was an adventure that extended to the assembly of the collection. Over the years, Mr. Kim, now in his late 40s, built a staff that traveled the world scouring for additional titles — the only way to find obscure films in the pre-Internet age. By 2008, the collection had swelled to 55,000 eclectic works, many impossible to find anywhere else. Then the world changed.

Digital is still small, and stalling: All of this would be fine if digital revenue was growing to meet the shortfall, but current growth rates are not nearly enough. DMGT-owned Daily Mail (LSE: DMGT) publisher Associated Newspapers nearly trebled its online income to £9 million in the year to September, while regional stablemate Northcliffe made 42 percent more at £17 million.

Don’t expect it to last, though. As the brands recognize that they are being bilked – rather, that there is at best a tenuous link between consumption of their goods and consumption of the free content they are sponsoring, they will be less likely to foot the bill. For the beneficiaries of free content, the internet is unraveling this whole ecosystem with unwavering speed. If you are a media company, or a shareholder in a media company, there is a good reason to worry about what the next ten years hold in store. The enemy is not Google or the internet, but rather increased intelligence and analysis of advertising spend, which will irrevocably change the way advertisers allocate their dollars.

Providers of short bits of content and common information will lose out to the net, said Mr. Carter, editor in chief at Vanity Fair. But the long-form storytelling and gorgeous photography that fill magazines like his? "It's going to be a while before the internet takes that away," he said.

The book has had a long life as the world’s pre-eminent device for the storage and retrieval of knowledge, but that may be ending, where the physical object is concerned.

The Metro report will become part of the newspaper’s A section, which also contains the International and National reports, and the editorial and Op-Ed pages, on Mondays through Saturdays, and possibly on Sundays, as well.

The Sports report will go into the section that begins with Business Day, on Tuesdays through Fridays, while Sports will remain a separate section on weekends and on Mondays.

Combining sections, which will take effect on Monday, Oct. 6, will not reduce the number of pages devoted to the Metro and Sports reports, the executives said.

This was the chance to show the world you "get it". Pump out all the fine programing you have to p2p replete with appropriate monetization strategy and blow peoples minds.

1. It would incremental
2. It could have advertising
3. It would be an epic PR move
4. It would build brand loyalty and equity worldwide (and potentially the enabling advertiser / sponsor)
5. Develop not traditional viewing audience relationship

On Saturday, Mr. Stelter’s wonderful article in The New York Times on how people were working around the blackout on the Olympic ceremony began as a post on Twitter seeking consumer experiences, then jumped onto his blog, TV Decoder, caught the attention

“People who should know better are talking about a digital revolution, about whether or not we will all be watching ‘linear television’ in five years’ time. They have signed up for what I call ‘Bollocks 2.0’.”

DiClemente added, "In reality, while there are many obvious differences between music/audio and movie/video media forms, the core properties of video distribution and consumption are not different enough from music content to continue to justify why movie

For one thing, just what does "television" mean now? The "watching" part is also open to debate, as my 13-year-old son bears out.

A £255,000 fine for airing offensive language is the latest blow for a broadcaster which is struggling to hang on to its viewers in the face of the exodus to the web. Rob Sharp reports

“You have to ask yourself why Pepsi would team up with a company that doesn’t sell its products, and risk antagonising all the people that do sell its products,” said a source at one retailer.

said they did not create Scrabulous to make money, even though they now collect about $25,000 a month from online advertising. They just wanted to play Scrabble on their computers, and their favorite (unauthorized) site had started charging, he said.

First, it presumes guilt. A copyright owner normally has to go to court and prove that its property has been abused. Instead, it will be able to go to an ISP and seek summary justice against the accused. To protect themselves, ISPs may simply cut off any

dig through reams of data on TV ratings, looking for answers to one of the biggest questions facing the television business: How is the growing number of digital video recorders changing the way people do -- or don't -- watch commercials?

(good ann powers piece ) In that light, the release of "In Rainbows" signals not only revolution but preservation. Pop is evolving, but rock as we once knew it -- rock that arrogantly and gracefully makes its own universe

Switching to Amazon merely creates a third player, but it doesn't do what the networks truly needed to do--build a direct relationship between the network and the viewer. Amazon has one, so does Apple.

Philippe Dauman "We are reinventing the commercial pods to maximize viewer retention during each commercial break," said Philippe Dauman, CEO of the company that owns MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. "

"With the advent of the download, the emphasis has reverted to single tracks," said frontman Tim Wheeler.

"We're in a world where we're a partner with everybody and we're fighting everybody," News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin said on the panel.

But the women do not have a CD to promote. Universal/Republic Records, their label, signed Candy Hill to record two songs, not a complete album.

Trans World Entertainment Corp. reported Thursday a 6 percent decline in comparable store sales during the 2006 fiscal year, as the Guilderland music and video chain continued to struggle in what Chairman and CEO Robert J. Higgins called a "challenging en

BitTorrent Inc has released the final details of their long awaited video store. The store itself will go live this Monday, and will offer movie rentals at $2.99 - $3.99, and “download to own” TV shows and music videos for $1.99. The “BitTorrent Ent

"We are definitely going to see the demise of the larger stores and will probably also see a decrease in the number of specialty stores, as well," said Steve Jones, professor of communications at University of Illinois Chicago. "The stores that become 'in

nizations. You don't have to approach everything with a $100,000 solution when $10,000 will do just fine. If aggregation is where its at (and I believe that it is), then build aggregators. Let other people be the content creators and move yourself to the

THE GROWING PENETRATION OF DIGITAL video recorders do not appear to be impacting the "live" ratings of the major broadcast networks' prime-time schedules, and may be helping to attract bigger audiences for the most popular shows.

Target might reduce shelf space and promotional efforts on behalf of new DVD releases, Steinhafel wrote late last month, if the studios undercut retail sales by making cheaper downloads available.

A deal could take the form of a digital download "coupon" that would allow consumers to buy movies, TV shows or music on iTunes with Apple paying the retail giant a percentage of the proceeds, one industry insider said.

The venture also cuts out the middle-man typically present to negotiate deals between advertising and music companies by giving WPP direct access to Universal's catalog.

"The biggest challenge is explaining to them we're friend and not foe," says Mr. Eun, 39 years old, Google's vice president of content partnerships.

Households where someone recently watched an on-demand movie bought only 1 percent fewer DVD’s each year than they had before they discovered the cable service, which amounts to about one-tenth of a disc.

What's more, since Netflix rents 60,000 titles, it follows that those 50 titles -- eight-tenths of 1% of inventory -- generate 30% of all rentals. Netflix isn't alone in getting a big chunk of business from hits; sales of Apple's iTunes are close to those

in March, U.S. residents downloaded 243 million songs from P-to-P services and bought 26 million songs from online music stores,

Some people say that the film industry has more to fear than just being late to the party. If the Net begins spawning films — and not simply helping to market or deliver them, as has happened to date — studios’ grip on the business of putting pictur

Yesterday there were a few dozen providers; today news, views and attitudes stream through millions of gates. And the Web accepts all kinds of gatekeepers, each with unique rules for what matters, rather than the rules adopted by a class of professionals

According to Prince Campbell, a media-exec-turned-blogger, "Just like the Internet killed the music industry, it's about to do the same thing to broadcast TV."

Putting a snippet of a CD track or MP3 file on your phone is actually very straightforward -- not to mention free, if you already own the song. Following is a step-by-step guide.

A Content Consortium would wreak havoc with the Web as we know it in its bid to restore the role of content owner as gatekeeper. It could shrink some opportunities for lucrative targeted search ads à la Google's AdWords or Yahoo!

XM + Sirius lookout....music radio service for cellphones that also plays over car and home stereos.

puts Motorola in competition with XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and SiriusThe iRadio service will cost about $7 a month but the price may vary.

They closed their shop on Christmas Eve because its once-robust business had virtually disappeared. NYCD (New York Compact Disc) was one of the city's last independent shops selling new and used records.

In the United States, CD sales have dropped from 942.5 million units in 2000 to 766.9 million last year, a 19 percent decline. 1994: 662.1 1995: 722.9 1996: 778.9 1997: 753.1 1998: 847.0 1999: 938.9 2000: 942.5 2001: 881.9 2002: 803.3 2003: 745.9 2004: 76

At a cost of about $20 an episode, they reach an audience that some days is roughly comparable in size to that of, say, CNN's late, unlamented "Crossfire" political debate show.

These limited, ‘non-linear’ forms of prime-time program delivery signal that broadcast networks, far from capitulating to a “trend”, intend to fully protect any incremental viewing rights enabled by new technologies (VoD or otherwise). The message

Jenna Drey was an undiscovered dance-music artist who uploaded some of her songs onto GarageBand.com. The songs rose to the top of the website's listings, and Drey wound up with a record deal and a song that reached No. 11 on Billboard's dance chart.

Among the options: special "pod-puncher" ads -- blips as short as five seconds -- strategically positioned at the end of a commercial break to get more attention from viewers. At the other extreme, marketers are working on ads lasting several minutes, as

How MySpace became the MTV for the Net generation.

The proposals could also become bargaining chips in current lawsuits against Google by trade groups representing publishers and authors. These groups have charged that Google is violating copyrights by making digital copies of books from libraries for use

America Online next month introduces a celebrity journalism series that will offer video-on-demand stories about Paris Hilton, Tom Cruise and other stars.

It must have dawned on someone in the industry that they don't need a third party between the record labels and the artists. The third party, in this case Apple, will have computerized data—real and valid numbers—that is not controlled by the record l

In a first for both companies, UPN and Google will exclusively screen series premiere of 'Every Body Hates Chris' for four days on Google Video

interoperability hack for putting itunes on sony ericsson phones

He warned TV executives that television would lose an increasingly large slice of the advertising pie in coming years due to fragmenting audiences and the prevalence of ad-skipping technologies -- especially since consumers were spending more and more tim

Walt Disney Co. on Thursday agreed to be the first movie studio to help finance the digital distribution of its movies, jump-starting a decade-long effort to usher the nation's theaters into the electronic age and phase out the treasured — but expensive

I have long held that the real reason the labels fear of P2P networks has little to do with copyright infringement. It’s all about Disintermediation: Removing the middleman, taking out the no-value-added player from between the artists and their music f

Now this is a plan A+ it all starts here