Keeping up with demands for online entertainment<\/p>\n
Vishnu K. Mahmud, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
vmahmud@yahoo.com<\/p>\n
In the late 1990s, the Internet was heralded as the ultimate
\nmedium for content distribution. People could download movies,
\nmusic, news and other forms of information or entertainment at
\nthe click of a mouse.<\/p>\n
Web users would be able to save money and content authors
\ncould get a bigger slice of the profits as prices fell as
\nmiddlemen (like record companies or movie distributors) could be
\ntaken out of the equation.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, things have taken a different turn.<\/p>\n
Despite the powerful communications infrastructure during the
\ndot-com era, security solutions to safeguard content had yet to
\nmature.<\/p>\n
Piracy was and still is ripe the world over as people began to
\ndownload bootleg movies, music, books and other items that could
\nbe scanned or digitized over the Web.<\/p>\n
The record industry recently launched a worldwide legal
\ncampaign to stop computer users from downloading the latest songs
\nwithout paying, citing lost sales and falling revenue. They began
\nsuing people left and right in the U.S., including a grandfather
\nwho barely used his computer (his grandchildren were the alleged
\nculprits) and a 12-year-old girl living in subsidized housing.<\/p>\n
Yet, despite all this, the Internet as a distribution medium
\nis here to stay. People are voting with their PCs that they want
\nto obtain some of their entertainment via the World Wide Web.
\nThey want to have the ability to play the content of their choice
\non whatever hardware they possess.<\/p>\n
Users frown upon attempts by entertainment companies to \"lock-
\nin\" content to a particular player or storage medium. After
\nbuying a DVD or a CD, just who owns what anyway? Do users have
\nthe right to play their purchases wherever, whenever they want or
\ndo the studios dictate till when and with what they are used?<\/p>\n
Apple's iTunes (www.apple.com\/itunes) is perhaps one solution.
\nIts music store offers 200,000 songs from every artist under the
\nsun for 99 U.S. cents (Rp 8,400) a song.<\/p>\n
The music can be played on the computer, the highly popular
\niPod MP3 player, or even burned onto a CD to be played elsewhere.
\nThe library includes songs from famous artists like Seal, U2,
\nSheryl Crow and others.<\/p>\n
There is, of course, some security limitations built-in to the
\ndigital downloads courtesy of the Advance Audio Codec (AAC)
\nformat used to encode the music, yet iTunes has so far sold over
\n10 million songs since its launch four months ago.<\/p>\n
A Windows-based iTunes is due at the end of the year and non-
\nU.S. users will be able to join in the fun soon.<\/p>\n
Content creators and copyright holders have always been wary
\nof posting their wares over the Internet because of security
\nissues. Apple can do what others have failed to do as it can
\ncraft both hardware and software solutions that secures the
\nsanctity of the files without alienating its users.<\/p>\n
Apple CEO Steve Job's vision of making the company a content
\ndistributor may be new for a technology company, but it is
\nyielding profitable results. This is in contrast to the different
\napproach of the \"traditional\" entertainment cartels.<\/p>\n
After killing off Napster, some record studios joined forces
\nto create their own music distribution website. But they locked-
\nin many conditions to the purchase of content. It can only be
\nplayed on one registered computer, it cannot be burned onto a CD
\nor it will erase itself after a set number of days.<\/p>\n
It seems they tried to change the art of \"music selling\" into
\n\"music renting\" in a bid to prop up their falling revenue.<\/p>\n
And what about those struggling songwriters, singers,
\nfilmmakers and photographers?<\/p>\n
At the moment, they are still under the control of middlemen:
\nrecord executives, movie studios and book editors. This \"axis of
\nevil\" still wields the decision-making power of what gets
\npublished, marketed and viewed by the general public.<\/p>\n
But as technology gets better, people will soon be able to
\npublish, market and sell their own content directly to the
\nmasses, with the assistance of transparent tools and services.<\/p>\n
Apple is said to be considering taking in unknown bands and
\nrecord labels under its wing. Considering Apple's QuickTime
\ntechnology and the emergence of broadband worldwide, could movies
\nbe next?<\/p>\n
Entertainment companies should take note of the new
\ntechnologies and market realities of their industry. People no
\nlonger want to purchase entire albums for just a few good songs,
\nnor will they dish out dozens of dollars for what costs pennies
\nto distribute.<\/p>\n
They don't mind buying straight from the musicians or authors
\nthemselves, but some are leery of lining the pockets of
\nmiddlemen.<\/p>\n
The old ways of music and movie distribution is coming to an
\nend. People don't want to wait while other countries enjoy the
\nlatest releases. Courtesy of online reviews, they can also
\nimmediately tell which movies or songs will be hits or complete
\nbombs, helping them to efficiently choose their next purchase.<\/p>\n
In fact, some studio executives fault the Internet for the box
\noffice disaster of The Hulk. It seems they were hoping that the
\nnews of its poor reviews would take longer to spread in order to
\ngarner more weekend profits.<\/p>\n
The Internet changes all that. Record and studio executives
\nbetter get with the program or they will find themselves
\nirrelevant.<\/p>",
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