As a big fan of Web 2.0 and free and open access, I was excited today to see that two old-media holdouts, Sony BMG and the Wall Street Journal, took progressive steps toward rethinking their business models and opening up access to their content.
The WSJ announced today that it will open up free access to all of its editorials, op-eds, video interviews and commentary which were previously only viewable to paid subscription customers. No doubt this decision came, in part, from increased pressure and competition from the blogosphere. Although the Journal is not completely free yet, I am looking forward to accessing these free features and think the company will eventually discover what the NY Times did: although free, open access is clearly good for consumers, it is also good for business.
On the music front, Sony BMG, (Sony’s music division), announced today that it would finally rollout their music catalog without DRM, Digital Rights Management. Sony was the last of the music industry’s Big 4 (which includes Warner, EMI, and Universal) to concede to DRM-free distribution. They previously tried just about every form of DRM that exists, including their own various versions which sold through their now defunct online music store, Connect. The catalog will initially be offered through Amazon, and there is speculation that iTunes will also be carrying Sony’s DRM-free roster, the announcement being withheld until Steve Job’s keynote address this Tuesday at MacWorld ’08.
Personally, I am looking forward to the shake-out that will inevitably take place in the broadcast television, cable, and movie industries. I’d like to have access to the programs I like to watch when I want to watch them. While I can do this with my DVR, I still have to remember to set up the recording and keep my DVR erased as it fills so it can continue to record on schedule. If I forget to do either one of those, in most cases, I am out of luck.
While I am not much a fan of television, I must say that the DVR has increased my viewership. I can record programs that I think I might like, and watch them at my convenience. I end up interested in programs that I never would have seen otherwise had I needed to be in front of the tv when they were broadcast.
During some down-time last year and after repeated pleading from a close friend, I downloaded the season premier of LOST from iTunes to see if I would like it as she promised I would. After the first few episodes I was hooked and watched the entire season in three weeks’ time. No commercials, no need to be in front of the television at a certain time and day, no waiting week to week to see what happened in the next episode. I’d liken it to the experience of reading a novel: you read it, you put it down, you pick it up, you finish it from beginning to end during times of your choosing, absorbed and uninterrupted. It was kind of nice to experience a television show that way, at my own leisure, the experience entirely under my control.
What does the future look like for the television, cable, and movie industries? How will those be transformed, what old models will fade away, and what will replace them? How will the needs, likes, and demands of Gen Y, and the Digital Natives, (who are already accustomed to having more control over their content experiences than most of us), change this industry? Will these big companies drag their feet and repeat the costly missteps of the music industry, or will they act in time?
