What’s Old is What’s New – you just need the hardware.
This morning I experienced a revelation that I couldn’t help but equate to the traditional media world, primarily print media. Now although the beginnings of this story may appear to be odd and hardly related, stay with me – I won’t take too long to get to the point.
A few weeks back a friend played a song by a new artist, as he thought it was something I would be into- my genre of music so to say. Nonetheless, I did think it was a great song, but said to myself, I will download that when I get a chance; and by download, I didn’t mean paying for it… if you know what I mean. I, like many others, even though they would rather deny it, get much of my media free, through “various” means. Now enough of me incriminating myself and let’s move on with the story.
Since the time of my first listen of said song, I heard it two additional times on my satellite radio and the urge to have that song on one of my portable devices (iPod or iPhone) was incredible. So, on my way out to a meeting, about 60 kilometers away from home, I thought of getting the song to keep me company while on the drive and instead of downloading it, through my ur… um … “various” methods, I downloaded the artists entire album off of iTunes and paid $9.99! Now for those of you who are accustom to getting your music this way, this may seem like nothing, but remember my profile. I am somewhat web savvy; if there is a way to get to it via the Web – I will usually find it fast and usually without a fee attached; I believe the Web breeds great efficiencies and ease of life that traditional sources just can’t offer. Given my profile, it is not the norm that I would pay $9.99 for an album. Needless to say, my actions caused me to wonder what was so different now? Why was I willing to pay for music on my mobile phone, when I would normally not purchase at all? Then it dawned on me, my iPhone (a daily tool that I cannot live without) made it convenient for me to deal with a traditional media source, through its digital applications. As a matter of fact and according to Compete’s Smart Phone research, recently released, 19% of smart phone owners actually download music from their device and it is expected that this number will only increase exponentially, as more and more users converge over to smart phones.
I remember when iTunes started; the music industry was all a ‘tizzy’ and not in a good way. They saw the arrival of iTunes as a competitor invading their market. Today, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry states that digital music revenues now equate for an estimated 27% of global record industry moneys or $4.2 billion dollars.
The marriage of brands or the traditional with new media extends past the iTunes example. If we look at the current mania -the Apple iPad, we’ve already heard of publishers getting on board to syndicate their content with the tablet device (New York Times, Hearst, etc… ). Yet, I wonder if the majority of print publishers recognize the possibilities of such a marriage. The biggest benefit is that syndicating content to nontraditional mediums will allow publishers to gain users they would otherwise not have and keep readers they may lose in coming months and years, as readers get comfortable with lending more of their everyday activities to digital media.
Businesses should recognize that there is no shame in admitting that they need the help of another brand or tool to keep current, to maintain revenues, or to increase mind share. Flickr has relationships with a few Internet Service Providers that lend to ISP customers being set up with an automatic Flickr account. Some ISP’s went so far as to give their users ‘pro’ accounts on Flickr, something that would normally cost close to $25. Moreover, look at Netflix and their relationship with the movie industry – both parties recognize that they would be hard pressed to exist without a relationship in today’s market.
The point is that maybe traditional media publishers should look beyond the known tasks of 2010 such as monetizing online, incorporating mobile and video, and include integration with other OEM’s or online services.
The bottom line … to make the old relevant again, try mixing it with a dash of new media, along with a side of a liberated business plan. We know the model works…
