I finally got an iPod at Christmas, and it’s been the massive distraction I always suspected it would be. I used to obsessively collect music in the early half of the CD era. My tastes were eclectic- classical, jazz, alternative rock, electronica, international music. The usual music geek stuff. I kept away from digital music players intentionally, knowing that they would facilitate my addiction.
And the iPod has done just that. Allowed me to buy movie soundtracks, collections of sea shanties, jazz from people I’ve never heard of. Not so much through the iTunes store, which I find frustrating in its taxonomy (or lack thereof). But via Amazon, which does a much better job of organizing its music and seems to be slightly cheaper to boot.
Yes, I’ve actually been paying for my MP3s, because the online stores have made it easy to do. It’s about as close to frictionless as a transaction can get. They’ve finally gotten that part right. So I buy the music- I’d rather the artists make some money if at all possible.
I’m very late to the iPod game, but it’s easy for me to see that the MP3 player technology really needed a broad, deep-inventory storefront to truly create a marketplace for the software. There were plenty ways to buy digital music prior to iTunes, but there needed to be a large central repository to make the concept really take off. Once the marketplace accepted iTunes, it became possible for others to follow. Amazon has at least some choices in nearly every category I’ve looked for. It’s much more convenient to buy through one general location than a dozen specialized ones. The market itself has been made viable by the existence of a particular retailer.
Something similar is happening now in e-publishing. For years there have been individuals, publishers, and retailers offering digital books. But it’s taken Amazon’s Kindle to start to really raise awareness and excitement for the market. By providing a good reading experience, the Kindle has gotten more and more people to consider ebooks as a legitimate option for their reading material. The Amazon ebook storefront also provides an easy one-stop-shop for a very wide range of titles. It’s not a mature market yet, there are many details to work out. But it’s becoming safe to say the market exists.
With both music and books, it’s taken a combination of a slick device and a unified storefront to give the users the experience they want and to get the market going. Will the same be true for movies?
The marketplace for the digital distribution and sale of video entertainment is highly fragmented. Movies and shows are available on a number of websites, but they’re often restricted in how and where they can be viewed. There is no one-stop-shop. There’s also not a dedicated device that’s caught on. Roku seemed like it was a step in the right direction, but it has yet to engage widespread attention. It’s possible something like the XBox network could be the delivery device. Or the rapidly spreading netbook computer could provide the platform. Netflix could provide the central content hub. Or Amazon, or Apple. But none have thus far. It’s an opportunity that has yet to be seized.
It’s not enough that the technology allows movies to be delivered and watched anywhere at any time, the technology has to also make the experience enjoyable. As free of friction and confusion as possible. The marketplace is ready for movies on the go, we should see someone take advantage of the latent demand in the next year or two.
Once the digital marketplace for film is established, we’ll start seeing a lot more independent working getting made- and being rewarded. The creation of the market benefits everyone. And once this key piece is in place, it will viable to build a profitable transmedia work completely as an independent. The distribution and sales channels will all be in place.
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