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A call to end the format war to boost demand and digital downloads untie

The music, television, film and electronic consumer (hereinafter referred to collectively industry) were taken with the rapid advancement of technology and virtuality of its content. Here are the top eight things industry must do to master the technology and recover the simple principle of giving the customer what he wants.

1. final form of war.

When a new format is required to move the industry to a higher level, should be the only format that will market and becomes the norm. This applies to both online and offline formats formats virtual.

The current example is physical formats Blu-ray vs. HD DVD. Two formats are needed initially to encourage competition, but the differences between them in this point are so small that eventually must win for both to succeed. A standards body must exist to allow competition at the start and oversee a limited trial period to ensure the views of customers are taken into account, but ultimately choose one winner in the market before launching a large scale. The Companies should be required to register candidates formats in the early stages. The standards body should monitor the level of investment and invention each route candidates. Then, a winner must be chosen with a percentage of licensing revenue is sent to all candidates that match their investment and level invention. The candidates will agree to these terms from the get-go or not to participate in defining and enjoy the format of the next generation.

The current example in virtual MP3 vs WMA vs AAC vs other audio however, and MPEG-4 (H.264) vs WMV (other VC-1) vs video yet. The industry must have standardized on MP3 and MPEG-4 time to ensure that all content will be universally readable on every device.

Correcting this is necessary so immediately. The industry should have a body of rules in place as soon as possible and inform both industry standards for delay, such as Blu-ray, MP3 and MPEG-4. The market will rejoice, sales will skyrocket and the doors will open at the dam industry itself has been one of the largest contributors to the building.

2. the consumer models offer three.

a. Offer free content to all ads.

All content must be available at any time the free application ads. The best examples of this measure are the videos and music in2tv.aol.com music.yahoo.com mtv.com and television. The worst examples are the TV networks still insist on having their content once they expire after a short period of availability. The networks should use the model to its catalog of ads shows all past and present, available free all the time. All the stores of media such as iTunes, must also be able to hear or see a little less for 10 minutes or less content to enjoy the content instead of short clips.

b. Renting the entire content without paying ads.

These are the same as 2a without advertising for a fee. The best examples of this measure are Netflix and Yahoo Music Unlimited. With the latter, for as low as $ 8.99 per month you can rent a movie at the store, which now includes some that can be viewed directly online. With the latter, for as low as $ 5.99 per month, you can hear all the songs in the store many times you want, without advertising. All shops and media sites should offer this option.

C. The sale of the entire digital content management rights (DRM copy-protection o)-free.

Still there will always be a market for content owners simply as to when you does not have an internet connection or not you want to attach to a server. In these cases, for both online and offline formats virtual formats, digital rights management should follow. It has proven to hinder sales significantly due process of paying customers every day as if they were pirates, limiting them to read the content on devices very little, giving them the task of saving and licensing on your computer and violate their rights of fair use. DRM is always off and the industry should simply stop investing time and money on something that has a negative impact on its results. The industry should leave and return to the basic premise that the client can experience the joy of paid content without any conditions. The best example of this is EMI, which now allows media sellers to sell their songs without DRM.

3. Internet Wireless-enable all devices.

The equipment may not be the only access point. Televisions, set top boxes, disc players, DVD recorders, game consoles games, portable boom boxes, phones, car units – in a word all playback devices – If you come with a connection function Wireless Internet servers to access content. The best examples of this measure are the PlayStation 3 and the iPhone / iPod Touch Wi-Fi Music Store.

4. Allow the definition and playlists stored on servers.

What 2a and 2b do is get away the need to store and manage our own copies of the contents of our client machine (or our shelves). Exit lists the customer is a natural extension of this. When you can make all the content, including our favorite playlists to the letter all the time everywhere we have a connection to the Internet, the convenience of not having to permanently store and safeguard our own copy of the data begins to prevail. The best example is Yahoo! Music Jukebox.

5. Offer film in addition to the whole chapter.

As the standard is now able to buy individual songs instead of entire albums, the same option should be available to purchase individual chapters of the films. This offer the same benefits that sales of individual songs – the ability to collect favorite chapters at lower cost and use of storage capacity Shortcut chapters on reading and the ability to organize chapters in various reading lists favorite movies. Note that this would require that players pre-cache the next chapter to ensure gapless playback from chapter to chapter, but it is certainly feasible.

6. Offering a choice of pubs.

high rates of compression was fine at first, but there is no doubt that even now bandwidth and storage (which will only grow over time), those who want to enjoy higher rates should be possible. In 2a and 2b, bandwidth is the main factor, and significantly higher speeds are possible, even today. With 2c online formats, storage is also a factor, but even with capacity of some of today can choose quality over quantity of must-have content.

7. Piggyback audio formats for video.

The industry is moving to a new physical format is a great company. Assuming A new format succeeds for high-definition video, audio, and then if everything in the back of this success. The video format, of course, be sufficiently capacity for audio and consumers do not have to buy additional equipment. Previous attempts Definition Audio DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD has failed for several reasons – Separate audio players only, no HDMI digital connection, as the format war, etc – all of which can be avoided once or Blu-ray or HD DVD standard is declared. Albums PCM uncompressed two-channel 2-channel stereo and multichannel surround sound, high definition extras like music videos, live music and extracts images all were played by a player with HDMI only existing connection could be very persuasive. With lossless compression, such as Dolby TrueHD, perhaps all coffins album could fit on a disc. These are new and exciting opportunities.

8. Leverage viral marketing.

This is an extension 2a. Provide the url address content-free ad-together for sites anywhere, can provide links to – essentially equivalent free marketing for you. No matter where eyeballs found the content, only that they have found. More eyes means more advertising revenue in his pocket and a more comprehensive will lead to the eventual acquisition of content and related products such as concert tickets, T-shirts, posters, figurines, toys, etc. A self-funded lure by advertising has always been necessary (radio and television) for widespread exposure. The best examples of this measure are the music videos on mtv.com and music.yahoo.com in2tv.aol.com and television. Music all the movies and television programs should rise and achieve huge source of advertising revenue that will never be possible constant without the new technology.

These eight are things decline of the industry and run it on the territory of unprecedented growth.

About the Author

Scott Consolatti is founder and president of Megacollage, a pioneer in online media compilations including music and video playlists, custom photo collages and text compilations. See for yourself how Megacollage combines the best of what today’s online content world has to offer by visiting http://www.megacollage.com/index.html .

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