How Netflix Is Fixing Hollywood
from the slowly-but-surely dept
Business 2.0 has apparently decided to rewrite a Wired article from last year that we posted, talking about how Netflix's recommendation engine was it's "secret weapon", against competition from Blockbuster and Walmart. This version also discusses the logistical nightmare of managing Netflix's ever-rotating inventory. However, the most interesting part (which I don't think gets enough attention) is the power that Netflix has in generating interest (and revenue!) in independent movies or movies that completely flopped at the box office. This is mainly due to the recommendation engine that hypes up movies that people have never heard of, giving many of them a second (if not first) life. This is the power of the internet that those in Hollywood still don't understand. In their simplistic top-down view of the world they only want to see big hits. Movies that they can sell across the board, based on a "lowest-common-denominator" formula. However, in the internet world the end users are empowered to find what they will really like, rather than blandly accepting what's handed to them. This changing world is likely to have an even bigger impact on Hollywood than the dreaded "digital distribution" they all seem to fear.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
But they aren't free
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Could your tone be any more obnoxious?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Could your tone be any more obnoxious?
Go ahead and read the two articles and tell me they're not similar.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]