Universal Music Just Realizes That Digital And Physical Distribution Should Be In The Same Group?

from the a-bit-behind-the-times,-eh? dept

We were pretty shocked that it took until just last summer for the LA Times to realize that it didn't make sense to have separate digital and print newsrooms, yet it seems that some other industries are just now learning the same lesson. Universal Music has had a reorganization, where it's finally admitting that digital and physical sales should be in the same group. This is the sort of thing that should have happened at least five years ago, if not ten. The fact that they're just coming around to this realization now suggests how out of touch the major record labels remain.
Hide this

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

Filed Under: digital, music, physical
Companies: universal music


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Snidely Whiplash, 3 Mar 2009 @ 5:48pm

    No Wonder

    No wonder they are going out of business

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    illegalprelude, 3 Mar 2009 @ 6:55pm

    Universal Music is going out of business? ummm. no?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Michael Whitetail, 3 Mar 2009 @ 7:45pm

    Re:

    It's been shown time and again that the *only* segment of the music industry slowing down is the distribution of plastic discs.

    Universal and the rest are having their bottom lines impacted; really have been for years. However, they do have deep pockets,a nd while they aren't dead yet, Jim, they've been well on their way for a long time.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Dave, 4 Mar 2009 @ 9:06am

    Techdirt missed the point

    This article is way off for two reasons. The distributors function only exists when there are avenues to distribute to that are otherwise out of the reach for a content driven business.

    1. Over the past seven years, physical retailers have drastically diminished, making traditional physical distribution of significantly less value and importance.

    2. The internet provides a multitude of inexpensive digital distribution platforms, which entirely wipe out the demand for a digital distributor like Universal Music.

    The article misses the point entirely. It doesn't matter whether or not physical or digital distribution exist in the same building, neither are integral in the new landscape of the music business.

    Record labels and distribution companies are screwed unless they start thinking about new ways to monetize their content and stop building legal walls around themselves.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Music Shop, 18 Mar 2009 @ 5:59am

    In the same group? I'm not sure about this. You want to see on which side you make money. I think it's more difficult to find weaknesses when everything is grouped.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.