The Search For The Mythological Magical Business Model Bullet

from the give-it-up,-it-doesn't-exist dept

One of the things I've noticed over the past few years, in discussing the various business models that are working for content creators, is that one of the regular criticisms we get is that "this won't work for 'x'." Or something along those lines. Basically, they want to write off any success story as an exception, and yet they like to use any "failure" of a business model experiment as proof that innovative business models can't work. That all seems backwards to me (after all, if a single failure disproves a business model, then we can conclude that the business of selling CDs or movies "failed" the first time one of those offerings flopped).

I was thinking about this a bit more after reading Mathew Ingram's take on Paul Biggar's long post mortem on why his greatly hyped NewsTilt collapsed and shut down after just a few months. That post is interesting, though not surprising if you've ever worked in a startup (especially one that's failed). NewsTilt was trying to "solve" the "problems" facing the journalism business, but the founders admitted they didn't really care about journalism that much -- which was a pretty big problem. Still, what caught my attention at the end of Ingram's post, was where he notes (paraphrasing David Cohn of the journalism startup spot.us):

There is no magic bullet that will suddenly save the media industry, or transform ordinary journalists into independent-thinking online media businesses.

I'd expand on that, and note that there is no "magic bullet" that will suddenly save any content industry that's in a state of disruption today. And that's okay. But it's part of the problem. The folks who were used to being able to rely on artificial scarcities had a crutch for a business model. It let them lean on that artificial backstop, rather than really think about more creative (and, potentially, better) business models. But, just as relying too much on crutches without exercising your legs can make those muscles atrophy, those who rely too much on artificial scarcity let their creative business modeling ability atrophy as well. So they all want to know what the "magic bullet" is, and have trouble accepting any answer that doesn't involve a magic bullet. If it's not a magic bullet, it's an "exception" or it "won't scale," and thus, it doesn't matter.

But that's a huge mistake. Because one way or another, all of these industries are changing rapidly. And while certain models will become more standard, none will be a magic bullet. It's always going to involve experimenting and adjusting as the world changes. Those who are waiting for the magic bullet seem to think that if they just keep asking for a magic bullet, the old models crumbling around them will stay up. That's not how it works. The old models are crumbling, whether or not there's a magic bullet. So rather than complaining about the lack of a magic bullet, isn't it about time you started experimenting with what is out there?

Filed Under: business models, magic bullet

Nielsen Decides It Can Become A Copyright Cop Too

from the media-monitoring-or-media-blocking? dept

As media companies continue their quixotic quest to some "stop" unauthorized use of content, tools providers are all too eager to rush in with promises of being able to help -- even if the tools don't actually help much. However, that's why there are a ton of "DRM" companies out there, all trying to provide the latest useless DRM tech to media companies too clueless to understand why DRM will never work. The latest is that companies are rushing to be the latest vendors to supply the entertainment industry with watermarking or filtering software to try to "stop" piracy. First there was the company Audible Magic, who the entertainment industry described as its magic bullet in stopping piracy. While some have pointed out that Audible Magic doesn't work particularly well, it has become something of the standard for companies to implement. In fact, it was something of a surprise earlier this year when Google decided to build its own filtering solution, rather than just use Audible Magic.

However, with so much demand for Audible Magic's non-working solution, you knew others had to jump in -- and some of them would be big players. The big media monitoring firm Nielsen is now entering the space with a big announcement, suggesting that its knowledge and connections within the television world will help it dominate the market. Of course, there doesn't seem to be much discussion on how Nielsen's solution is likely to be just as useless as Audible Magic's or anyone else's in trying to "stop" unauthorized copies from getting online. Of course, the entertainment companies remain too clueless to realize that all of these vendors are simply robbing them blind, promising them a magic elixir that can never work and only distracts the companies from what they should be doing: adapting to the changing market with new business models. In the article about Nielsen's announcement, NBC Universal's general counsel, Rick Cotton, declares that Nielsen's entrance is a game changer: "The point is the big boys are coming, and that signals that this is a field that has reached technological maturity. It will achieve widespread commercial adoption, and from a content point of view, it will contribute dramatically to reducing the easy theft of copyrighted material online."

We'll record that here and check back in the future to see how accurate he is. I have no doubt that these technologies will achieve widespread commercial adoption -- but only because folks like Cotton actually believe that it will "dramatically" reduce infringement (which he incorrectly calls "theft"). Of course, Cotton is no stranger to outlandish and dramatic statements. He's the same guy who claimed that the cops were spending too much money on things like burglary and bank-robbing when they should be focused on important things like copyright infringement. He's also responsible for the totally ridiculous claim that movie piracy was hurting corn farmers. So, I'd take anything he says with a rather large grain of salt.

Filed Under: copyright, magic bullet, media blocking, media monitoring
Companies: nielsen