Movie Studios (Again) Ignore Recent Music Biz History

Redbox, is a service that is essentially a red box vending machine found at supermarkets, etc where a person can rent movies for as cheap as $1 a day. It's very popular and it generates income for the movie studios. It looks like the movie studios don't want people to continue to use this service on the same level they were used to. A story in TechDirt points out that Redbox finally caved into Warner Bros crazy demand that they not rent films until 28 days after the DVD is released. This is similar to the deal that Warner's made with Netflix recently. Essentially what Warner is trying to do in a very short sided way is make the consumer BUY the DVD if they want to see it as soon as it's released.

This is another completely misguided, uniformed (I say uninformed because these companies are not listening to the consumer, whom they depend on) decision by a media company. The NY Times website is going back to a limited paywall. When people are used to getting something one way for a very long time, such as renting a DVD the day it's released, not paying for the NY Times online, there is no way to go back to the well to try and find water when it's bone dry. I have a strong feeling that these decisions will come back to bite both Warner's and the NY Times.

Why is it so hard for media companies to embrace the consumer? Why do they treat them like the enemy? The recorded music industry has been alienating fans for too long now and look where it's gotten them. We rarely hear from the musicians, actors and journalists whose livelihood is most affected by it all. These companies should all take a page from indie musicians who are making a respectable living connecting with their audience and being creative about how they generate income (while giving the fans something they want). Read Marian Call's blog.

Not Exactly What They've Been Listening To

Arbitron has been monitoring people's listening habits for years. Their method was for listeners to record their habits in a book and send it in. Radio stations use this data for everything from advertising rates to changing formats if the ratings aren't there. For the past year, Arbitron has been using electronic monitoring systems called the Portable People Meters and needless to say, there are some results that vary from the old paper diary method.

The NY Times talks about these glaring difference. Men were thought to make up 34.7 percent of the soft rock listeners. Well it turns out they may have been closeted Air Supply fans. The new report puts the men at 40.1 percent of the audience. Taking a blow are the classical music stations. Their market share fell 10.7 percent. Talk radio also had a hit with their audience down 2.6 percent. 80% of talk radio is conservative.

I guess every once in awhile guys need an Christopher Cross fix.