In case you were wondering, 'poster child' is officially stamped onto the forehead of the music industry. So much so that other declining industries make themselves feel better by comparing themselves to music. “Let's cheer up," Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes told fellow executives at the NCTA Cable Show this week (as quoted by GigaOm). “This is not the music industry, this is the cable industry."
This would be an opportune moment to slip 'canary in thecoalmine' into the conversation, though the question is how well other media industries will manage their own digital disruptions. Hollywood has had the luxury of witnessing a music industry implosion for the past ten years or so, but it's unclear whether the lessons are really rubbing off. Well-worn mistakes like suing file-swappers are being repeated by certain studios, and there's certainly attachment to traditions like complicated windowed release schedules. Then again, the music industry never enjoyed Netflix-style traction during the early years, and Hollywood has a lot more money and influence.
And the cable industry? Of course, the internet continues to tear into traditional cable revenues, though this is hardly a carbon-copy of CD-style declines. Cable companies have been diversifying into areas like high-speed internet access for more than a decade, though upstart platforms like YouTube continue to pull attention away from conventional cable viewing. In response, Bewkes and other executives are shifting towards multi-platform, anywhere-style programming access, though this is hardly a smooth transition.
This would be an opportune moment to slip 'canary in thecoalmine' into the conversation, though the question is how well other media industries will manage their own digital disruptions. Hollywood has had the luxury of witnessing a music industry implosion for the past ten years or so, but it's unclear whether the lessons are really rubbing off. Well-worn mistakes like suing file-swappers are being repeated by certain studios, and there's certainly attachment to traditions like complicated windowed release schedules. Then again, the music industry never enjoyed Netflix-style traction during the early years, and Hollywood has a lot more money and influence.
And the cable industry? Of course, the internet continues to tear into traditional cable revenues, though this is hardly a carbon-copy of CD-style declines. Cable companies have been diversifying into areas like high-speed internet access for more than a decade, though upstart platforms like YouTube continue to pull attention away from conventional cable viewing. In response, Bewkes and other executives are shifting towards multi-platform, anywhere-style programming access, though this is hardly a smooth transition.
