digital distribution Archive

0

Vita Games Discounted For Digital Distribution

By
Andy Yen
– January 31, 2012Posted in: Video Games

Andrew Yoon for Shacknews:

A Sony representative has confirmed the discount. “I can confirm that there will be a discount on the downloadable PS Vita titles from PSN. Exact details have not yet been revealed, but be on the lookout for an announcement in the very near future.”

The discount will apparently be 10% off the retail price for the equivalent retail boxed version of the game. It’s an interesting first step in the transition to a completely digital consumer experience for the games industry.

I’m not sure if 10% is enough, given that many retailers routinely offer 20% or greater discounts/promotions for new game releases. (Anyone who’s pre-ordered new video games from Amazon in the last two years is fond of their $10-$20 promotional credit offers) But the fact that Sony is willing to discount the digital version is at least acknowledgement that charging full retail price for it is folly.

If you’re able to delete and re-download games for free at will, it might actually give consumers an interesting purchasing decision to make assuming they have a decent sized memory card. One of the most annoying things about carrying multiple games on trips is physically carrying those games. Being able to load several games onto your memory card would cut down on travel weight significantly.

Now if Sony would only get rid of their comically overpriced proprietary Vita memory cards…

via Shacknews.com.

Tags: , , , , ,
0

Andy Baio’s 2012 Oscar Screener Leak Report

By
Andy Yen
– January 27, 2012Posted in: Movies

Andy Baio:

The decline in screener leaks could be attributed to tighter controls — personalized watermarks, the aggressive prosecution of leakers, and greater awareness of the risks for Academy voters.

But the continuously shrinking window between theatrical and retail releases may be to blame. After all, once the retail Blu-ray or DVD is released, there’s no reason for pirate groups to release a lower-quality watermarked screener.

I’d be curious to see whether the small percentage of leaked screeners correspond with the small percentage of Oscar nominated films not yet released at retail yet. I can’t imagine this suddenly being the year that Joe Academy Member has the realization that leaking his screener discs could be detrimental to his future in the Academy.

It just goes to show, though, that even the most easily enforceable situations (screeners with personalized watermarks pretty much hands you over on a silver platter) do not prevent piracy.

via MPAA Wins the Oscar Screener Battle, but Loses the War | Epicenter | Wired.com.

Tags: , , , , ,
0

The Secret Demands Of Record Labels

By
Andy Yen
– December 19, 2011Posted in: Music Industry

Michael Robertson of MP3Tunes on the otherworldly demands the major record labels have for digital music services:

With most other businesses, if a supplier makes unreasonable demands, a retailer can turn to other providers. Since copyright law gives record labels and publishers a government-granted monopoly, no such option is possible with music. Digital vendors have only two options: Accept the terms or not include those songs in their offering.

It’s a ridiculous situation that innovative companies like Spotify are beholden to such lazy companies as the major record labels. The terms of their deals are so laughably one-sided that it’s almost unbelievable. Could you imagine going into a “normal” business negotiation with these?

Hopefully, as time goes on, and the majors’ artist rosters dwindle from relevant new acts eschewing them, the tables will turn. Yes, the majors’ will always have their catalog, but if things continue on their current path, they may be forced to license out the catalog at a discounted rate in order to stay relevant.

via GigaOM.

Tags: , , , ,
0

Louis CK’s DRM Free Experiment Works

By
Andy Yen
– December 13, 2011Posted in: Music Industry

Louis CK:

I really hope people keep buying it a lot, so I can have shitloads of money, but at this point I think we can safely say that the experiment really worked. If anybody stole it, it wasn’t many of you. Pretty much everybody bought it. And so now we all get to know that about people and stuff. I’m really glad I put this out here this way and I’ll certainly do it again.

Really glad to see that Louis CK’s “experiment” of making it as easy and affordable as possible for fans to buy his product was successful. Who would have thought that treating your fans well and not overcharging them for DRM-saddled content was a good idea? Sure, he would have made more for himself if he let a large corporation handle the sales, but the goodwill he’s getting here will more than make up for it down the road.

via Louis CK.net.

Tags: , , , ,
0

Google Currents Lets People Easily Create Touchscreen Optimized Content

By
Andy Yen
– December 9, 2011Posted in: Technology

Google Currents released yesterday. Basically, it’s a Flipboard-style app on your tablet or smartphone that lets you view your subscribed RSS feeds and content from featured publishers in a more visually pleasing “online magazine format.”

What makes it interesting, though, is that Google is also launching a basic content publishing platform for small publishers (like yours truly) to easily create a touch-screen optimized content portal.

Alongside Google Currents, we’re also launching a self-service platform that gives publishers the flexibility to design, brand and customize their web content. For example, if you’re a small regional news outlet, a non-profit organization without access to a mobile development team, or a national TV network with web content, you can effortlessly create hands-on digital publications for Google Currents.

It’s pretty basic, and you’ll still need to tackle the problem of growing your subscriber base, but it’s an interesting angle of attack nonetheless.

via Official Google Mobile Blog.

Tags: , , , , ,
0

Spotify Apps

By
Andy Yen
– December 8, 2011Posted in: Music Industry, Technology

Thomas Houston from The Verge:

We’ve been waiting for years for someone to seamlessly wed editorial content like Rolling Stone and Pitchfork’s lists and reviews to a deep music backend, and this is a great step in that direction. These beta apps, though, are merely a first step, and don’t fully reflect the deep archives, sorting features, and knowledge of these sites yet, and we’re hoping to see that in future versions.

If I’m in a pinch for time to get some new music, oftentimes I’ll just troll Pitchfork’s best new music section for stuff to listen to on Spotify. With the Pitchfork App, I can listen to the album right there on the same page of the review. It’s awesome and time-saving. Houston is right in that many of the apps are bare-bones as of now, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction and we’re truly seeing a killer music app that combines content curation with instant gratification start to take shape.

From a business standpoint, it was brilliant for Spotify to bring the app makers to the Spotify client, rather than the other way around. It ensures that people will be Spotify users first and foremost.

You can try out Spotify apps out for yourself by downloading a preview client here. (Shame on Spotify for not linking to this on their Apps product page!)

via The Verge.

Tags: , , ,
0

Avengers vs. X-Men Digital Strategy

By
Andy Yen
– December 6, 2011Posted in: Comics

Brian Truitt, USA Today:

Each of the 12 Avengers vs. X-Men issues will be available in comics shops and digitally on the same day beginning in April, with each print issue including a free copy for download on the Marvel app.

Perhaps it should be the other way around as well. Buy a digital version, get a coupon for a print one too. It’s easier to obtain a digital copy, especially for new or casual comics fans who may never have even thought about visiting a comics store. Give them a reason to go to the store and explore other books.

via Marvel event reaches ‘critical mass’ – USATODAY.com.

Tags: , , ,
0

‘DRM Does Not Work’

By
Andy Yen
– November 30, 2011Posted in: Technology, Video Games

CD Projekt CEO, Marcin Iwinski:

From the very beginning our main competitors on the market were pirates. The question was really not if company x or y had better marketing or better releases, but more like “How can we convince gamers to go and buy the legit version and not to go to a local street vendor and buy a pirated one?” We of course experimented with all available DRM/copy protection, but frankly nothing worked. Whatever we used was cracked within a day or two, massively copied and immediately available on the streets for a fraction of our price.

We did not give up, but came up with new strategy: we started offering high value with the product – like enhancing the game with additional collectors’ items like soundtracks, making-of DVDs, books, walkthroughs, etc. This, together with a long process of educating local gamers about why it makes sense to actually buy games legally, worked. And today, we have a reasonably healthy games market.

In any case, I am not saying that we have eliminated piracy or there is not piracy in the case of TW2. There is, and TW2 was [illegally] downloaded by tens of thousands of people during the first two weeks after release. Still, DRM does not work and however you would protect it, it will be cracked in no time. Plus, the DRM itself is a pain for your legal gamers – this group of honest people, who decided that your game was worth the 50 USD or Euro and went and bought it. Why would you want to make their lives more difficult?

Again, the lesson here is to treat your would-be customers with respect and add enough value to your legitimate product to make pirating unattractive.

via PC Gamer

Tags: , , , ,
0

Amazon Prime Now Includes Monthly Free Kindle Books

By
Andy Yen
– November 3, 2011Posted in: Books, Technology

Okay so it’s technically called the “Kindle Owners’ Lending Library,” (Really? You couldn’t think of an easier name to remember, Amazon?) but in practice it’s essentially a free book every month for Amazon Prime subscribing Kindle owners.

With Prime, Kindle owners can now choose from thousands of books to borrow for free including over 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers – as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates.

Keep in mind that “Kindle owners” is a key term, because you can’t “lend” books via Kindle apps. You actually need to own a physical Kindle to take advantage of this offer. In fact, my chief annoyance with the service is that you can only browse and “borrow” books via the Kindle Store on the device itself. You can’t find the book you want on the web and have it delivered to your Kindle. It’s a pain because e-ink is TERRIBLE for quickly flipping through hundreds of pages.

Critics also will point out that there’s only 5,000 or so books available, (none from any of the major six publishers) but so what? I easily found a handful of books that I wanted to read immediately from just browsing the first couple of pages of offerings. Seth Godin’s latest, “We Are All Weird,” Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games Trilogy, Michael Lewis’s “Moneyball.”

It’s pretty clear that Amazon is test driving a potential “all you can eat” digital book subscription service ala Netflix or Spotify. Let’s face it, $10-$15 digital books are still a fair chunk of change for most people. Why not go for a $10-$15 monthly service and essentially sell a guaranteed 12 books a year to people? I’d wager that it would be a greater source of revenue than selling titles a la carte.

Slowly, but surely, Amazon is creating its own Apple-like ecosystem. It’s a brilliant maneuver because in order to access the “free” ebooks and streaming video content you have to be both a member of the $80 a year Amazon Prime and own an Amazon device. Once they get a subscription music service implemented, you theoretically won’t have to go anywhere else to consume your content.

Of course, this assumes that Amazon’s content offerings are robust enough. Currently, their video streaming and ebook lending catalogs leave much to be desired. But it’s a step in the right direction.

Content publishers, consider yourselves disrupted.

Amazon.com: Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

Tags: , , , , , ,
0

Piracy Is More About Convenience Than Price

By
Andy Yen
– October 25, 2011Posted in: Technology, Video Games

Gabe Newell from Valve:

“The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates,”

Bingo. It’s a wonder why more digital content creators haven’t figured this out yet.

via Gamasutra – News – Valve: Piracy Is More About Convenience Than Price.

Tags: , , , ,
Older Entries