“Apple will begin creating its own content, commissioning original programming by acting as a label and studio,” Daniel Eran writes for RoughlyDrafted. “Think I’m exaggerating or speculating beyond reason?”
Consider the following facts about:
• the music business
• the movie business
• the TV business
“…where things are headed, and how Apple is involved,” Eran writes. “For each, I’ll show why Apple’s involvement is far more significant than the mainstream media seems to understand… A lot of signs are pointing away from existing models of ad supported TV and big budget movies, and toward paid content produced directly for viewers. After building a differentiated source of on-demand, alternative content, is it even a surprise that Apple will soon start commissioning its own original content, and continue to expand its efforts to provide an audience to other sources of original content?”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Macaday” for the heads up.]
Could Apple be the new Sony? Let’s hope not.
nah. The Beatles won’t allow it.
But then .. The Beatles are a bunch of geriatric burn-outs, so maybe they won’t be able to cause much trouble from behind the walls of the old folks home. ahahaha
Doubtful. But as long as we’re hoping I can hope they commission a Firefly comeback.
I told all my family members exactly this. Apple will begin to offer recording studios to the next generation artists. Currently, and like years past, Apple is taking incremental steps toward the ultimate model. Why incremental steps, because they have learned from the mistakes made with the Newton-The market was not ready for all it had to offer.
If you read the footnote from Daniel Eran he is asking for help to stop his articles from being buried on Digg by M$ fanboys who are deliberately setting out to bury all his articles. Get Digging and let’s get the truth further out there! As he says, his readership rockets if his articles are well Dugg.
His articles do promote Apple of course, because he rates it highly like most of us. He puts up interesting ideas and propositions, often well backed up by arguments and example.
Go straight to the Digg page here:
http://digg.com/apple/How_Original_Content_Will_Change_Entertainment
moiety5:
omg, i got a little misty just thinking about it!!!
I don’t think this will happen.
If Apple did this, it would give the other studios even more urgency to create a more powerful alternative – they would throw in their lot with Microsoft, Google, or even Real. Since the studios are the content owners, they still wield a lot of power. Apple is at the top right now but it doesn’t have enough power yet to be sure it can top that.
I think Apple is satisfied to make great products that help others to create, distribute, and consume content, whether the content is commercial or personal (podcasts, blogs, chat, etc).
I think the next step is whether Apple will enter the distribution of free ad-supported content; the next moves with and after the release of the iTV will tell us. Right now, Apple seems okay with just the paid&owned; distribution portion while all the broadcast/cable networks (and YouTube/Myspace/Yahoo/Google) do the ad-supported stuff on their own.
2nd on that Firefly comeback.
With the hardware and software offerings they already have, they are putting a lot of tools in the hands of content creators – why not link this directly to the distribution system.
Nonsense
It goes contrary to the trend to make every musician it own production studio. Apple would rather deal with individual artist than with bloated and greedy corporations
I am not sure about this. I get the feeling that Apple has decided that it is going to be a supplier of services, software and hardware not the content they use, to any great extent anyway. It probably feels that if it took that route it would further worry the record labels, tv companies and studios. If Apple was seriously thinking of branching into content in a big way then I would have thought it would have been interested in creating a youtube or myspace type business (before I knew what they were) which a few years back I rather presumed would be a natural attachment to the iTunes ecosystem to drive content separate to, and independent of the labels. They didn’t do it, yet surely this is much more Apple territory than producing the actual content itself.
If they just didn’t see the opportunity then why not show interest in aquiring either business once their potential had been shown, yet not even a peep. Wouldn’t they be the perfect tool for suppyling the right sort of content to the right sort of audience for Apple if they wanted to go in that direction? Seems to me that Apple feels such moves would be a distraction and non core so how would directly producing content be more core I wonder?
Therefore I suspect that they would rather stay relatively nuetral and instead form distinct alliances with Google letting them build up the content side that will be something very different to that offered by the established producers.
The great link in all this is content for mobile devices. Google has a wide range of content and the audience too but no exposure to mobile hardware. Apple has the devices that can benefit from it and indeed within 6 months will have devices that will actually seriously need content like it to really break out from the limitations of mobile devices. The expansion of youtube shows the way ahead yet few have even recognised it. As ‘experts’ have continually told us showing films and tv programmes will always be an inferior experience on a mobile device but if you think laterally youtube like content would be ideal especially when you can pass it on wirelessly, or perhaps from a localised server rather like itv perhaps. You can even produce content and pass it on instantly, the possibilities are endless and the quality of the viewing very secondary to the instant entertainment value available- a true social network.
So perhaps hearing interesting things from Apple, Google and T-Moble amongst others starts to indicate the building blocks are coming together. Ironically the feeble crippled zune does at least point towards the reality if you can, as Apple does so well, provide the device, the service and the content in one consistent framework, and this time I think, with even more partners directly involved. One day this may even be seen to be the day that the end of Microsoft dominance really began. For certain the potential is there for it if the parties wish it, and don’t screw it up.
RoughlyDrafted is always an interesting read.
MDN, RoughlyDrafted, and MacDevCdenter are my short list of Mac sites to check daily.
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Home/Home.html
Doesn’t Apple already do this to a certain extent with its iTunes Originals albums and artist commentary? It doesn’t take much imagination to see this extend from audio to video. An iTunes Original stand-up routine? An iTunes Original behind-the-scenes featurette? An iTunes Original reality show? Interviews segments, concert footage, etc. The possibilities go on….
Agreed
Apple will move content and its own great software at or near breakeven just to move hardware at a tidy profit.
It’s been a great strategy so far. Producing and/or commissioning its own content seems a little far outside the bounds of that formula.
My 2¢
Yeah bring Firefly back.
Hope they can get all the Actors.
Well…based on that George Lucas article a few days back..”On Demand will replace DVD”….Lucas studio producing a “made-for-iTunes” movie or movie series is an awesome concept
Apple can’t produce or own the rights to any musical content because of their agreement with the Beatles label Apple Corp.
I’d like to see a whole section of free to download music, videos, etc. on iTunes that would promote up-and-coming artists, movie makers, etc.
Can’t happen. Well with music that is.
And with Pixar…why would Apple enter Movie business? It would be way too repetitive. And Since Jobs IS the largest share holder of Disney…
WHY?
This is what you get when you have Techies write Entertainment.
The Beatles? I say – 2 down, 2 to go!
Firefly, Farscape, Arrested Development…
The list goes on. There’re too many great shows that ended before their time.
NOPE!! Not unless Apple computer signs a new agreement with Apple co. The latest court run in with Apple co. was only a win for Apple because Apple computer did not produce or sell music, only transmitted data.
No new agreement with The Beatles Apple, no selling music. TV maybe but I doubt it. Steve knows that he is not a tv producer and thank the powers that be. I have yet to hear of a sucessful tv producer. LOL
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NOPE. Just lots of great contracts and agreements with producers to funnel, tranmit, etc existing stuff. Maybe directly from new authors.
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Later,
N.
Please note that I am not rich so you should not use this information to acquire stock, etc.
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I suspect that the agreements between the music labels, movie/tv studios & apple forbid this.
Never going to happen. There’s a HUGE investment, infrastructure, talent, and other necessities that would need to be put into place for Apple just to THINK about creating its own content. Why bother with that, when it’s much easier to be the #1 content DELIVERY provider – you don’t have to deal with stars’ egos, demands for all the brown M&Ms; be removed from the bowl before a concert, tantrums in the trailer over the lack of Evian to wash her hair with, etc.
No, there is far too much left to conquer by simply creating the best living room experience before content creation is even a thought.
Steve Jobs already did that with Pixar, and saw fit to sell it (and in exchange, is getting to deliver content for Disney). Steve knows the money and risks involved in creating movies. One bomb and you’ve lost $200 million or more, if you count lost profits and DVD/download sales.
Lucasfilm just announced they’re getting out of the feature film gig and concentrating on smaller, more reliable projects like made for TV movies. Pixar was sold to Disney. I doubt Steve will be steering Apple into feature films and other content creation anytime soon. There’s too much money to be made selling iPods and the next “must have” devices.
Didn’t M$ already produce some video content, or sign on to do so…some kind of series….I have no clue, nor am I interested in finding out where I’ve heard this.
Just wanted to toot M$’s horn! WOO HOO!
j/k