Spotify needs to hit three triggers if it's not to be just the latest flash-in-the-pan: "Break through the 15-20 million user bar like Pandora did", "convert roughly five percent of its user base to premium offerings" and "build a sustainable ad business that helps shoulder the cost of its free users".
We do not believe that any single savior– foundation, government, device, or massive public contribution — will rescue an existing news organization as it operates today from the crush of the market. But we do believe that publicly supported journalism — that is, from individuals, foundations, and perhaps companies — can play a role in this model city’s news ecosystem. This could take the form of a local Pro Publica or of crowdsourced funding through a platform such as Spot.US or of an expansion of public broadcasting’s role. The key question we will answer is what level of support will likely be available — projecting from current efforts locally — and what those resources could provide.
Apple's iPhone and iTunes and Amazon's Kindle are onto something very big.
Their approach to making the digital future financially viable represents as much of a psychological break with rampant free content practices as a template for conditioning consumers to pay for relevant content and valuable applications, especially for mobile devices.
Just as important, they dodge reliance on media advertising that will remain in flux as it evolves into interactive marketing and e-commerce. By 2012, the growth of user payments for applications and content will likely outstrip the growth of online advertising (at twice the rate, or an average annual 17%). Although user payments will remain just under 60% of total U.S. offline media, it will top 30% of online media spending in 2012, which advertising will continue to dominate.
[UK television network] Five has signed a deal with Brightcove, an online video platform, which will allow its TV content to be easily embedded within people’s social networks and via big entertainment portals, such as AOL and Yahoo.
It is the first UK broadcaster to syndicate full-length episodes of popular programmes like Home and Away and Neighbours, for catch-up viewing across third-party websites. It is also the first broadcaster in Britain to use an externally developed player to host its full-length content. The BBC relies upon its iPlayer, Channel 4 on 4oD and ITV on ITV player.
Five hopes to have signed deals with partner websites such social networks like Facebook and portals, like AOL, by the end of this year. However, its own online properties, Five.tv and FiveFWD, the cars and gadgets portal for young males, will be the first websites to use Brightcove as the video platform showing Five content.
The Virgin-UMG deal looks it may be the start of a compelling proposition - an all you can eat, no strings-attached bundle. But without wholehearted label support, the service is rather meaningless, and it's such early days that no one else is on board. Incredibly, the most flexible licensee of all in the music business, the PRS, hasn't granted Virgin a license yet.
"Deloitte believes if high-speed broadband is to succeed, three principles need to be adopted:
Online services need to offer something new that the customer will value significantly above today's alternatives to drive a desire for increased bandwidth;
The customer business model needs to be viable and sustainable for all parties in the value chain;
New ways must be found to target segments of the population that do not currently use any broadband services.
"By putting the customer back at the centre of the debate, the industry can avoid the 'build-it and they will come' mentality, and will create a competitive environment that puts Britain in the foreground of the digital landscape."
