Internet Media Physics - What's The New Model for Consuming Media

ian c rogers Yahoo! Music NYLF Tech July, 2006 Internet Media Physics

“ Physics”, in a business sense “ A science that deals with matter and energy and their interactions.” Environmental forces easily taken for granted but to be ignored at your own peril. Just as a pilot can’t ignore gravity, entrepreneurs can’t afford to ignore the physics of the Internet. Products which account for the physics can succeed without any marketing, products which ignore can’t be saved by marketing.

Tell me about yourselves (show of hands) How many of you have iPods? How many of you have MySpace pages? How many have seen the Chronicles of Narnia Rap? How many have seen Superman?

Who is this guy?

Facts about Ian Rogers:

One of several “Directors of Product Management” at Yahoo! Music

Formerly at startup Mediacode

Formerly at Record Label Grand Royal

Formerly at Nullsoft (Winamp, SHOUTcast, Gnutella)

Formerly worked with Beastie Boys

What are we talking about today?

How are the Physics of the Media World are changing?

What is the iPod is really showing us?

What can you do to help?

Whatever you want to talk about.

What is Yahoo!’s Music business?

The physics of the Media world are changing From a world where attention is abundant and distribution channels are scarce To a world where distribution is unlimited and attention is scarce

Huh? What this means is, you’re going to watch, listen to, and experience EXACTLY what you want, not what’s marketed to you. (this is a good thing)

This is a good thing because… QUALITY becomes king. Not QUALITY a la fine art (Mozart is “better” than 50 Cent), QUALITY is personal and subjective. Whatever YOU most want, is what you should give your attention to.

Your attention is your currency Your attention is what media companies will compete for. To get your attention companies need better content, not better marketing. QUALITY is hyper-efficient.

How is this happening? We used to have tens of channels of TV and a limited FM dial. The music store at the mall could only hold so many CDs. On the Internet, the choices will (soon legally) be unlimited. Not only can you watch, listen, and experience any content ever created, you’ll be able to be the content creator, and you’ll be consuming content made by people you know.

How was this opportunity created? Great technology gave us AOL, Compuserve, the iPod, and Satellite Radio. Great standards gave us The World Wide Web. Consider the opportunities for an entrepreneur on each.

Standards in online media are still virtually non-existent Think about your experience on the Web. Everything looks great on all platforms… Until you want a piece of media. Then it’s “Would you like Real, Windows, or Quicktime?” Puke. Flash is winning because it appears the most standard. But it’s not. And that makes it as proprietary as the iPod.

The iPod is pro-pry-ah-what? The iPod is a great integrated technology solution. It does not create Internet-scale opportunity for media. What if Internet Explorer only went to Microsoft’s home page? This is a representation of the amount of opportunity that’s lost in the closed Apple media economy.

So what should you, future entrepreneur, do? Don’t take the Internet for granted. Fight to keep the Internet free (net neutrality is important). Create and support simple standards that build useful platforms. In other words, help make sure new technologies are built on the same principles as the Internet. Build on these platforms. Don’t build or build on proprietary platforms.

Media:

#1 Radio

#1 Video

#1 Web Site

On-Demand:

Yahoo! Music Unlimited

MusicMatch

Living Room, Mobile

How does Yahoo! Music fit in?

Personalization for discovery. Community for connecting and identity. Playlisting and more for utility. FUSE: Find, Use, Share, and Expand. Building experiences around Music

No question is stupid. Let ‘er rip. Enough from me. What’s on your mind?