Livewire

I just finished reading a whitepaper regarding a digital media divide which was base around a struggle between content owners (e.g. HBO) and user generated content (UGC). The premise was the disruption created by UGC as being a threat to the content owners, essentially a competition for consumer timeshare and wallet. While I agree that there is a limit to the amount of content that can be consumed, I don’t see the divide of content owners vs UGC as the larger issue since I feel that consumers will always value good, original content. I believe the bigger issue is sharing and downward pressure on the price of mobile or web content. For example in the U.S., the price of a song is no more than Apple’s iTunes marketplace of $.99 due to their wide consumer base. Other services are moving closer to “all you can eat” with a subscription, such as Nokia’s Comes with Music, which is even less expensive. The price of digital content is further depressed via file sharing or sites that do not enforce copywrite. However, content owners can fight back and enable communities to form around their content which incorporates UGC to increase viewer loyalty and the value of their content. Potentially, concert and merchandise interest is increased for a musical artist or advertising premiums and ratings are increased for the broadcast or web/mobile viewing of a show such as Lost or Sopranos. In these instances, UGC can be harnessed to become an enabler, not a threat. It is a matter of changing business models to find all available revenue streams when the primary revenue stream is under pricing pressure.