MUST CHECK OUT -- New "Share Economy" Org -- Peers.org

Just launched today -- from the same dedicated team that brought you social impact movement Purpose -- new "Share Economy" organization Peers.org.  Grass-roots.  Dedicated.  Informative.  Motivating.  Impactful.

Check it out.  Love what they are doing -- and what it represents.

I spent time with founding member James Slezak yesterday in their New York office.  The place was alive with positive "can do" energy.  Grass-roots all the way.  And, very very real.  This is how change happens ...

Forever Festival -- Earth's First Live Digital Music Festival -- Streams to You August 4-11

The “Forever Festival – Sound + Vision” – I am proud to be part of it.  It is something entirely new.  And very very cool.

On August 7, as part of the "Forever Festival" held from August 4th-11th, leading live concert streaming service IROCKEand LiveDMA will present this first-of-its kind blockbuster evening that features more than 150 pioneers of the live digital music industry.  That means music legends (like Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead), digital music star artists (a major name surprise, and I won’t ruin it here), artist managers, and digital music entrepreneurs and innovators.  I guess I fall into the ladder category … proudly.  This event will stream live as part of Forever Festival programming at 4evrfest.com. 

Want more proof that this is the real deal and ground-breaking?  Then check this out – Marc Scarpa will direct the event – and he has some experience here.  He is the first to have ever directed a major music festival streamed live over the Internet – the 1996 Tibetan Freedom Concerts in San Francisco organized by The Beastie Boys and featuring Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Beck and Sonic Youth.

It’s an insanely amazing group of people with whom I will be gathered and speak on a panel, including: Bob Weir, Roger McNamee (Elevation Partners), Jay Samit (former head of digital music for Sony and EMI), Evan Lowenstein (StageIt), Steve Rennie (Incubus’s manager), John Petrocelli (co-founder Bulldog Digital Media), Freddy Fletcher (partner/head of production of Stageside Production at Austin City Limits LIVE), and many many others.

All of this will stream live from the great Saint Rocke live music venue in Hermosa Beach, California. 

For anyone even remotely interested in the digital music scene – and the current music business in general – this is a “must watch” live streaming event.

What Is Digital Media? Why Does It Matter? My Presentation -- Via Video, Powerpoint -- to the California Capital Summit

This past Friday, Lindsay Conner (Co-Chair of Manatt's Entertainment & Media group and a giant in the motion picture business world) and I (representing Manatt Digital Media Ventures) gave a presentation in LA to about 100 members of the California Capital Summit -- titled, "The Digital Media Revolution: What It Is & Why It Matters to Business ... Any Business ... YOUR Business."  This was not a group of digital media experts -- accordingly, this was intended to be a high level overview that was both practical and thought-provoking.  Essentially, to get everyone's head "in the game" -- i.e., that every single person needs to understand the media/marketing/engagement forces around them and either harness them (or not) at their peril.  We began the presentation with this great video below, which itself is an amazingly effective piece of social/viral marketing, and we used this slide deck to underscore our points -- click here to access it (you can access the accompanying audio from our presentation by clicking this separate link):

Immediately after showing this video (which is, by the way, a great way to warm up a crowd!), I asked the audience -- by a show of hands -- whether they felt the video was compelling.  Literally every single hand went into the air!  Every single one.

THAT, my friends, is the power of video.  THAT is the power of social media/marketing done right (I found that video online, shared it with 100 in the room, made it available to several who requested it, and they told two friends ... and so on ... and so on ....).  Not a bad result for the video producer and publisher who created it to demonstrate how immersed our lives are in digital media -- but also, of course, to promote his book and business.  THAT is effective marketing in this new age.  Very ....

Once again, you can hear our entire talk -- and view the corresponding powerpoint slide deck -- by clicking to this link.

My LinkedIn Profile -- Evolved -- Social Impact & Artists

I just made substantial changes to my LinkedIn profile (the first in a long time) -- which mirror substantial changes in my life.  Yes, of course, I am now CEO of Manatt Digital Media Ventures (my new gig for 2+ months) and feature that in my headline.  But, my new headline also underscores my deep involvement with artists and social impact organizations -- two areas of deepening passion for me.

Based on that passion, I now frequently counsel indie filmmakers and musicians, particularly about evolving modes of demand generation and direct distribution and engagement.  I am now also closely aligned with like-minded individuals at high-profile social impact organizations and "triple bottom line" companies (including the new wave of social impact start-ups).

My wife, Luisa, and I are also particularly passionate about driving our own youth and family-focused social impact -- both within our home and into our communities from "the inside out" (as my wife would say).  Check out her amazing non-profit The Giving Tree Movement.

And, I am working on my own stealth music festival featuring world-class artists, but also steeped in youth-focused empowerment.  This is a labor of love based on both (1) establishing a holistic overall experience steeped in music, but also going deeper and (2) harnessing the energy tapped at that music festival experience to make a difference and drive positive individual and social change that goes well beyond the weekend itself.  All I'll say about it for now is "FM3 Experience" (FM3 XP) -- November 8-9, 2014 -- San Diego.

REPORT -- Piracy Substantially Down -- Compelling Paid Alternatives to Blame

Important development reported in today's TechCrunch -- media piracy is substantially (and, I mean substantially) down as a result of compelling paid alternatives (primarily subscription streaming services like Netflix and Pandora).

"Back in the day," I served as President of online music pioneer Musicmatch (ultimately acquired by Yahoo!).  We were amongst the first to offer paid streaming subscriptions (10 years ago!).  I always believed that the best defense against piracy was a good offense -- i.e., beat back pirate sites by offering the best customer/user experiences.  Most were skeptical about this strategy -- and most doubted that subscription services would ever catch on.  After all, consumers want to "own" content, right?

Well, it took a while, but subscription services are now mainstream -- and consumers realize that access to the content they want (and the compelling user experience they need) is tantamount to ownership.  If your content is always available to you -- anytime, anywhere -- why does "ownership" really matter?

My New HuffPo(st) -- For Family Videos, YES Is More

My most recent Huffington Post guest article was posted yesterday -- titled "For Family Videos, Less Is, Well Less: Welcome to the Age of Video Snippets."  In it, I discuss the "experiential" differences between camcorder shot videos (slices of life) of yesteryear compared with today's smart phone captured videos (snippets of life).  And, I argue that -- for your personal family video memories -- you want the longer-form slices, not ADD-style snippets.

What led me to this realization?  Transferring 70 of my MiniDV tapes online -- tapes that had been languishing in a plastic bin in my garage for the past umpteen years.  A company called YesVideo -- that promises to "Bring your home movies to life" -- made that all possible.  I packed them all up.  Shipped them out.  And, 30 days later, voila!  They are now online for viewing.

Magical viewing.  Viewing of our memories.  Viewing of our slices of life.

Do you want to view your precious family memories?  YES you can!  It is a service that I recommend ... highly.  And, do it before those near-forgotten videos (MiniDVs, VHS, 8 mm, Super 8) degrade.  Priceless.

The one risk to be aware of when using any kind of cloud-based service (like YesVideo) is the possibility that the service ultimately goes out of business.  If that were to happen, what happens to all of those precious memories?  The company is not an 800 pound gorilla (yet) after all.  And, this risk isn't theoretical.  Remember the famous Flip cam and its companion cloud-based storage and streaming service?  It was massive at one point -- and then shuttered -- AFTER 800 pound gorilla Cisco had acquired it!  Flip users -- who had uploaded all of their Flip videos -- were essentially told by Cisco to fend for themselves.

So, to protect yourself from this possibility, I recommend that you order physical DVDs from YesVideo, in addition to transferring those videos online.  Then you have the back-up you need -- and the peace of mind you want.

Apple's E-Book Loss -- Why It Matters to ALL Media (Not Just Books)

As you already likely know -- in the much-watched e-book anti-trust court case that pitted Amazon's wholesale $9.99 pricing model against Apple's "agency" model -- a federal district court judge just ruled against Apple, finding that Apple engaged in illegal "price-fixing" in its dealings with publishers.

But, make no mistake.  This isn't just about e-books.  The court's decision has potentially profound implications on all forms of media, including premium online video distribution and pricing (motion pictures and television).  So, listen up all you digital media executives -- you should be watching this all very closely ... very closely.

Here are three significant themes resulting from the court's validation of Amazon's "wholesale" pricing model, pursuant to which the retailer -- not the publisher -- sets e-book pricing:

(1) "Pure play" online media distributors should be troubled.  Amazon -- and Apple for that matter -- are unique animals.  Most importantly, both Amazon and Apple have their own particular strategic reasons to sell e-books and other forms of media content.  For Amazon, yes, it is to sell hardware (Kindles), but even more importantly e-books and other content are the bait to attract consumers into its e-commerce world of huge sales volume at extremely low margins.  For Apple, e-books and other forms of content are the bait to sell more hardware (iPads, iPhones).  The point is that both Amazon and Apple can afford to sell e-books, movies, television, music, and games at low, low prices (potentially even at a loss), because their primary motivation is to sell "other things."

Pure-play online content distributors (think Netflix, think Hulu and myriad others), on the other hand, have no such luxury.  They have no "other things" to sell.  They MUST make money by distributing the content/media itself.  So, they may believe that their very existence is threatened by Amazon and others as they continue to drive down pricing to meet their broader strategic goals.

And, content creators and owners should care about this ... a lot.  As I wrote in TechCrunch, content creators/owners want more distributors for their content, not less.

(2) Publishers, writers and all content creators will see this decision as a potential further degrading of the value of their content in the minds of consumers.  In an ironic twist of fate (about which I wrote about earlier), Apple essentially was fighting for a higher price point for e-books in a battle to break Amazon's first-mover grip in the e-book market.  Whereas Apple was the one that implemented a $9.99 price point in the music world (for albums) 10 years ago -- evoking the ire of music execs and artists everywhere -- Apple was now seen by many publishers as being a godsend in the e-book market in its fight against Amazon's $9.99 price point that many publishers feel degrades the value of that content in the minds of consumers.  The court's decision will only add fuel to this fire -- and to the age old question, "how much is content worth?"  Let's not forget, content creators must be incentivized to make money.  Inspiration does not come from inspiration alone.  A writer needs to pay the bills!

(3) There is no reason why the rationale behind the court's decision about wholesale pricing shouldn't apply equally to other forms of media.   But, let's face it, motion pictures, television and music are increasingly streamed via subscription models -- and there also is more pricing precedent in those realms).

So, watch closely ... very.  And, don't forget, this was only one battle in the ultimate war on this e-book pricing issue.  This was a decision by a single federal court judge.  Apple's teams of lawyers are no doubt frantically drafting their appeal as we speak.

Didn't some writer somewhere write the inspired line "it ain't over 'til it's over?"

Pause & Reflect -- The Cause & Effect

Digital media.  Media meets technology.  It's my world.  It's our world.  Meetings.  Calls.  Emails.  Blogs. Tweets.  We rarely turn it off.  I know I don't (I am writing this post at midnight after all, and likely will be up by 5).  I love it.  And, I need to respond to everything.  Now!

Or do I?  Do we?

Yes, by responding immediately to everything -- doing it all now -- we each knock down those individual trees.  One by one.  But, in so doing, do we miss the forest?  Do we miss the big picture?  The context?  The focus?  The true mission?

Candidly, the answer is frequently yes.  I am always in execution mode -- many of us are.  The cause is the bombardment of inbound messages.  The never-ending "things that can be done."  The internal feeling/drive/passion/obsession/energy to do more.  But, the effect is not always "more."  Full speed and heads down almost certainly leads to loss of true vision ... at least sometimes.

I started my new gig -- as CEO of Manatt Digital Media Ventures -- nearly 3 months ago.  I love it.  Am passionate about it.  And, the good news is that I am bombarded with new business and investment opportunities to consider, new people and companies to meet, and new meetings to take -- opportunities, companies and relationships that need (nay deserve!) exploring.  So, I explore.  All of them!

But, that can lead to drowning in them.

So, last week I did a little experiment.  I checked out for a full day.  I held my own little individual strategic "off-site."  I literally went off site -- away from my office in LA.  Away from my home office in San Diego.  I holed up in a room at my club.  I turned off the phone.  I ignored emails.  Instead, I carefully ... carefully! ... re-read my business plan.  I reflected ... methodically! ... upon its goals.  Its areas of focus.  Its strategies.  And I objectively overlaid the actions I took in the past nearly 3 months on those goals and strategies -- I weighed my actual allocation of time against a candid assessment of how I should be allocating my time.

And it was enlightening ....

Through this one-day exercise, I realized that my actions skewed to certain activities that, while important, were not of paramount importance.  I realized I need to reallocate my time.  I realized I need to sharpen my focus.  And, I realized a very difficult thing ... a very difficult thing for me ... I realized that I need to say "no" some times.  Many times.  Candidly.  Unapologetically.  (But always respectfully).  To opportunities.  To companies.  To meetings.  To people.  I -- none of us -- can do it all.  While not an epiphany (after all, after pausing and reflecting upon it, the conclusion is rather obvious!), this realization was meaningful and impactful.

In other words, I had one of my most productive -- and ROI positive days -- in weeks, even though I did not take a single meeting, answer a single phone call, respond to a single email, write a single blog post, or tweet a single tweet.

I just paused ... and reflected.

And that, my friends, made all the difference.

I plan to build my 1-day individual strategic off-sites into my overall professional schedule -- likely one day per month.  One day to pause, reflect ... and recalibrate.

I urge you to do the same.

Media Companies -- Remember, YOUR Content IS King -- You Hold the Cards (If You Have the Will)

I wrote this post for TechCrunch over one year ago, but it is perhaps even more applicable today due to the continued proliferation and aggressive resourcing of premium online distribution services (Netflix, YouTube, Amazon, Hulu, Vudu, Comcast, Intel and inevitably Apple -- all of whom are in massive "land grab" mode).   It covers all the bases of my perspectives from my nearly 25 year career -- the content owner/licensor's perspective (my time at major studios like Universal Studios), the online distributor/licensee perspective (online music pioneer Musicmatch) and the technology perspective (online video innovator Sorenson Media).  Although I wrote this in the context of Apple's long-awaited iTV, it has broad applicability to all premium online video licensing and deal-making and interaction with all online video distributors.

Apple’s all-in-one physical flat-screen iTV is coming, make no mistake. And, when it does, it will represent Apple’s attempt to reinvent the television experience in much the same way it did for music. But, while media execs were hopelessly naive in Apple's presence back then, they feel they are ready this time. They are determined not to let Apple rule the premium online video world like they did (and still do) for online music. The question is, do they have the will?

Apple will, of course, follow its established playbook – which most CE companies inexplicably still do not follow -- and seamlessly marry its beautiful hardware (the iTV) with its underlying software and services (in this case, movies and television) in the same way it did with music via the iPod and iTunes.  Apple’s goal is to be the center of the online movie and television universe for consumers (just like it is for music). Yes, content is king to Apple, but only because content serves as the Trojan Horse consumers ride into Apple’s kingdom of riches (initially Macs and iPods, and later iPhones, iPads and the inevitable iTV).

There’s the rub. The content king-makers – motion picture and television studio execs – now know this. They have seen this movie before, and this time they are determined to monetize content more directly for content sake – for themselves. Apple transformed itself into the #1 most valuable global company and juggernaut that we see today precisely because those media execs handed Apple the keys to unlock music value in the online world. Steve Jobs wooed them with his charms, pitched a great story, and established the rules of the online music licensing game. Apple’s massive growth in the past decade all started there with its iPod-iTunes 1-2 knockout punch. That, in turn, led to the resurgence of Macs, which led to the iPhone, then the iPad. Apple would be a very different company today if didn’t get the music it needed 10 years ago.

And, how did Jobs’ playbook work out for the labels and musicians? Not so well. Online music sales (and royalties) were an asterisk next to iPod sales. Don’t get me wrong. Rampant piracy – and the music industry’s misplaced attack strategy – destroyed significant content value. Nevertheless, the music industry’s negotiations with Jobs one decade ago resulted in a massive transfer of value and wealth to Apple.

So, what lessons have media executives learned from this past decade?

Lesson #1 – Dictate the Rules of the Game, Rather Than Have Them Dictated to You.

Music execs were on their heels reeling in fear when Jobs approached them a decade ago with the promise of iTunes. They had no real experience with the Internet. They certainly had no experience with technology (many still do not) – and how it could be used for both good and evil. Piracy was rampant. Napster ruled the day (the bad one, not the good one). Kazaa’s Niklas Zennstrom was public enemy #1 (now of course he is a media insider with Skype, Joost and others). The music industry was understandably panicked.

Jobs promised a way out – under three conditions. First, Apple must be able to sell individual tracks unbundled from albums. Second, its price for those unbundled tracks must be $.99 each. Third, Apple must define and control the entire online music experience. The music industry capitulated, and these 3 commandments are fundamental rules of the game that still largely rule the day.

Well, those rules haven’t worked out too well for music creators and owners. Lesson learned. So, one decade later, media execs are striving to proactively dictate the value of their content and support multiple online experiences and business models. But, even now, they frequently significantly under-value their content. More on that later.

Lesson #2 – Never Again Put Too Much Power in the Hands of One Distributor.

Prior to iTunes, piracy was rampant, and only relatively small players (including my former company, Musicmatch) played legitimately in the online music world. Amid this backdrop, media execs empowered Apple to be the first and only established online music source and experience. As a result, iTunes incredibly still commands 60-70% of all online music sales. That represents incredible power in the hands of one. It represents a downright monopoly.

Media execs are determined not to allow that kind of power in the hands of any single player in the online video world. They instead are committed to fostering an eco-system of as many legitimate distributors as possible. They actively license their prized motion picture and television assets to all those willing to pay.

That’s why we already have myriad established behemoths in the premium online video game. We have Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Google/YouTube, Comcast. The list goes on and on. Apple too is on that list, but it is behind the curve this time. Those same media execs who ceded control to Apple ten years ago have refused, thus far, to broadly license their crown jewels on Apple’s terms. But Apple – or more accurately, Apple’s massive hoards of cash – can be very persuasive. More on that later.

Lesson #3 – License Broadly & Make the Licensing Landscape as Confusing and Opaque as Possible.

Media execs aren’t panicked this time. They have a decade of learning under their belts. Yes, piracy continues to be rampant, but they now understand that it cannot simply be litigated into oblivion. The best defense truly is a better offense. Support better customer experiences, make your content available broadly to those legitimate distributors willing to pay, and experiment with business models and terms.

That’s why we have over-the-top (OTT) “Internet TV” models in which content is monetized via paid downloads, subscriptions, and ads. We also have big cable’s “TV Everywhere” models in which consumers must continue to pay their monthly cable fees. And, coming soon, Google, Intel and others are becoming virtual cable operators that also distribute live linear programming like ESPN. Apple too wants to be on that “virtual MSO” list, because that is the kind of premium content that ultimately moves mountains of consumers. Case in point – DirecTV’s “NFL Package.”

This melange is great for the studios. No two content licensing deals are the same. Each negotiation takes place in a black box. No clarity. No certainty. Just the way media execs like it (I know, I have been there). Now THAT's power! Right? Up to a point. More on that later.

Lesson #4 – Be Audacious – After All, Content is King.

Jobs ultimately taught music execs one fundamental truth – that content is THE key to unlock tremendous value online. The corollary to this is that without content, value is lost. That’s why all the deep-pocketed tech titans are lining up for a chance to play in the premium online video game. Just as it is for Apple, premium online video distribution is strategically central to their business. Apple? Sell its hardware. Amazon? Sell more goods and services. Google? Sell more ads. Comcast? Hold onto those cable subscriptions. Netflix? Survive!

These players continue to ink a steady stream of significant licensing deals, the financial terms of which are almost never disclosed (remember, just the way the studios like it). But, one telling deal’s terms did slip out over one year ago – Netflix agreed to shell out nearly $1 billion to stream shows from the CW Network. Think about that – if the CW can command those kind of numbers, think about the price tag for real “premium” content like ESPN. And, we are still in the early innings of this premium online video game.

Apple – with its head-spinning $150 billion war chest – is a lock to win (or at least be a massive winner in) the online video game, right? Most likely, the answer is yes. The inevitable iTVs will fly off the shelves. But, Apple isn’t alone this time. It is playing on a crowded field with other deep-pocketed and committed players (including CE guys like Samsung). Even more importantly, to really hit it out of the park, Apple’s coming iTV must be an experience. That means Apple must offer an extremely deep pool of compelling video content from the start (including sacred programming like ESPN). Otherwise, consumers will find holes, get frustrated, and look to fill those holes with programming offered by others.

Each frustrated customer represents real significant loss, which is especially magnified in Apple’s case because of its closed product eco-system. For Apple, it’s not just about a single product sale (like an iTV). That sale, instead, marks the beginning or continuation of a long-term lucrative purchase relationship, which is the key driver of Apple’s stratospheric growth. That’s why Apple will be willing to strike very different content licensing deals with media execs this time around.

Of course, Apple doesn’t control the content – the studios do. So, who really holds the cards here? Will the studios be as audacious as Steve Jobs was one decade earlier and demand terms that they believe reflect the true value their content creates for distributors over time? In Apple’s case, one truly audacious idea could be to seek a share of revenue for every iTV sold. Remember, not every license deal must be the same. Value means very different things to different players. If Apple, or any other online distributor, refuses to play, then they lose out. No soup for you! There are many others (including the studios themselves), but only one ESPN!

Or, will media execs instead go for the quick-fix of easy money? After all it’s hard to say “no” to someone writing a big check. If they do go this instant gratification route (which is more consistent with their DNA), at least they should realize that their prized motion picture and television assets will be worth significantly more than they think in the online world over time. Avoid long-term deals!

So, yes, media execs have learned their lessons well. Content is, in fact, king. Apple will continue to wear the crown, however, unless media companies have the will and creativity to take it back. After all, Apple continues to drive tens of billions of dollars of revenues each quarter, a number that dwarfs global motion picture box office receipts for the entire year. Apple could buy Hollywood. But, will Hollywood let it?