Digital Takeover

July 19, 2009 · by Eric Sorenson

Each year, as the so-called ‘digital revolution’ picks up speed, greater numbers of markets have been transitioning to Internet based distribution. Music, film, journalism and telecommunications are just a few of the industries that have been strongly influenced by this trend. There have been some consumer complaints, but by far the loudest objections have come from the beneficiaries of aging business models.

While I’m an advocate of using the Internet as a distribution system, I’m not keen on the new standard for buying digital music that iTunes has established. I love having a high quality, tangible copy of the album I just bought, complete with cover art and liner notes. Sure, album artwork can be packaged with a purely digital copy in the form of a PDF or JPEG file, but in my opinion there’s still a certain sense of satisfaction missing from it. Additionally, the audio resolution of iTunes downloads is far lower than that of a CD, not to mention that of vinyl records.

That being said, I’ll admit that the digital distribution music model is remarkably efficient. For one thing, it simply has no packaging materials, construction, storage or shipping costs. Furthermore, there is never any waste to throw into a landfill, and very little energy is required to send a song through a computer network, making digital music a much greener alternative.

A hot topic of late has been whether digital distribution is sustainable in the long term. While it has been becoming an increasingly viable goal, it can only remain so if access to the Internet is extremely reliable. So especially since most consumers have come to expect immediate gratification and portability in media purchases, one thing to keep in mind is that it’s very important that we fortify our existing infrastructure if we continue to increase our reliance on computer networks for the consumption of day to day commodities.

Most large media firms have not adapted to these kinds of expectations, and their revenue has dropped as a result. A quick glance at the news shows that consumers will find ways to meet their own expectations, regardless of what the traditional corporate players have planned. Their market will definitely continue to evolve, but it’s becoming apparent that the power will likely change hands in the process, perhaps more than once.

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