It’s been another intriguing couple of weeks in the realm of content creation and distribution. The National Cable Show saw cable companies wrangle with emerging distribution models and the role of Netflix; two major comic book companies - DC and Valiant - announced fresh starts for their respective universes; transmedia and social sharing were omnipresent at the Electronic Arts Expo; while JK Rowling announced a mysterious new website - Pottermore - which seems to extend the Harry Potter brand (although it remains to be seen how, precisely).
In the midst of all this, one article in particular caught my eye: “Why Content Isn’t King”by Jonathan A. Knee in the Atlantic. Beginning by focusing on Netflix’s (currently) enduring growth as an aggregator, it suggests that the old adage “content is king” is incorrect and that the content aggregation – not creation – constitutes “the overwhelming source of value creation.” I’d like to explore the options facing content creators in the context of this suggestion.
There are a couple of things to note as a preface to any discuss of Knee’s thesis. The first is that Knee, as a banker and director of the media program at Columbia Business School, approaches issues from the perspective of the investor. I’ve read The Curse of the Mogul, the book he co-authored, and he suggests several reasons why content creators may constitute poor investments: a tendency to let egos overwhelm rational decision making, little customer loyalty (especially outside Disney and Pixar), low barriers to entry, and the highly liquid nature of talent. Of course, none of those factors preclude the individuals creating content from making vast quantities of money....