Date: Tuesday, March 28, 2003 5:19 AM
From: Alex Enkerli ([email protected])
Subject: Short Lines, Long Wait
Just a few quick thoughts on the issue (Movielink: Short Lines, Long Wait, March 28, 2003). Clearly, the movie and music industries face different issues with regards to online distribution and P2P.
Other considerations include:
Movie watching is less repetitive than music listening: With the obvious exception of the Indian movie industry, people tend to watch movies only a limited number of times while the same people may listen to the same song several times in a row.
Movie watching is more involving than music listening so people are more willing to reserve time to watch a movie than to listen to a specific song. You can't watch a movie while driving but having music on while driving is an important aspect for the music industry.
Movies take a lot of hard disk space and people won't stock up on a large number of movies just in case.
Renting movies is a well-established practice. There's a clear advantage to not having to go to the video store.
Because of these issues, it's quite possible Movielink may fare much better than music alternatives. The fact that major players already take part in the initiative may give them a head start.
