MOG's All Access Service Shows Why Piracy Is Down
Category streaming on demand
In the beginning of December, MOG officially launched it's All Access music service. Michael Arrington covered a lot the features on the TechCrunch blog already, so I won't go into all of them here. The list is quite impressive, and, for $5/month (its to cover the on demand part mostly), there isn't another service out there that currently comes close to it.
When I read about MOG, it also brought up another post on TechCrunch by Robin Wauters that shows how streaming and on demand services are cutting down on piracy. The data shows that as more things become available on legitimate on demand sites (whether you have to pay for them or not) people will tend to use them over file sharing sites. People, in general, will get things the easiest way they can. If a show is made available to sites like hulu or in iTunes, they have no problem getting them that way; as long as its easy to use. The younger generations don't care about ownership as much as us old fogies do. They just want what they want when they want it. File sharing sites are full of dead links, litigation and uncertainty these days. Why risk it if you can just go to a site and stream it when you want to see it. Lets say you just started watching Lost in it's final season. You love the show and need to catch up from first season on. You could do it old school and buy/rent the DVDs. Or, you could spend a few hours trying to find well seeded torrents that will allow for quick downloads. With a decent internet connection and a well seeded torrent, you could be watching episode 1 about 4-6 hours later. And these episodes take up space. So, take into account that you will be downloading 5 full seasons, you'll be chewing up a lot of hard drive space. Or, you could just go to ABC's website and watch all the episodes there. A couple of clicks and you're happily streaming the first show in less than a few minutes. Sure, you have to put up with advertising, but they're only quick ads. And, let's be realistic. Most of the time you watch a show once, maybe twice, and then never watch it again. So, buying seasons of shows is often a waste of money. Sure, there will be that favorite episode you return to quite often. But if its online you will be able to stream it whenever you want and from wherever you are. Downloaded the show at home but now you're relaxing on the beach in Maui with your laptop? Oops. You can guarantee the hotel wifi connection isn't going to have enough bandwidth for you to download that whole torrent again.
Music is a little different when you take into account portable players. A lot of the same rules apply, however. You just had a Wall-to-Wall on Facebook with one of your high school chums about a concert you went to and now you want to listen to some of that old stuff. You could run out and buy the CD, or download it from iTunes if its there. But, if you're using services like MOG just to play songs you already own, you're missing the point. It's about discovering new music. Or listening to stuff you don't own. And being able to do it super easily. Working in the social aspect of the site, you'll see the most popular playlists, artists, songs, etc. from friends and others. You don't get that listening to a big library in iTunes.
But, for piracy to really take a hit, it's gotta all be there. Sites like Hulu are great for a lot of shows. But, if you are only putting up a few episodes and not the entire catalog, people are going to get it anyway they can. That's why piracy is so prevalent. If people want it, they'll get it the easiest way possible. Make it available to them legitimately, easily, and throw up a couple ads or charge a minimal fee, and they will bite. And I can tell you that a lot of the stuff I want isn't in iTunes. So, I'm stuck tracking down the CD or downloading it from somewhere else.
The numbers don't lie; if you post it, they will come.
In the beginning of December, MOG officially launched it's All Access music service. Michael Arrington covered a lot the features on the TechCrunch blog already, so I won't go into all of them here. The list is quite impressive, and, for $5/month (its to cover the on demand part mostly), there isn't another service out there that currently comes close to it.
When I read about MOG, it also brought up another post on TechCrunch by Robin Wauters that shows how streaming and on demand services are cutting down on piracy. The data shows that as more things become available on legitimate on demand sites (whether you have to pay for them or not) people will tend to use them over file sharing sites. People, in general, will get things the easiest way they can. If a show is made available to sites like hulu or in iTunes, they have no problem getting them that way; as long as its easy to use. The younger generations don't care about ownership as much as us old fogies do. They just want what they want when they want it. File sharing sites are full of dead links, litigation and uncertainty these days. Why risk it if you can just go to a site and stream it when you want to see it. Lets say you just started watching Lost in it's final season. You love the show and need to catch up from first season on. You could do it old school and buy/rent the DVDs. Or, you could spend a few hours trying to find well seeded torrents that will allow for quick downloads. With a decent internet connection and a well seeded torrent, you could be watching episode 1 about 4-6 hours later. And these episodes take up space. So, take into account that you will be downloading 5 full seasons, you'll be chewing up a lot of hard drive space. Or, you could just go to ABC's website and watch all the episodes there. A couple of clicks and you're happily streaming the first show in less than a few minutes. Sure, you have to put up with advertising, but they're only quick ads. And, let's be realistic. Most of the time you watch a show once, maybe twice, and then never watch it again. So, buying seasons of shows is often a waste of money. Sure, there will be that favorite episode you return to quite often. But if its online you will be able to stream it whenever you want and from wherever you are. Downloaded the show at home but now you're relaxing on the beach in Maui with your laptop? Oops. You can guarantee the hotel wifi connection isn't going to have enough bandwidth for you to download that whole torrent again.
Music is a little different when you take into account portable players. A lot of the same rules apply, however. You just had a Wall-to-Wall on Facebook with one of your high school chums about a concert you went to and now you want to listen to some of that old stuff. You could run out and buy the CD, or download it from iTunes if its there. But, if you're using services like MOG just to play songs you already own, you're missing the point. It's about discovering new music. Or listening to stuff you don't own. And being able to do it super easily. Working in the social aspect of the site, you'll see the most popular playlists, artists, songs, etc. from friends and others. You don't get that listening to a big library in iTunes.
But, for piracy to really take a hit, it's gotta all be there. Sites like Hulu are great for a lot of shows. But, if you are only putting up a few episodes and not the entire catalog, people are going to get it anyway they can. That's why piracy is so prevalent. If people want it, they'll get it the easiest way possible. Make it available to them legitimately, easily, and throw up a couple ads or charge a minimal fee, and they will bite. And I can tell you that a lot of the stuff I want isn't in iTunes. So, I'm stuck tracking down the CD or downloading it from somewhere else.
The numbers don't lie; if you post it, they will come.