The official blog of Stathis Kassios for Business, Media, Economics & Arts

In a previous post I had analysed the troubled logistics chain between the distributors of media content & media companies producing the content on the other edge of the spectrum. These problems constitute  a harsh reality in the digital world as well. The difference is that media distributors online are evolving in a - catch me if you can - pace that media companies find difficult to adapt or follow. This means altering the latter's business models all the time. The intellectual property of the media companies is the question & the dilemma here. How do online distributors handle media content? In what extent do distributors have the right to exploit media content as they see fit without asking legal permission from the producers, everytime a new distribution model appears?  These questions have existed before in the physical markets but the Internet is the new ''boxing'' arena where the aforementioned players fight hard or prepare for new rounds of boxin...

When music labels search for trustworthy distributors in various countries, aspects of  negotiation theories  swirl around my mind. Think about this example for a minute. Major music label by the name X happens not to be that satisfied by cooperating with their main distributor - label Y - in Brazil. After years of ups and downs in retail sales by the label Y in distributing X's business & products across many music customers, troubled economic times disrupt the natural flow of sales revenues to label X. How much valuable time, it will take for label X to search (search costs), find, consider, contact & negotiate their enormous artist catalogue, and eventually trust a new business partner? New titles or scheduled releases will have to be postponed. This major event has occured quite a lot of times with independent labels desperately searching for new distributors. Should label X stick to its weak partner's future recovery plans, hope that the bad climate will va...