In today’s digital age a great portion of all our media content is delivered to the end user via digital downloads. Apple’s iTunes store is currently the kingpin in the digital distribution marketplace, iTunes currently distributes music, movies, and television shows. There are several movie companies who find this domination of the marketplace a hindrance to their potential audiences.
Miramax CEO Mike Lang sees iTunes domination as a major issue for his company. For Miramax this domination is limiting the audience that they could potentially distribute their films to. Lang said “it is really important as an industry that we try to allow multiple players in markets around the world.”
Following his beliefs about more competition Lang has made deals with more media distributors than just iTunes. Miramax has signed streaming deals with both Netflix and Hulu. Teaming up with these companies allows multiple players a chance at success within the distribution marketplace.
Apple already completely dominated the music industry holding the largest online song catalog with up to 20 million tracks. While music companies were battling piracy in court, Apple slowly built up its presence during this time accumulating its massive music catalog. Miramax CEO’s main concern is that the industry cannot allow this domination that has happened with the music industry to also happen with the film industry.
Mike Lang believes that “more competition is healthy for both creators and the end consumer, as it drives prices down and allows for more content to be available in more places”. I agree completely with Mike’s thoughts on this topic. Having more than one outlet for distribution of films will allow movie companies to distribute their movie catalogs to a much wider audience. A wider audience allows for a greater return to be made, allowing the industry to continue to thrive.
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