This is an intersting point. I know some small musicians post their music directly on the Web, but most go the licensing route. But this is a good point and worth taking a look at. Thanks.
I was discussing with my colleagues about the scenario where writers, musicians and other artists start to sell their content directly through website and cut the middlemen or middle company. As we all know, companies like Sony or Apple buy distribution rights from an artist and make more money than the artist itself. So, we do know that having right supply chain is as important as the content itself. But the problem becomes more sever when the market is monopolised and that's what most people and i fear about Apple. For me it does not matter whether the supply chain is short or long as long as the distribution of profit is equal and the price competitive.
this is an excellent question, Can we apply the normal rules of the supply chain to the social networking? In the normal scenario, we know who are the buyers and sellers but in the social networking case i am not sure what's going on. The product is free content generated by users. This product is used by the companies to sell advertisements and the money goes to the social sites. There is no supply chain involved!
Apple is a success story, but integrating content and media is nothing new; this approach has been around since P.T. Barnum. In this light you have to look at an article in The Wall Street Journal and have your grain of salt at the ready. Tech giants that were start-ups 20 years ago are breaking into markets which up to now have been dominated by the Big Four media companies. At $0.99 a song, Apple has held down the price of recorded music to levels below what they were in the 90's. Market economics will continue to determine who wins out here, and Dow Jones holding up the anti-trust sword is a little ridiculous.
Thanks for this article. Yes we all should be worried about this stiff business practice by Apple. Its one thing for all in the supply chain to expect to make money from their participation, but this level of control by Apple really tramples on the antitrust law and bothering on outright monopoly. I truly wish enforcement is more than just fines which is a slap on the wrist for Apple to be an effective deterrent.
Apple should apply this level of control to the people that it outsources to and prevent workers abuse !!!
Nothing in Life is free, not even death and especially 'social networking sites'.
Every time you sign up for a 'free' service on the internet you are signing away part of your freedom, I run a number of websites and have noticed that companies like google now spend longer indexing the profiles of the users than they do indexing the pages.
What does this tell you about the process of indexing?, it tells you that despite these companies claiming to offer 'web page searching', they are actually data-mining the information that you post in your profile, because much of this mined information is not actually available to search via google, that is to say its not 'found' when you do a google search for it.
If you do nothing else today, a tlest read the following link:
well i guess many are using these social networking sites as they are free. I would wonder how many would like to pay for it. Right now its only a social media for interaction between friends and family if it goes business I would say it would be very complex.
Excellent article. I also agree to the two sided issues. It is obviously good for these companies to make a profit, and lets face it, that’s why they are in business, but the other side of me says where are my choices. I know that this past week the government was looking into Apple's new Itunes rules for publishers and App makers and looking at anti-trust issues.
It used to be the artists complaining that they weren't getting a large enough cut for their artistic creations. Now it seems that these companies are in essence owned by a corporation that owns all means of distribution and sales. This definitely leaves the little guys and any competition out in the cold.
Thanks for those wonderful examples to show how supply chain works. I am just curious to know if I can apply the same model to some of the websites like facebook, twitter etc whose valuation runs into billions ? Because all of these sites thriving because of free contribution from users and from third party content.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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