GROWTH OF VIDEO ON FACEBOOK GIVES ARTISTS MORE CONTROL

New stats have facebook in the top 3 for video sites. As consumers become more comfortable watching videos on facebook (most likely through embeds of other sources like you tube and hulu), Artists can effectively build their own video views in existing communities. While you tube has community features via their channels, I like the idea of facebook communities becoming another visual hub.

Facebook Ranks In Top 3 Video Sites:
The view from Y-pulse, and how this may effect hulu and myspace
New Tee Vee’s take, along with the rest of the top 10 players

So now build your community and get your video directly to them. Building a facebook community around video offers some benefits you cant get with your you tube commuity (who’s channels have limited community functionality), and allows video to become a part of the conversation already taking place.

Shakira’s Stats Don’t Lie: Facebook/Ustream Music Video Debut Is A Hit

More options! Make your own video premier – Shakira, facebook and ustream create something exciting, direct to fans, in an environment that makes it easy to pass along.

Earlier this year I helped set up a live broadcast with Ashley TIsdale on her facebook page that over 100k simultaneous viewers. Clearly facebook, with the help of established video partners like ustream, is starting to unlock the potential for Artsits’s facebook communities to become a destination for music videos, and visual interaction.

MUSIC AT NEW TEE VEE LIVE 09

I love reading the New Tee Vee blog every day and video is an increasingly important aspect of the music business. Think about it – the majority of music is listened to on a device with a screen! I think I was the only music exec at New Tee Vee Live, but it was worth the trip – although the question “is the tv business going the way of the record business?” and the “we wont make the same mistakes as the music biz” quotes were slightly annoying.

So what are the broader trends and how do they apply to music? Here are a few quotes from some of the speakers, and some of the interesting things I heard during the panels.

Erik Flannigan
EVP of Digital Media,
MTVN Entertainment Group  

Hits are Hits. Eric explained that hit tv shows have big video numbers online, and shows with lower ratings have lower views. It’s a one to one relationship, and he said there seems to be no erosion in the ratings of popular shows by having them streaming online.

“Don’t underestimate the mass of passive”

Great point and a classic quote. People don’t want to spend tons of time looking around to watch what they want on you tube, torrents and other on demands sites. It’s more that programming for the mass doesn’t meet their needs anymore. If possible, most consumers would rather lean back and just get great programming that was relevant to them, instead of having to seek it out.

Now think of the long tail, radio, and music. Applying Eric’s comment to the much hyped long tail I agree its probably not the “solution”. It’s really about better music, engaging artists, and better programming.

Laura Goldberg
General Manager of NFL Online,
National Football League  

The internet turned the niche activity of fantasy football into a main stream pastime, and as a result, grew the audience for the NFL. Laura explained how fantasy football drives demand – now you need to watch all the games! Very clever. The advantage is football is a closed network – to watch all the games in real time you have to pay!

Chuck Seiber
VP Marketing,
Roku  

The Roku video player is an on demand video box with over 50,000 titles. Now they are opening their platform to anyone who wants to make a “channel” on their box. Their install base seems low, but is this a chance for someone to make a new type of music service? Seems like the infrastructure and hardware is in place.

Jason Seiken
SVP, Interactive,
PBS  

Nothing music related here, but I had no idea pbs launched the coolest video sites of all the networks!

http://video.pbs.org/

Gary Cohen
SVP of Marketing and Customer Experience,
Redbox  

Redbox offers kiosks in retails stores that rent dvd’s for a dollar. The talk was that some of the studios were upset about the impact of “substitutionally” of redbox rentals on dvd sales.

Substitution for purchase is something we talk about a lot in the music biz, with you tube, piracy, and streaming services such as myspace. Gary denied those claims, and said redbox did research to show there was less that 1% substitution for purchase (of course they did!)

However I loved his quote – “People who buy, buy, people who rent, rent”

Or as we sometimes say “people who buy buy, people who steal steal”

Great day – see you next year!

THREE LINKS: VIDEO, MOBILE, AND MUSIC

VIDEO
Great content, and nice technique for success:
How IKEA’s ‘Easy to Assemble’ Broke 1.9M Views (Without Cheating)

MOBILE
New product idea from the people:
World’s First Multimedia SF Novel on a QR Code T-shirt.
Buy it via ebay!

MUSIC
Devo is Back – I was there!
These guys are still unbeliveable!

“one of the few truly original rock acts of the last 40 years.”

San Jose Mercury news

Devo fans find `Satisfaction’