Owning Content

Personally, I am listening to music chosen for me by Comcast right now and a combination subscription/buy model sounds most interesting to me. Most music I listen to isn’t worth owning. But the RIAA doesn’t seem particularly concerned about music listeners.
[Robert Scoble – Om says tough times ahead for Jobs]

Scoble’s comment that most music isn’t worth owning really resonated with me. I think we can generalize – most content isn’t worth owning. Music, movies, books, etc. I find it interesting how the own vs. rent model works in each of these independent forms of media. For example, most people want to “own” their music, but have no problem renting movies. Most people buy books, even though libraries are pretty prevelent, but I wonder if that’s more related to availability. How many popular books are at the local library to borrow?

I hope we see some dovetailing around the rental model across all content types in the future.

This entry was posted by DevHawk on August 30, 2005.

Comments:

I "rent" my music from satellite radio and buy music from iTunes for my iPod. Seems like the same model to me.
This comment was posted by Ron Green on August 30, 2005 at 7:35 AM.
I wouldn't say listening to the radio...satellite or otherwise...is renting. Radio is a different experience where you are not in control of which content you play. When I use Napster To Go, I can pick which music I want to listen to. With Scoble's Comcast example or satellite radio or MSN Radio for that matter, I can pick genres, but not specific content. Certainly, there's a place for both.
This comment was posted by DevHawk on August 30, 2005 at 3:38 PM.

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The information in this weblog is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. This weblog does not represent the thoughts, intentions, plans or strategies of my employer. It is solely my opinion. Inappropriate comments will be deleted at the authors discretion.