One of the serious challenges facing media companies and new online (and I include mobile in “online”) distribution intermediaries is knowing what content is available to license out (media and content companies) and how to secure licensed content and then track its consumption (distribution intermediaries). Royalty calculations, among other contractual obligations, are paid out based on relatively complex contracts and license terms of the many different ways a song, a TV show or a movie can be distributed, monetized and consumed.
At the root of this challenge is something that sounds fairly prosaic but is fraught with complexities and that is how a movie or episode of a TV series (or the entire series) is identified.
This announcement between CBS and Secure Path Technology, Inc.is an example of a couple of entities taking concrete steps to overcome the challenges associated registering and licensing content at time when incumbent distribution models are under siege by various Internet-based offerings. As consumers increasingly program their own content experiences, demanding it on their schedule and on the devices they want, online service providers and media companies are going to struggle to keep up with the demands of the marketplace if they don’t make the investments in metadata systems and common content identifiers.
Beyond the very important requirements for automation of licensing and calculating royalties, prioritizing investments in metadata management and content identification standards will pay off for media companies in another important area: recommendation and discovery systems. Why? The more consistent the metadata fields are across media sectors e.g. music or movies, recommendation and discovery technologies engines can be more rapidly deployed – if they’re developers aren’t having to spend time building up metadata fields.
At their core, deals such as the one between Secure Path and CBS are about efficiencies that need to be developed behind the walls of media companies. Look for more, lots more of these kinds of announcements.
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