Warner Music "disappointed" - Well aren't we all?
As reported by DigitalMediaWire, Warner Music is stopping all plans for future capital investments in digital distribution after being required to write down $33 million in its recent investments. As reported, Warner CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. said he is "disappointed" with the MySpace Music joint venture, because it "has been slow to create monetization tools and to be able to impact revenue-generating way, the massive audience that they have been able to attract."
Having complained about MySpace failure, he signaled the retreat of Warner Music from its ownership model of digitial distribution in comments made to investment analysts:
In the print financial report, Bronfman sounded a different note: "We are laying the foundation for future growth by extending our digital presence and increasing the number of expanded rights agreements to now include about one-half of our current global artist roster."
In the weakened financial environment, the warchests of traditional media have been tapped, leaving Apple, Microsoft, and Google to fund - and control - the future of digital media content.
Having complained about MySpace failure, he signaled the retreat of Warner Music from its ownership model of digitial distribution in comments made to investment analysts:
"We do not intend to make more digital venture capital investments. The intention was to (invest in) young companies pursuing innovative business models. Some of these digital venture capital investments have not met expectations. It makes sense to recognize the very different valuations these companies are receiving in the current economic environment," said Bronfman.
In the print financial report, Bronfman sounded a different note: "We are laying the foundation for future growth by extending our digital presence and increasing the number of expanded rights agreements to now include about one-half of our current global artist roster."Bronfman's frustration at failing to see any competitive success in digital distribution and the shift to focus on licensing agreements minimizes the role of the record label. Of course the frustration of Bronfman and Warner is not alone. Google is adding commercial film and television content because the YouTube model is not generating revenue either.
In the weakened financial environment, the warchests of traditional media have been tapped, leaving Apple, Microsoft, and Google to fund - and control - the future of digital media content.
