Competition Begins

If you have been following the news, you would know that today Google released its Google Music. According to this article, it will probably do very well. The release of Google Music comes less than a week after Apple released its iTunes Match. Both of these take advantage of cloud, but analysis would make it seem that in the long run Google Music will turn out on top.

Google Music just has too many advantages. For example they make it easier for artists with the rights to their own music to get their music out there. They also have an innovative way expose people to more music by allowing them to listen to all their friends songs once. Google Music's one disadvantage is that it has not made an agreement with Warner Music, but this is will only affect them short term. Even with the release of iTunes Match, Apple is not showing many signs changing or innovating its music services. This could easily end its dominance in the industry.

Logging On: The Virtual Workforce

In Medias Res was asked "What workforce trends is the industry experiencing?"

Now, we've been talking about the growth in online and social media weekly. But I guess, there's nothing really wrong with emphasizing our point, yet again.

The media industry does more than hiring actors and actresses. Whereas making it big in the 1980's meant moving to New York City or Hollywood, today- all you need to do to get out there is stay creative and online.

Mark Zuckerberg can tell you that, too. The Facebook team has to put a lot of work into their online community.

It's not just social media companies that need to focus. Virtually all parts of the media industry need a media workforce- a focus on their online community.

Today, companies in the media industry focus on their online communities- consuming and sharing the work that theses companies make available online (whether it's Hulu or YouTube videos or articles from the Huffington Post). And this community needs to be moderated and kept up with- it isn't enough that major newspapers and networks get online. They need to have a lot of effort focused on online traffic, the feedback issued by users, keeping the site clean and spam-free (hopefully), and coming up with new ideas and new discussions. In doing that, customer loyalty is being fostered- or at the very least, the online audience will grace the companies with a "bookmark" by saving their page on their computer.

The online newspaper is a different product than what we get delivered to our doorstep periodically. A level of interaction is brought in- just check out Newsmap, a site that gives readers access to top stories based on how much attention is given to the headlines in each country. The online reformation has created different jobs and has made media giants

And the Award for the Fourth-Most Admired Company in the Media Industry Goes to Google!

Google is a company that has been admired in the past few years for the company’s organizational structure. According to Fortune Magazine, a well known business magazine, “Google is the fourth-most admired company in the United States.” Google has been featured multiple times as well on the top-companies-to-work-for list. The main reason Google is such a widely admired company is because the management lets the employees run the company as much as possible. Google has a cross-functional organization that allows excellent leadership as well as employee satisfaction. Cross-functional organization is described as a group with different functional expertise working toward a common goal. For Google that common goal is to be the best search engine on the Internet. Google is also a well admired and structured company because the management team doesn’t set the goals for the company, the employees do. Employees set objectives which are approved by the management. Management periodically checks up on the progress of the goals, but it is all done by the employees. Google employees spend “70% of their time on current assignments, 20% on related projects of their choosing, and 10% on new projects in any area they desire.” The structure of their time management is called the 70-20-10 rule. Google uses this rule to make sure that the employees take risks. Without these risks the company wouldn’t be as successful as it is now. Also without risks Google wouldn’t have ventured into the multiple industries it has. I admire Google’s policy where the employees are the main figures of the company, with management overseeing their works. I feel that is the most effective way to structure a company.

CEO Makes It Go

An article in the WSJ states that the profits of Disney Channel rose 30% because of theme parks and TV. Also, investing in Russia, China and India would solidify the company’s position and further assist its growth.

Such progress cannot be achieved without the right leaders and the right strategies. In this case, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Robert Iger played a huge and vital role in bringing the company to this position.

One of his strategies includes the implantation of theme parks in different countries around the world. Shanghai Disney Resort is one of the key factors in the company’s revenue/profit growth in China.

Another strategy CEO Iger chooses to pursue is launching the Disney Channel in different areas as well. Recently, the Channel was launched in Russia.

Finally, reducing production costs is also important in the company’s growth. The to-be-release movie “Muppets” cost only $50 million to produce.

A combination of all these elements helps create one of the fastest growing companies in media. Without human resources, skills and leadership, none of this would have been possible.

Top Innovators in Media

Over the past few years, it seems as if the media industry has expanded more during this generations than it has at any other time in history. Throughout every field in the media industry there has been a select group of innovative leaders who have revolutionized their fields. In social networking, we have the like of Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Jeff Weiner (LinkedIn), and Jack Dorsey (twitter), who have completely changed the ways in which people network. In enterprise and cloud computing, perhaps the most prominent leaders are Sergey Brin with Larry Page (Google), Padmasfree Warrior (Cisco), and Andy Stanford-Clark (IBM) who have simply created a metamorphosis of how people communicate with each other. As for the News category, innovative leaders such as Rupert Murdoch (News Corp.), Fiona Spruil (NY times), Arianna Huffington (Huffington Post), and Kim Walton (CNN) are constantly finding new and creative ways to deliver the news to the public. While in the digital entertainment category Eddy Cue (iTunes), Chad Hurley (YouTube), and Reed Hastings (Netflix) have dramatically transformed how we watch videos and listen to music.

Tim Starts to Cook

An article in the WSJ states that the new Apple entrepreneur, Tim Cook’s, ability to follow in the footsteps of his late boss, Steve Jobs, is questionable.

Cook’s management strategy differs than Mr. Jobs in a promotional sense. He believes more in the promotion and the iDevices than Mr. Jobs did.

He seems to give more attention to stakeholders outside the firm itself such as consumers and investors. He is increasing the business-consumer relationship by “sending a variety of company-wide emails that address Apple employees as "Team,"”. As for the investors, he is intensifying his meetings with them.

Moreover, his plan is to increase the firm’s corporate social responsibility –philanthropy, to be specific –which will lower the company’s revenue $10,000 yearly while Mr. Jobs opposed charitable programs.

These entrepreneurial strategies may prove to be promising as well as disappointing. The author may think that Tim Cook might not be able to continue “the string of hits that have made Apple the world's largest technology company”, but others might disagree and say “satisfying as much stakeholders as possible is never a hindrance –if not an enhancement”

Google enters the competitive landscape...again

With countless numbers of companies aiming to provide consumers with entertainment, media can be quite a competitive industry. In such a wild competitive landscape, it takes true entrepreneurship to set you apart form the competition. Google is a perfect example of a company that seeks to be involved in competition. Just when we thought Google couldn’t get more involved in the services they provide, they somehow find a way to surprise us. Google has put up several headlines over the past year. First it was the revealing of their social media website, Google +. Then it was revealed that Google would be entering competition with Apple and Amazon’s music services by starting Music Beta. Now, Google appears to be entering competition with Apple’s Apple TV services.

This past Friday, Google announced an update to the software for Google TV. Google stated that they simplified the product to allow users to access the Internet and search for online videos through their TVs. Google TV will also offer on-demand shows that are normally available of services such as Netflix and Hulu. Google has recently reached a deal with various chipmakers, device makers, and TV makers, such as Vizio and Sony, which will bring new Google-powered TVs into the market next year.

Google plans to separate itself from Apple TV in that Google TV will provide access to all content available on the Internet, instead establishing a narrow amount of offerings formatted for use on TVs. Some analysts are viewing Google TV as potential threat to cable/satellite companies. Google on the other hand stated that Google TV isn’t meant to replace TV and cable, but rather to complement it. Google seems to be on the right track. They seem to be doing a great job in entrepreneurship seeing as how they are involved in almost every aspect of media's competitive landscape.