Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

NBC Universal’s decision to not renew its contract with Apple to sell digital downloads on iTunes is a short-term blow to consumer choice but may prove to create more competition and better pricing for digital downloads in the long-term.
 
Apple, through its popular iPod and iTunes franchises, has become the WalMart of online digital content for the masses. Sure, there are other devices and other ways to download video and music, but for those who aren’t tech wizards, Apple’s 1-2 punch of ease-of-use and popular mainstream content makes it the default choice.
 
If media companies want to exercise any say in how their products are marketed and sold online, now is the time to act while consumer purchase behaviors and expectations are being shaped. And, content producers should take a look at the role between traditional distribution channels and consumer packaged goods and how those roles have evolved over time. Dominant distribution channels don’t necessarily bode well for the product manufacturer or for expanding consumer choice.