You are here → Home → News & Policy
Here, There & Everywhere – New Ways of Accessing Content Online
06/12/2012
2012 has seen a rapid evolution in the way that copyright material is being made available in Australia.
Subscription Services
Subscription-based services are a broad category of service allowing users to access a whole catalogue of content that they can watch or listen to on-demand.
Unlike the traditional model, in which consumers would obtain music, film and other types of content by buying specific movies or films, subscription-based services let customers watch or listen to anything they want to at any time - without having to specifically purchase it.
Music
Several companies have begun offering music-orientated subscription services in the local market; these include MOG (launched June 2012), Spotify (launched May 2012), JBHiFi Now (launched December 2011), Rdio (launched February 2012), and Deezer (launched August 2012).
Most operate in a similar way: customers pay a monthly subscription fee and are given streaming access to a catalogue of licensed music online. In many cases, the service allows paid subscribers to also download music to mobile devices like tablets and phones for offline listening (useful for when there is no internet connection or when a user is on the move).
A user can listen to any music contained within the service’s catalogue at any time with the added benefit that they do not need to back up content as this is all stored remotely by the subscription music platform and delivered on demand. Users can usually access their music and synchronise playlists on desktops, laptops as well as mobile devices and tablets.
Some services offer a free account with limited functionality but most are based on a range of different monthly or yearly fees that determine what features are available to the user.
Such services provide a legal and licensed alternative to the unauthorised file sharing that takes place online, but also with the added flexibility of available music and use on multiple devices that unauthorised file sharing has previously facilitated. However, in a general sense, the remuneration to the songwriter from use of their music in a subscription service is usually less than the remuneration from a traditional sale of that single or album.
Film & TV
BBC iPlayer
BBC launched its iPlayer service in Australia in late September 2011. It runs on iPad, iPhone and iPod and Android devices and gives users on-demand access to a wide range of BBC programming ranging from older material to newer material.
Free users may watch material from a changing collection of free programming on a streaming-only basis. Paid users pay a monthly or yearly subscription that enables on-demand access to the complete iPlayer catalogue and may either stream programs directly to their device or download programs to their device (for example, to watch when an internet connection is not available).
As the content is available on-demand, a user can, at any time of their choosing, re-watch material or re-download material for viewing.
An article[1] published in The Age on February 27th, 2012 reported that Australia had the highest adoption rates for the iPlayer service, accounting for 20% of its global revenue.
Quickflix
Quickflix runs a subscription service that allows users paying a monthly subscription fee to access an on-demand catalogue of licensed movies and TV shows that can be streamed to the user at any time they chose. The streaming service does have a more limited catalogue than Quickflix’s DVD rental service at present, but this is expected to increase over time.
Quickflix can be accessed via a web interface on a desktop or laptop, on mobile devices, tablets, Xbox and Playstation 3 gaming consoles and some smart TVs from Sony, Panasonic and Samsung.
Similarly to the music services, the film and TV-based subscription services offer licensed material in a flexible way that takes away the removes the need to buy individual items.
Licensed catch-up TV services
The nature of broadcast TV means that there will be times when a viewer missed a show or misses one part of a multipart series. Short of buying the series on DVD, there were not many legal or licensed options to view missed programming unless it was directly purchased on a DVD, purchased through a digital vendor like iTunes or recorded at the time of broadcast by the viewer themselves.
Several networks began to implement “catch up” TV services, which each operate differently, but in most cases feature programs that have already been broadcast for a period of time (often two weeks) upon which they are taken down and replaced with more recently broadcast episodes.
ABC iView & other free to air networks
ABC’s iView is a video streaming service that allows users to watch programming that has been broadcast on the range of ABC TV channels (and in some cases before programs are broadcast on the ABC). Such a service allows users to view any programming that they may have missed and replaces the need for the user to have to make their own recording of that material at the time it is initially broadcast.
iView was initially launched in 2008 for access via the web – which left it largely confined to desktops and laptops. 2010-2012 has seen the broadening of the iView service across to other platforms that include Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod devices with an Android app also expected.
The ABC has also integrated iView apps into internet-connected TVs from Samsung, Sony and Panasonic (which allow iView to be watched directly from the TV with no other devices needed) and also integrated iView apps into the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 console platforms.
The end result is that users can view the material on a variety of platforms and devices without needing to do any of their own format shifting or conversion because the ABC has enabled licensed access to the content across multiple platforms and devices. Such services also solve the issue of missing a program - the viewer often has a two-week window in which to watch the content online after its been broadcast.
Other free to air networks are implementing similar “catch up” services – for example SBS On Demand may be watched on its website as well as on the iPhone and iPad and the Seven Network’s Plus7 catch up service is available via its website as well as viewable on Playstation 3 and as an integrated TV app. There have been reports that the commercial networks will be extending beyond their catch-up TV websites into streaming content to apps on devices [2].
Foxtel
Foxtel operates a catch up TV service that allows users to select from a list of programs that have already been broadcast and download these to their Foxtel set top box for later viewing.
Foxtel also launched its Foxtel GO app for iPads in November 2012. The app allows Foxtel subscribers to receive a live stream of selected channels or select from a list of catch up programs to watch on-demand. The content can only be accessed via iPads at present, but the indication is that devices and features will be broadened in the future.
Licensed Content for Social Media
Many users of social media or people running a personal blog like to share what they may be listening to or watching with their friends or followers for various reasons.
This year has seen several services launch in Australia that offer licensed commercial content that users are able to embed or share on their social media profiles, blogs and websites.
Vevo
Vevo is jointly operated by several music companies and hosts music videos from a range of acts signed to Sony, Universal and EMI for free viewing online. Vevo launched in Australia in April 2012.
Vevo has its own website which allows sharing through Facebook or Twitter. Vevo also has a YouTube channel that enables users to watch music videos through Youtube as well as link to or embed the videos on their own pages.
Videos can be watched for free and in high quality HD video via the aforementioned social media platforms, but also through apps for iPhones, iPads, Android, Xbox and Windows Phone platforms.
In this case, music companies are making legal high-quality free versions of their video clips for popular artists available and allowing linking to and sharing of that content via several social media platforms.
Movieclips.com
Movieclips.com is a website that hosts thousands of licensed clips from movies from all the major film studios. Access is free and movie clips are tagged by mood, character, actor, director, year made and other elements that enable very specific search and discovery of film clips.
Any clips on the site can shared via links with other users on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, Tumblr, Youtube or screenshots pinned to Pinterest or embedded by users into their own sites or PowerPoint presentations for personal, non-commercial uses.
Users can trim clips to get the exact part of the scene they want and create virtual greeting cards featuring scenes from movies.
Clips may be watched in standard or high definition and links to purchase the full movie are provided with the clip. Movieclips.com has its own YouTube channel facilitating viewing and sharing of clips through that platform.
The site also contains a number of “licensable” clips that can be licensed online via the site by users that want to use clips in a commercial setting. If a clip is licensable, then a ‘”licence clip” button becomes visible. The button leads to a page with several options that determine the licence fees for permission.
A similar site called Anyclip.com also operates an similar service that enables viewing of clips and sharing on social media.
Personal use of Vevo and Movieclips.com is free and the existence of high quality licensed sources of the content means users can rely on such a service as their source of content and avoid the legal issues raised by sourcing unauthorised content from online or making their own copies of the video clips and posting these online.
Digital Newspapers & Magazines
Devices in form factors such as 9 inch and 7 inch tablets are particularly conducive to reading digital magazines and newspapers. This provides an interesting new platform for publishers to deliver content on.
Until the arrival of such devices, content was usually in print form or on a traditional website – a different and less natural reading experience than printed magazines and newspapers.
Tablets and smart phone devices allow digital editions of magazines and newspapers to be read in a way more familiar to their print-based incarnations and offer an interesting hybrid for the user, with the benefits of digital but with the portability and form factor of print.
Several publishers now offer digital versions of their magazines specifically formatted for tablets or phones. Usually, these may be directly purchased by the consumer on an issue-by-issue basis or, automatically delivered to the customer as part of a monthly or annual subscription. New editions are available for download as they are released and in most cases, subscribers can re-download any magazine they were eligible to access during their subscription period. Digital newspaper apps will often automatically update the content daily.
One example in the magazine sector is the New Yorker magazine app, which allows users to either buy digital issues on a pay-per issue basis or purchase a monthly or yearly subscription that enables access to every issue in a given time period. Purchased magazines are downloaded to the device(s) and users are able to re-download any issues they have previously purchased but since removed from their device. The New Yorker’s publisher Conde Nast also has similar apps for its other magazines like Wired, Vogue and Vanity Fair.
Another example is Australian magazine publisher ACP Magazines, which in October 2012, launched digital editions of its magazines (such as the Australian Women’s Weekly, Rolling Stone, Harper’s Bazaar, Australian Personal Computer and Australian Geographic) on the Google Play platform.
Google Play is the content delivery hub for Android-based tablets and smart phones (akin to Apple’s iTunes Store) and features a magazine section whereby users can subscribe to and read digital editions of magazines across their devices. Magazine purchases are synchronise across the devices associated with a user’s account.
Additionally, print subscribers to well known magazines and newspapers like the Economist, Time, The Monthly, Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian are being given access to the digital editions of those magazines such as the website or specially formatted tablet version.
Where to next?
Many new services allow the user to access content on a variety of devices or platforms at any time or to access content in broad ways that weren’t previously possible as act as a disincentive to obtaining unauthorised copies material online.
Given than many of these models are still in their initial stages, it is too early to make any conclusions or broad statements about their success. More time is needed to survey the longer-term impacts, consumer uptake and financial viability of these models for creators.
Nonetheless, given faster internet speeds, increasing ubiquity of smart devices and increasing consumer willingness to buy digital content, the foundations are in place for future innovations to be set in motion to reach the goal of consumers being able to access content in the way they wish, but in a way that is viable for the creators of that content.