Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Activision is getting almost as bad as Apple.

Activision is definitely at least as terrible as you think Apple is.

[Jeff Kleist]

When Activision can hold the entire game industry hostage call me. Doc PM remember?

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I have a lot of friends in Japan who make signifigantly less money for example, because their royalty percentage of that $0.99 is lower than it is for a CD.

If you're referring to music artist royalties, they have nothing to do with Apple. It has to do with the artist's contract with their label. It's the label that's enabling Apple to sell the digital download. If artists are getting a lower royalty for digital media, it's because that's what the label put in their contract. And my bet is that it's not limited to Apple and iTunes, but is the percentage applied to all digital downloads. So they'd get the same thing from Amazon or anyone else.

But it's a moot point except for the biggest selling artists, because it's seldom that artists ever earn out their royalty advance anyway. Record label accounting is much like Hollywood accounting. There's never a net profit. But don't blame Apple for that.

The reality is that if an artist doesn't have a label and they sell their songs directly to Apple, they get 70% of the take. The label probably pays them around 12%.

Artist royalties are in severe decline because the music business is in severe decline. And the main reason it's in severe decline is because digital downloads have turned the business back to a singles business, rather than an album business. In dollar volume, in the U.S., the music business is at half of its peak, not including inflation.

So you might hate Apple and there might even be some good reasons to hate Apple, but this isn't one of them.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

When Activision can hold the entire game industry hostage call me. Doc PM remember?

If they are able to acquire Ubisoft and/or Take 2 like they have been trying to do then you might just see that.

They know that they can't just keep on milking Call of Duty which is really the only major IP they have out right now. So they are trying to get a hold of Take 2 and/or Ubisoft so series like SPlinter Cell/ GTA, Bioshock and Assassins Creed can be turned into yearly releases. Although Assassins Creed has already become that.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by merrick97

If they are able to acquire Ubisoft and/or Take 2 like they have been trying to do then you might just see that.

Only if they limit their output to a platform of their own make. Last I checked there wasn't an "Activision" game system. But I can find their games for 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, GB, etc.

[Jeff Kleist]

If you're referring to music artist royalties, they have nothing to do with Apple. It has to do with the artist's contract with their label. It's the label that's enabling Apple to sell the digital download. If artists are getting a lower royalty for digital media, it's because that's what the label put in their contract. And my bet is that it's not limited to Apple and iTunes, but is the percentage applied to all digital downloads. So they'd get the same thing from Amazon or anyone else.

Actually they do, as Apple fixes the prices.

Let me be clear

What they receive from a digital download of the same song is not proportional to what they receive for the same music if you buy the CD. The entire point is that if you buy it digitally, instead of receiving more or at least the same due to decreased overhead, they get less. So if you love an artist, make sure you buy the physical to put as much money in their pocket as humanly possible. Nothing says "I love you" like helping to pay the electric bill

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Actually they do, as Apple fixes the prices.

Let me be clear

What they receive from a digital download of the same song is not proportional to what they receive for the same music if you buy the CD. The entire point is that if you buy it digitally, instead of receiving more or at least the same due to decreased overhead, they get less. So if you love an artist, make sure you buy the physical to put as much money in their pocket as humanly possible. Nothing says "I love you" like helping to pay the electric bill

Here's a great link that shows how little artists get paid on the various methods of music distribution: http://www.informationisbeautiful.ne...s-earn-online/

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Doc PM remember?

Relax, man; I was *****ing about Activision.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

And the main reason it's in severe decline is because digital downloads have turned the business back to a singles business, rather than an album business.

And, again, it's not really a question of the less-profitable singles-download model versus the more-profitable physical-album model; it's the less-profitable singles-download model versus the not-profitable illegal-download model.

[Steedeel]

Jeff, just one more question before i leave these forums for a short while, Io mentioned in a previous post that we should see the ultraviolet storage method as the enemy to bluray. Having now read in depth about it the long term stratetdgy is to replace all dvd and bluray. This greatly concerns me as surely they can bang up prices on bluray to try to force people into the crapfest that is online storage. Or do you think the income from dvd and bluray is too important to take that risk? I took great heart from your post about bluray still being around many years from now but have a nagging feeling about the ideas behind this ultraviolet.

[Mr. Cinema]

I think Ultraviolet will actually help increase sales. It'll be treated as a bonus to new BDs. I think it's a great sales pitch to tell the customer that if they buy the BD, they can copy the UV file to multiple devices. AND you still have a physical copy. Can't complain about that. I think the portability factor will be enticing to the new customers.

You're supposed to be able to have the UV file on up to 12 devices and you're supposed to be able to make multiple backup copies of the file. At least from what I've read on their site and others.

The only problem is it will require new hardware for some. I have no doubt the PS3 will play UV. Newer laptops are likely to handle UV, as well as probably the PSP and other portable devices. But as far as BD standalone players, the current 2011 models may or may not be able to handle UV files. But we will see some new UV capable players being rolled out later this year.

[Steedeel]

But i dont want to watch my films on other devices. I have a tv and a bluray player. If i go out i socialise i do not watch films. If i am in a car i dont watch films. Why would true movie fans want to watch films on a phone or a laptop. As i understand it, ultraviolet may not even offer hd. This is bad for home cinema enthusiasts as we may face a future where we have no source of hd at all. Only streamed, poor quality from whatever source is supplying the stream. If streams are forced upon us my love affair with films will be over. Film should look like film not some naff video. If anyone can remember the first attempt at films on disc, can,t remember the name but they were compressed with mpeg 1 and looked dreadful. That, in my opinion is the quality we can look forward to in a cloud future. We all need to wake up and see the threat here, before piracy gets worse because people are downloading rips of bluray because that is the closest they can achieve to the look of bluray. How ironic would that be.

[Jeff Kleist]

Ultraviolet is simply the industry standardizing on a DRM scheme, so that there's no more compatability issues. Buy once, play all

[Steedeel]

I hope so, thanks Jeff.

[fitprod]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

If anyone can remember the first attempt at films on disc, can,t remember the name but they were compressed with mpeg 1 and looked dreadful.

Ah, the infamous CD-i launch by Phillips. The first attempt to digitally store video on a disc.

I remember shopping at The Good Guys that Christmas for a SNES Star Wars game. The display was next to the video game department, and was playing Hunt for Red October. I glanced at it, paying attention to the artifacts, and a Good Guys' sales associate came up and said, "Awesome, huh?"

My response was, "I have a laserdisc player." - It was like a Snoopy special, with Charlie Brown shot down again, music and all. He just quietly walked away, shoulders slumped over.

Everyone I knew at The Good Guys knew CD-i was a joke. One of my longtime friends, who was an employee at Good Guys for nearly a decade, said the whole video department had to contain their laughter when Phillips was demoing the technology in their store.

fitprod

[Steedeel]

yes, thats it! Well that is the quality of most streaming at the moment. They are trying to say that is the future, give me a break! Thank goodness for Bluray!!!!!!

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by fitprod

Ah, the infamous CD-i launch by Phillips. The first attempt to digitally store video on a disc.

I think you're confusing formats here. CD-i was a game console/multimedia platform. VCD was the video format. It did indeed look beyond terrible, though.

[Steedeel]

Yes, correct. I think they used to have the CD-I next to the players, thats why the poster above probably got mixed up. Sounds like the staff were clueless just as the ones spouting streaming are clueless now!

[Jeff Kleist]

I think you're confusing formats here. CD-i was a game console/multimedia platform. VCD was the video format. It did indeed look beyond terrible, though.

CD-i supported VideoCD, which was marketed in many forms, mostly for PC playback. The format found success in Asia though, where they were far cheaper to make than tapes, and lasted much longer in the humidity. There were unofficial adapters for PlayStation 1

This was the era when FMV was all the rage in video games, and the idea of having an entire movie playing on your computer was AMAZING. Doing a CD-ROM upgrade was a major undertaking for the average person, and so they were marketing it basically as a family entertainment unit that had games for it as well. I remember being pretty impressed by the golf game at the time (full video golfers and courses, graphically it was neat). You actually had to buy a $100 addon to the already super pricey box to play VideoCDs

The goal of CD-i was similar to the 3DO, to create a game console that would be manufactured by anyone like a VCR or Blu-ray player, and to capitalize on the technology from the failed SNES CD-ROM addon (which is where the PlayStation came from as well)

A local mom and pop shop had a demo unit, and I used to hang out there and play on the thing a lot.

I still have a bunch of videoCDs. Mostly Hong Kong films that lack proper english subtiles or their original languages

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

The format found success in Asia though, where they were far cheaper to make than tapes, and lasted much longer in the humidity.

And was super-easy to pirate, to boot!