This topic (and my favourite) has been raised in the past couple of years and many times by me in my blog.  Many articles in the press today are all assuming that the Linear TV model is on its way out.  As we have read and those who follow TV realise that in fact in most broadcasters have it squarely rooted in their business model, even in this new OTT world.  This is the way TV manages to entertain us on a daily basis.  The TV Programme Line-Up is decided by people whose job it is to fill the bandwidth.   A-la-carte is not actually “mainstream” it is growing in popularity whilst thier is the new pioneering wild-west of today’s TV landscape.  However OTT is so restricted to geo-locking or placed behind restricted PayTV Services:  (e.g. AppleTV can only be bought in the local iTunes store, in the local language,  if your country has one) So you can only get some things that you want depending on the country you are in or the amount the family allocates to PayTV Subscription models… Most people can only afford to buy so much entertainment in a month.  Music was not bought on a daily basis…a lot of people bought the new single/Albums on a monthly basis or when a new release came out, and still do; or they received them as gifts – Xmas is coming.  Music is decidedly different from video because the ROI is massive – You buy it and listen and listen and listen again and again and again….Video is not consumed in anyway the same manner.  The value proposition is different.  Promotion is the word used in the music industry – Bands were promoted by Individuals or the Bands themselves and gigs/concerts are even promoted at my local supermarket (Ticket-Corner) and they became recognised or faded away (yes their selection mostly given to us by some canny A&R person or given Air-Play by DJs and so on (Recommendation)…That has always been Social Media.  It was called Marketing in the past…making a market.

Video/TV/Film is promoted by Hollywood (normally on the Radio and TV), also recommended by friends (always has been)…The Cinema or Movie Theatre was the promotion of Film too – TV has “film nights” and promotes film releases – “Coming Soon” – This is all Social Media – Facebook Recommendation et al are actually OK, but ONLY if you take heed of what your family and friends think and you agree … my son recommends films to me all the time and I never dare watch them…Made that mistake too many times, my brother too – their likes are nowhere near mine!  So whose  recommendation is actually  worth anything – the person that gives it or the person that receives it…the expert or the novice?  I worked in the music industry and it was as subjective as art and video/film is no different.

The Website recommendation – “If you like this you will also like this” is complete nonsense and very robotic based on what?…Comparing like-for-like isn’t in my opinion a clever recommendation it is a bit boring isn’t it – Amazon makes this part of their website and they offer the same or similar books If you like this book on Woodworking you will also like this book on Woodworking…Like Video Books are about Variety not like for like….The same thing all the time is not entertaining – Variety is entertainment.  Music Compilations were about variety…Television is about variety and it is all getting stale as we are no longer seeing variety but repetition of genre and the same old same old formats.  Cooking, DIY, Reality and Make-Over shows – Yawn!  Music is fun and engaging and when I am in the car I hear things that I have never heard and its uplifting but remember its a format that is 3-4 minutes of your time not 30-40.  Music and Video are not sisters but distant relatives…