The world is changing quickly due to technology and we are getting some signs of how things will unfold.
Traditional industries are being disrupted. Like is the pattern, this is coming from outside said sectors. The incumbents are not doing the ones disrupting. Rather, they are the ones who are going to get crushed.
Does that mean every company will meet the same fate as Blockbuster Video? Not necessarily. What it tells us is the main players might be switching.
If we extend this concept out, when it comes to entertainment, i.e. media, I think Web3 is a huge factor. We are likely to see the next 5 years spent where new entities crop up, garnering more attention.
All of this is a major thorn in the side of traditional broadcasters. To compound the problem, they are already dealing with an onslaught from the technology companies. Here is where Web3 aligns. At its core, this is technology.
Amazon And Apple
When we think of broadcasters, do you instantly think of Amazon and Apple? It is more likely names such as Disney, Netflix, BBC, or Warner Bros comes to mind. These are the traditional entities that created the industry that thrived for over 100 years.
Is this going to be the case over the next decade? Could we be seeing the transformation where traditional broadcast entities are under attack? I would make the case this was already happening due to the Internet. The only difference is we are seeing it spreading.
Take Amazon as an example.
Most still think of this company as a retailer. However, they have a division called Amazon Prime Video This is a streaming service that comes with Prime membership. To boot, Amazon also creates it own content, making it a production studio.
Then we have the NFL on Thursday nights. Amazon bid (and won) the contract, one that typically goes to the likes of ESPN, ABC, or NBC. It is obviously playing in the arena. of traditional broadcast corporations.
We also have Amazon music, which puts it in competition with Spotify and Pandora. Here is another area where Amazon seeks to swallow up more of the entertainment spectrum.
Apple is no different. This year it broadcast Major League Baseball (MLB) games. Again, it is playing in the arena which was the realm of traditional broadcasters.
Therefore, we see how technology companies basically can enter any market. There is a path being established by these entities which Web3 could learn from.
Networks Taking Over
What we are seeing is the rise of networks. This is ironic since that is what broadcast channels were called for decades.
Perhaps we should clarify by stating we are seeing the rise of digital networks. This is can go by a number of names such as platforms, ecosystems, or communities. Regardless of what it is called, companies like Amazon seek to get as many people involved on their Network and keep feeding them more services.
Another interesting fact is that a lot of these are simply added. Due to the subscription model, Amazon simply is providing more entertainment services for no more money. This is building the value of the monthly (yearly) membership.
When we look at Web3, we are dealing with networks. The goal is to operate in a decentralized manner, providing contract to the likes of existing corporations. That is one major difference. Another is the fact that tokenization provides a different business structure where users can actually be owners. This means financial benefits due to market appreciation is garnered by those holding the tokens. In some instances, this can be earned through activity.
Web3 cannot imagine taking on Amazon, Facebook, or Apple at this moment. However, we can see a path due to the ownership structure that makes it more appealing than those companies. That is why the analogy of a small prairie town in development makes sense to me. We are in the process of building, something that takes time. You do not go from empty field to thriving metropolis in a few months.
Regulation and Technology
Entertainment is ripe for disruption due to one major fact: it is mostly unregulated.
This means any technological advancement can be tested, implemented, and discarded if it fails. The impact of anything within this realm is not life or death. We do not say the same thing about a field such as healthcare. That is something that is heavily regulated, often slowing technological progress.
For entertainment, this means a massive disruption in content creation. We see that to a degree with YouTube. This altered content distribution, putting traditional entities on their heels. Content creation is still something relegated to the major studios, at least at the feature film (television series) level.
It is a reality that could be changing with AI.
All of this comes back to the attention economy. Disney is now competing with anyone who is toying around with AI video generation. The technology is lagging at this point but who is to say where it will be in 2-3 years. It is probable we see quality that is "good enough" for most from these productions.
What this means is that we are not likely to see the next Disney in the form of one company. Instead, we see millions of entities pumping out content that starts to get some attention. The singular impact is nil. Collectively, this could be very damning for the traditional institutions in this industry.
This is the essence of Web3, or will be. Once the tools are available, people will start generating databases of content that will garner some attention. Each time someone spends 10 minutes watching a video of this nature, that is time away from the major entities. This is enhanced if the individual watching has some form of financial interest tied to success of the platform.
Here is where Web3 networks enter.
Technology companies are showing how the entertainment industry is ripe for disruption. This is a model that Web3 should follow, understanding how it has a built in audience. Providing what these people need only fills in another gap in the "town" that is being created.