how technology is changingthe business of culture:configurable culture and web 2.0

How Technology is ChangingThe Business of Culture:

Configurable Culture and Web 2.0

Prepared for Communicate! 11/9/06Aram Sinnreich

Radar Research/USC Annenberg

We are currently experiencing a sea change in how

audiences consume media.

2006: The summer of remix, mashups and “configurable culture”

• Music– Beck: invited consumers to

remix his new album– Janet Jackson: fans

“remixed” album cover– CBC’s “Remix the Ring”

challenge – Number one song is

“Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley• From bete noir to best

hope for music industry• Song is extremely popular

subject for mashups, remixed and covers

Source: Radar Research, Nov 2006

In Focus: Gnarls Barkley

• Gian Pero Reverberi, 1968

• Gnarls Barkley, 2006• Nelly Furtado, 2006• Countless remixes

and mashups, 2006



• Movies– The Onyx Project – Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot

That! Beastie Boys concert documentary

– Snakes on a Plane• Fan buzz impacted both

production and marketing strategy

– Reshoots based on fan feedback

– Marketing leveraged mass customization and viral hype


In Focus: Snakes on a Plane

• Summer 2005: Principal shooting. Title changed.

• August 2005: Blog post by writer Josh Friedman.

• Fall/Winter 2005/6: Internet hype percolates.

• March, 2006: Title reverts. Five days additional shooting.

• 8/15/06: Snakes on a Train released to DVD

• 8/18/06: Snakes on a Plane theatrical release


"Enough is enough!I have had it with these motherfucking snakes onthis motherfucking plane!"

New Line got it right: film marketing echoed online viral marketing

http://hucksblog.blogspot.com/2005/08/snakes-on-motherfucking-plane.html

http://snakesonaplane.com/

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/sjackson.html


Videogames– Counter Strike

• Total conversion mod of Half-Life

• Has become most popular “first-person shooter” game in history

• About 5 billion player minutes per month – more than three times the volume of its next competitor

– Adidas and Toyota set up shop in Second Life

• Leo Burnett and BBH follow



• Television– American Idol

• Spurred SMS adoption• Attempts to integrate

audience feedback into story architecture

– The Colbert Report• Green screen challenge –

Leverages “star wars kid” meme

– Has been mashed with Phantom Menace, ipod ads, video games, and OK Go music videos


http://youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_query=colbert%20greenscreen&search_sort=video_avg_rating&search_category=0

http://www.jedimaster.net/


• Internet– Explosion of social networking sites:

MySpace, Facebook– Online video: Youtube, Google Video,

MySpace Video– Blogs, RSS– Application mashups: Zillow,

Sopranos/Google Maps, Flickr mashups


http://www.zillow.com/

http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/map/

http://metaatem.net/words/

What is configurable culture?

– Instantaneous– Global– Multi-sensory– Archival

– Editable– Networked– Interoperable– Customizable

– Hackable


Expertise as Spectrum: Colonizing the “Gray Area”

Consumer Enthusiast Prosumer Professional


The “culture of configurability” influences every aesthetic practice:

fashion, architecture, design

But wait a second – how much of this is simply a new “flavor” of entertainment? How

many are actually doing these things?

Niche is the new Mainstream

15.8%

9.4%

10.3%

15.3%

15.8%

19.9%

20.0%

23.3%

25.8%

28.0%

30.2%

35.4%

46.0%

55.1%

76.5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

None of the above

Software mashups

Machinima

Video mashups

Game mods

Game emulators

trading game currency

Anime music videos

Music Mashups

TV or film remixes

TV commercial remixes

Music sampling

Altered photos

Music remixes

BlogsWhich of the following practices have you heard about before?

Source: Radar Research/Intellisurvey; n=1765; US Only; Oct 2006

Popularity of remix doesn’t yet hinge on production

64.4%

2.0%

2.5%

2.6%

2.7%

5.5%

5.8%

6.5%

8.5%

10.9%

23.6%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

None of the above

Created a remix video

TV/movie karaoke

Contributed to a video sharing site

Shared my playlist

Create a playlist

Blogged about TV/film

Shared digital video

Access easter eggs on a DVD

Used a DVR

Accessed bonus features on DVD


In the past year, which of the following film and TV-related activities have you engaged in?


64.7%

1.2%

3.0%

3.2%

4.4%

6.9%

9.8%

12.4%

21.6%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

None of the above

Sold sample music

Created sample bank

Created sample music

Custom online radio

Blogged about music

File sharing

Karaoke

Made play list


In the past year, which of the following music-related activities have you engaged in?


81.0%

1.7%

1.8%

3.8%

4.4%

5.7%

7.4%

11.8%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

None of the above

Hacked game code

Modded game

Exchanged items

AIMed with players

Blogged about game

Customized character

Cheats


In the past year, which of the following video game-related activities have you engaged in?


52.6%

6.4%

9.2%

10.7%

11.0%

26.5%

32.6%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

None of the above

Custom photo product

Blogged about photo

Shared remix photo

Photoshopped "mash-up"

Shared photo

Simple edits


In the past year, which of the following photo-related activities have you engaged in?

What’s considered “mainstream” is in the age of the beholder


Percentage of respondents reporting “none of the above” to previous questions (by age)

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Music

Film/TV

Video games

Photos

55+45-5435-4426-3418-25

Entertainment is the number one motivator for remixing

2.12.32.32.32.42.4

2.62.72.7

2.9

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Social protest

Create a "calling card"

Economic necessity

Win a contest

Cultural Criticism

Because I'm a fan

Amuse my friends

Create Art

Hone technical skills

For the fun of it

How important do you consider the following reasons for creating remixes or mash-ups?


Moving on:Programming Strategies for Web 2.0

Stakes are getting high… AGAIN

• Feb 03: Google buys Blogger for $20M• Jul 04: Cnet buys Webshots for $71M• Jul 04: Yahoo buys Oddpost for $20M• Feb 05: IAC buys Bloglines for $25M• Mar 05: Yahoo! buys Flickr.com for $35M• Jul 05: News Corp buys MySpace for $580M• Sept 05: eBay buys Skype for $2.6B • Dec 05: Yahoo! buys del.icio.us for $35M• Aug 06: Sony buys Grouper for $65M• Aug 06: Viacom buys Atom for $200M• Oct 06: Google buys YouTube for $1.65B


What makes this bubble different?

• Core business principle #1: Every consumer benefit (demand side) must be matched by an equal benefit for the programmer (supply side)

• Core business principle #2: Web 2.0 is user-driven. This has five elements:

• Network• Identity• Content• Location• Modularity


10 Pillars of Web 2.0

Demand Side Benefit (audience/consumer)

Supply Side Benefit (business owner)

Network Network effects Virality

Identity Customizability Nichefication

Content Participation Volume

Location Portability Geo relevance

Modularity Extensibility Interoperability


Pillars 1 & 2: Network

• Network effects (demand side): Metcalfe: the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users. This means that a site or service gets more interesting and useful as other users engage with it. • Virality (supply side): A site that benefits from network effects must allow its users to recruit others, thus lowering marketing and customer acquisition costs


Pillars 3 & 4: Identity

• Customizability (demand side): Successful Web 2.0 sites allow users to specify which content and features they will access, and to organize the way in which these content and features are presented • Nichification (supply side): Customization tools yield rich data about users, spot emerging tastes and trends, and lower production and delivery costs by pre-formatting content to suit the anticipated needs of specific customer segments, or niches


Pillars 5 & 6: Content

• Participation (demand side): The degree to which users may contribute to the experiences of other visitors at a given site or service. Users who have invested their own time and energy in contributing to a site are both more loyal and more valuable to publishers

• Volume (supply side): Participation tools bring the cost of content production down significantly, and provide publishers with the raw materials for a more immersive, customizable site than either editorial or syndicated content.


Pillars 7 & 8: Location

• Portability (demand side): As mobile devices and wireless networks continue to proliferate, consumers will increasingly see value in sites and services that are formatted to leverage multiple points of entry. • Geo-relevance (supply side): Location-specific advertising and services will be a major engine of revenue growth and a key point of differentiation between the successes and failures of the Web 2.0 era.


Pillars 9 & 10: Modularity

• Extensibility (demand side): A successful Web 2.0 site offers consumers the promise of increased value over time through the use of extensions, plug-ins, software mash-ups, and other functionality-boosting additions. • Interoperability (supply side): Publishing APIs and helping third-party developers to add functionality will be rewarded with genuine customer loyalty and, ultimately, a more robust, functional, and competitive product.


Score card: Pandora

Demand Side Benefit (audience)


Network Network effects: 2 Virality: 6

Identity Customizability: 7 Nichefication: 8

Content Participation: 3 Volume: 3

Location Portability: 4 Geo relevance: 1

Modularity Extensibility: 2 Interoperability: 2

SCORE (10-100) DEMAND: (18) SUPPLY: (20) Total: (38)


http://www.pandora.com/

Score card: del.icio.us



Network Network effects: 10 Virality: 6

Identity Customizability: 8 Nichefication: 10

Content Participation: 9 Volume: 10

Location Portability: 8 Geo relevance: 6

Modularity Extensibility: 10 Interoperability: 10

SCORE (10-100) DEMAND: (45) SUPPLY: (42) Total: (87)


http://del.icio.us.com/



Score card: Your Choice



Network Network effects: Virality:

Identity Customizability: Nichefication:

Content Participation: Volume:

Location Portability: Geo relevance:

Modularity Extensibility: Interoperability:

SCORE (10-100) DEMAND: (*) SUPPLY: (*) Total: (*)


Thank you

[email protected]@usc.edu