ian c rogers

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Internet Media Physics

• ian c rogers
• Yahoo! Music
• NYLF Tech
• July, 2006

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• Physics, in a business sense

A science that deals with matter and energy and
their interactions. Environmental forces easil
y taken for granted but to be ignored at your own
peril. Just as a pilot cant ignore gravity, en
trepreneurs cant afford to ignore the physics of
the Internet. Products which account for the ph
ysics can succeed without any marketing, products
which ignore cant be saved by marketing.
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• Tell me about yourselves
• (show of hands)

How many of you have iPods?
How many of you have MySpace pages?
How many have seen the Chronicles of Narnia Rap?
How many have seen Superman?
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• Who is this guy?

• Facts about Ian Rogers
• One of several Directors of Product Management
  at Yahoo! Music
  
• Formerly at startup Mediacode
• Formerly at Record Label Grand Royal
• Formerly at Nullsoft (Winamp, SHOUTcast,
  Gnutella)
  
• Formerly worked with Beastie Boys

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• What are we talking about today?

• What is Yahoo!s Music business?

• How are the Physics of the Media World are
  changing?

• What is the iPod is really showing us?

• What can you do to help?

• Whatever you want to talk about.

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• The physics of the Media world are changing

From a world where attention is abundant and
distribution channels are scarce
To a world where distribution is unlimited and a
ttention is scarce
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• Huh?

What this means is, youre going to watch, lis
ten to, and experience EXACTLY what you want,
not whats marketed to you. (this is a good t
hing)
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• This is a good thing because

QUALITY becomes king. Not QUALITY a la fine art
(Mozart is better than 50 Cent),
QUALITY is personal and subjective. Whateve
r YOU most want, is what you should give your
attention to.
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• Your attention is your currency

Your attention is what media companies will
compete for. To get your attention companies ne
ed better content, not better marketing.
QUALITY is hyper-efficient.
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• How is this happening?

We used to have tens of channels of TV and a
limited FM dial. The music store at the mall
could only hold so many CDs. On the Internet, t
he choices will (soon legally) be unlimited.
Not only can you watch, listen, and experience a
ny content ever created, youll be able to be the
content creator, and youll be consuming content
made by people you know.
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• How was this opportunity created?

Great technology gave us AOL, Compuserve, the
iPod, and Satellite Radio. Great standards gave
us The World Wide Web. Consider the opportunit
ies for an entrepreneur on each.
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• Standards in online media are still virtually
  non-existent
  

Think about your experience on the Web.
Everything looks great on all platforms Unti
l you want a piece of media. Then its Would y
ou like Real, Windows, or Quicktime? Puke.
Flash is winning because it appears the most sta
ndard. But its not. And that makes it as
proprietary as the iPod.
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• The iPod is pro-pry-ah-what?

The iPod is a great integrated technology
solution. It does not create Internet-scale o
pportunity for media. What if Internet Explorer
only went to Microsofts home page?
This is a representation of the amount of opport
unity thats lost in the closed Apple media
economy.
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• So what should you, future entrepreneur, do?

Dont take the Internet for granted.
Fight to keep the Internet free (net neutrality
is important). Create and support simple standa
rds that build useful platforms. In other words,
help make sure new technologies are built on the
same principles as the Internet.
Build on these platforms. Dont build or build
on proprietary platforms.
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How does Yahoo! Music fit in?

• On-Demand
• Yahoo! Music Unlimited
• MusicMatch
• Living Room, Mobile

• Media
• 1 Radio
• 1 Video
• 1 Web Site

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Building experiences around Music

• Personalization for discovery.
• Community for connecting and identity.
• Playlisting and more for utility.
• FUSE Find, Use, Share, and Expand.

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Enough from me. Whats on your mind?

• No question is stupid.
• Let er rip.