P2P

Europe still makes entrepreneurs !

Blog Author — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 08:18:00 GMT

Answering Loic Lemeur's post about the Yahoo acquisition of Flickr (this social network / web-based online photo sharing), I strongly recommend you to have a look at PixVillage, our software application dedicated to online photo sharing. Be sure we will do our best to succeed in this fast growing/competitve business :)

Online photo sharing, the next killer application ?

Blog Author — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 18:58:00 GMT

Following the Yahoo acquisition of Flickr photo sharing service, the HP - Snapfish deal and the Heypix! - Cnet deal, it seems that web portals and digital camera manufacturers consider photo sharing as a killer application.

Digital photos amateurs have started with online photo sharing few yeas ago. Now millions of photos are publicly or privately displayed over the worldwide web while digital cameras sales have soared during this period. It is obvious that photo sharing is a way to recruit end users and even "networks of end-users". Once you grab a social hub, you will get his friends, family, etc.

At the beginning, Ofoto and Webshots were "traditional" web based services. Then Flickr has mixed social networking recruitment capabilities with photo sharing features, still as a web based service. Last (but not least) PixVillage brings kind of social networking (end users build their private networks the same way MSN Messenger do it) with P2P technology, which means digital photos are stored on the end-user PC and uploaded directly on their authorized contacts PC hard drive.

What will be photo sharing in the coming months ? hard to say, but one sure thing is that web based services will face storage and bandwith issues while their network is growing. Not P2P decentralized networks such as PixVillage. Online photo sharing could stay a free offer thanks to Pixvillage for end-users only benefit...

Music majors legal offering

Blog Author — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 12:14:00 GMT

I met a representative from Warner Music in charge of digital music within the group yesterday at a brunch . He told me Warner gets more than 50% of every revenue generated by legal music downloads. He thinks it is the fair price because "Warner owns the masters and Warner is not going to shrink and break its margins in this new business model". Obviously, he reflects what we can read and hear from music entertainement groups. If you read a book about strategy, one of the basic topic would be "when you start a new business, don't break your margin because it could be your next business model for growth", which is quoted above by this Warner representative. Good to hear once again what I knew since a long time (and I am sure you too :) : music majors don't get it. They don't understand that legal music platforms are not what books call a "new business". P2P file sharing softwares have created "free music", not because worldwide downloaders are all bad guys, but as an answer to majors monopoly and expensive music offering. Free music is the grass roots business model of legal downloading platforms. Music majors should not consider they are entering a new market but that they are competing in an established market where competitors are pushing this "all for free" very powerful business model.

Internet is a real threat for unaware business people. It is also the best monopoly breaker. Keeping their "old school" way of thinking in mind might not bring music majors revenue growth back.