This reading looked at the entertainment and media (E&M) industries potential for growth and opportunity, primarily through five key shifts. It first acknowledges how, in making an effort to serve digital consumers, the outlook for the industry may seem troubling, with trends towards things like free media make it difficult to grow. This is leaving the industry behind in overall economic growth across the world. From here though, the reading becomes much more positive, as it contends that on closer examination, the E&M industry is one that is ‘dynamic, diverse…with steady and sustainable growth’. However, this growth is not shared equally, as it is down in some areas while way up in others. They put this down to ‘this global media landscape’ being ‘multi-shifting’.
Here, the five key shifts are discussed, which are: demography, competition, consumption, geography and business models. The first of these, demography, focused on the idea that the youth are the most significant demographic when it comes to media and entertainment, as countries with the youngest population, such as Pakistan, are projected to see major growth. While somewhat surprising, upon reflection, this finding makes total sense to me, as traits such as being ‘more open to adopting digital behaviours’ are clearly prominent in the youth. Other key focus points from the other shifts included the importance of content (competition), consumers’ remaining love of bundles (consumption), the idea of of the distinction between how to view developed and developing countries no longer being so clear (geography), and how many historic shifts are ‘forging the creation of new business models, and perhaps even new industries’ (business models).
Ultimately, the authors state that the E&M industry must and will play out as these five shifts do, as the industry will ‘[learn] from experience and [become] nimble’. In doing this, the entertainment and media industry will adapt to a new normal, which is ‘a multi speed marketplace that expects and plans for disruption’. While this inevitability of disruption is scary, it is also quite exciting – as it is to read such a positive take on the future of our industry.