The business of media & entertainment.
I read the new book The Great Reversal by economist Thomas Philippon then did a Q&A with him about it. It’s a fascinating analysis of a fundamental shift that began around 2000 wherein the US economy has become less competitive and more dominated by its largest incumbent companies while Europe become more competitive. The impact in the US can be measured in higher prices, fewer successful small businesses, and lack of product innovation.
Read my book review here and my interview here.
I spoke with Jeremy Liew, general partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners and the first investor in Snapchat, about his interest in media startups whose content runs in the background while we do other primary tasks. Read our transcript on TechCrunch >>
Check out my interview with Remagine partners Eze Vidra and Kevin Baxpehler on TechCrunch >>
I asked a number of the top gaming-focused VCs to share their current investment theses with TechCrunch readers. Check out what they had to say >>
I’m excited to share my in-depth profile on the founding and rise of Unity Technologies, the most used game engine in the world and a multi-billion dollar startup poised to IPO in 2020.
I interviewed two dozen Unity executives in San Francisco and Copenhagen for this and other research into the gaming industry, including hours of discussion with two of Unity’s co-founders (David Helgason and Joachim Ante) and current CEO John Riccitiello.
The last article in my series on Kobalt and the future of the music industry steps back and assesses Kobalt market position in recorded music, publishing, and copyright/royalty management give what we’ve learned. Read it on TechCrunch >>
Part 3 of my series on Kobalt Music and the state of the music industry digs into the rise, and challenges, of recording artists gaining success without traditional record label deals. Read it on TechCrunch >>
Part 2 of my series on Kobalt Music and the state of the music industry breaks down the complex structure of copyright tracking and royalty payments in music and how Kobalt has pushed the industry forward through centralization and transparency. Read it on TechCrunch >>
How Kobalt is simplifying the killer complexities of the music industry
Similar to my past series on Patreon and the efforts of independent content creators to monetize their core fans, I’m writing a series of posts on the music company Kobalt and the state of the music industry. The first post explores the founding of (London-based) Kobalt and its overall structure. Read it on TechCrunch >>
How a Swedish saxophonist built Kobalt, the world’s next music unicorn
I saw leading Wall St media analyst Laura Martin of Needham & Company debate the future of Netflix on stage at the Banff World Media Conference in June and caught up with her after to expand on her assessment of the streaming giant and the streaming video landscape more broadly. Check out the transcript of our conversation on TechCrunch >>
Wall St analyst Laura Martin on the fate of Netflix, breaking up Google, EU regulation, and a decade of more money for Hollywood