Its a question as old as the tech industry itself: can Europe compete with Silicon Valley?
This reared up again in my mind for two main reasons.
The first is the recent(-ish) shift of Big Tech into being media entities.
Thats Spotifys struggles as a European stalwart in this field.
Lets consider the first point.
Over the past few years, weve seen Silicon Valley shift its strategy and start investing heavily in media.
I mean, the latter was behindThe Rings Of Power, the most expensive television show ever made.
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Apple takes a similar approach.
From this point, growth will be tougher.
In many ways, US tech companies are using streaming as a loss leader.
This is a huge problem to both media companies in general and European businesses in the same field.
And guess who sits in both these categories?
Yep, you guessed it: Spotify.
The Swedish company, which is broadly independent, is struggling to keep up with Big Tech.
This pattern is being played out across the entire European media landscape.
Can European countries fight back?
And do they need to?
Hes the SVP, Product Strategy & Marketing, atBrightcove, a streaming technology company.
Effectively, Roberts believes that US streaming giants create too many shows to market effectively.
Were already seeing this in action, with Paramount Globals partnerships with Sky and Canal+ just one recent example.
This paints a rosier picture than I was expecting.
Yet is this unified, global approach a good thing?
Hes CEO and co-founder ofINCRMNTAL, a data science platform.
This blurring of geographic lines, Sadra contends, is true of Spotify too.
This though doesnt mean its not vital for Europe to maintain powerful media bodies.
You only need to look at how Hollywood and TV has benefitted America.
It has expanded its cultural influence worldwide, becoming a form of soft power.
Just consider, as one micro example, the global footprint of Halloween and Thanksgiving.
This trend will be hugely important for European media creators, especially if theyre making content in non-English.
Ultimately, the future of media streaming in Europe is one of balance.
Currently, theres no real way European media bodies can compete with the bottomless wallets of Silicon Valley.
What they can do though is ensure they stay relevant.
The secret to achieving this isnt all that secret being nimble and open minded.
Dont act so shocked: age-old questions often have age-old answers, after all.
