It’s no secret that digitalization has completely altered the way the media and entertainment industry does business. Smartphones, social media, and streaming have completely changed the game: consumers are now in the driver's seat, dictating how, when, and where they want to access content.

This shift to an on-demand culture has created new opportunities for producers and distributors to leverage multiple digital platforms to find new revenue streams and audiences for their work. But digital content distribution has ushered in additional layers of complexity. Because of the various nuances associated with VOD license agreements, relying solely on legacy systems and spreadsheets to track rights and availabilities is not enough; adopting specialized software for revenue and contract management has now become a necessity.

Here are 4 reasons why rights management software is an absolute must in 2018.

1. It streamlines the complex contract management processes
   In the traditional theatrical distribution model you’re typically dealing with a single title, whereas video-on-demand deals involve vast content libraries and a faster time to market. With rights management technology, you can quickly search and report across all contracts and deal points without having to dig through documents one by one.
2. It eliminates labor-intensive content delivery and ingestion
   For video-on-demand deals, you need to be able to transfer hundreds upon hundreds of digital assets and related collateral quickly –– and without any hiccups. A rights management solution can guarantee that your files are delivered at high-speed, regardless of file sizes, network condition, and transfer distance.
3. It offers deeper granularity into windows of opportunity
   In order to keep up with the demands of multi-channel viewing, content owners are now licensing partial TV seasons to VOD platforms –– something that wasn’t done even five years ago. Traditional systems can’t account for this level of transparency; however, rights management software is able to give you a bird’s eye view into all possible areas of content monetization.
4. It provides additional transparency into the flow of money
   Customized content packages across streaming services and platforms have made licensing deals much more complex. With a rights management solution, you can easily calculate granular details surrounding financial data, such as invoicing, revenue recognition, and cash application –– a key feature that legacy systems typically lack.

In today’s ever-changing digital age, M&E businesses can’t afford to be without rights management software. If you’re ready to improve sales and productivity in 2018, book a free assessment today to see how your current strategy stacks up to the FilmTrack solution.

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