23rd Annual SXSW Interactive Festival

The annual 23^rd South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Film, and Music Festival returns to Austin, Texas on March 11^th through March 20^th. The festival promises another exciting year of panels and presentations by industry leaders, and live music by bands from all over the world. The SXSW Interactive part of the festival has a rich history of industry leaders like Elon Musk from SpaceX and Burnie Burns from Rooster Teeth Productions discussing their experience with emerging technological trends and creative new ideas impacting their sectors.

Hosting a panel at the SXSW Interactive Festival is Peter Cashmore, Founder and CEO of Mashable, to discuss “The State of Media and Tech”. Peter will talk about the important transformations that he’s found in media and tech industries over the past decade, and his projections for the future.

Major Moves, Major Investments

The way people are accessing media is changing, with more creators developing content than ever before. Massive enterprises are realizing these trends and are moving into the digital marketspace with tremendous investments.

Recently, entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal made a $400 million investment in BuzzFeed and Vox Media[1]. The investment with BuzzFeed and Vox Media represents the latest trend of traditional media enterprises collaborating with fast-growing digital media entities on television, movies, live sporting events and other marketing ventures. With the widespread adoption of cloud computing and utilization of distant teams, digital outlets are rapidly becoming a publication standard for the media and entertainment industry.

Growth in Digital Entertainment Outpaces Traditional

According to research by the PricewaterhouseCoopers, the total worldwide entertainment and media revenues will rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1% through 2019[2]. Of this 5.1% growth in total revenues, worldwide digital media will show the strongest rise in revenues from $15.2 Billion in 2014 to 30.29 Billion in 2019[3].

The rise in revenues generated by digital media is attributed to the increased availability of stronger data infrastructure to meet the taxing demands of streaming and transferring large video files. This access to infrastructure that supports the flow of ever-increasing data volumes will continue to play a crucial role in the revenue growth found in digital media.

Increasing Need for Stronger Data Transfer Solutions

A recent study by Computer Sciences Corp found that data volumes are growing at an unprecedented rate of 4300% leading up to 2020[4]. In 2015, data created by enterprises reached 2.37 zettabytes and managed data reached 6.32 zettabytes[5]. These figure are projected to explode by 2020, reaching 10.5 zettabytes of new data and 28 zettabytes of managed data[6].

Helping in managing this tremendous growth in data volumes are scalable Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions that quickly move data to-and-from a location or cloud object storage. SaaS solutions like Media Shuttle and Flight are creating a competitive advantage for media and entertainment companies of all-sizes.

Data moved through SaaS solutions travel with enterprise-grade security, using the cloud for access anywhere around the world. These solutions will help encourage further investment and collaboration with digital media entities without needing to share proximity.

Signiant developed Media Shuttle and Flight as a cost-effective, large-file transfer solution that protects assets everywhere along their journey.

Digital media companies can work with the freedom and flexibility they want, transferring files on-premises or in the cloud.

[1] Emily S. “NBCUniversal to Invest $200 Million in BuzzFeed”. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/business/media/nbcuniversal-to-invest-200-million-in-buzzfeed.html?_r=0

[2] Marcel F. “Global entertainment and media outlook 2015 – 2019”. PricewaterhouseCoopers. http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/entertainment-media/outlook.html

[3] Ibid.

[4] “Big Data Universe Beginning to Explode”. Computer Science Corp. http://www.csc.com/insights/flxwd/78931-big_data_universe_beginning_to_explode

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.