The world of animation is really struggling lately. A recent sign of the times, AD Vision, which brought you famous titles like: Appleseed, Elfen Lied, etc. They have recently announced that they will be closing their doors. That’s right, due to unfortunate sales across multiple titles they have been forced to close their doors for good including other issues leading to other companies acquiring multiple titles as mentioned above.
Additionally, the economy has not been kind to anime specialists, as companies like Geneon and Central Park have closed their doors to file for bankruptcy. What is the main culprit of this anguish? It can be attributed to different aspects such as economic times, DVD sales, and finally, failures in marketing approaches. The biggest problem facing this industry has to do directly with copyright infringement. What does this mean exactly? There are several sites that distribute free animations to users through the World Wide Web; however, these sites do not pay royalties to any of the artists. What does this mean exactly? It doesn’t take someone with a Ph.D. in economics to realize that when there’s no demand for a product, there’s no need for supply. In this case, there is no need for supply but a lot of demand. In truth, the same very loyal fans who love their industry are killing it.
Even the big corporations that are the main providers of dubbed animation in the United States, like Funimation, are feeling the effects. It’s only a matter of time, at this rate, before animation completely disappears from the United States. Japanese companies are quickly adapting to the times by trying to log in to established web agencies. Crunchy roll, one of the only legal online streaming companies to offer animation, actually pays royalties to the artist.
American animation companies need to quickly find new ways to market their product. The time has changed; the old method of selling DVDs has quickly become obsolete. Some recommendations that I would like this industry to incorporate:
1) Official streaming sites of each company, followed by a monthly subscription fee.
2) As the saying goes, “there is gold in those hills.” America is already eating up the Marvel comics industry; however, the animation industry has much more depth and better potential storylines, which can be easily adapted to the big screen. Isn’t it about time titles like Harry Potter, Watchmen, GI Joe and even The Lord of the Rings compete for your money?
3) Sales must come from merchandise, not direct DVD sales. Companies should log into such toy industries and take examples from giants in the field: beanie babies, ninja turtles, the list can go on forever.
4) Video games are a field that they are slowly merging with, however, this merger is always in favor of the video game industry. Can you ask the potential of such animation titles? Just look at the long-running video game series, Dragon Ball Z, which was rated by most critics as a horrible fighting game. That I carry? It’s not hard to find out.
Animation companies need to find different ways to make money from their product. The main focus should be on offering free streaming of your titles; the main focus is simply marketing your product. The best way to accomplish this is by offering a free entertainment cable channel. Inevitably, the chances of this happening are slim to none. However, such fluctuations seen in past spending trends can be compared to past free mass distributions. Toonami, a popular animated series that aired on Cartoon Network, had a very successful launch on the rating scale of just a few animated titles. Consequently, at the time, there were no illegal animation streaming sites available through the World Wide Web, which can be directly attributed to its success. However, the old ‘anime spending rush’ can be directly linked to this event, also known as the anime baby boom. In short, animation companies should stop relying on DVD sales, in fact this should be seen as their minimal form of income generation. They need to look at other markets and learn how to incorporate this into money for them.
In truth, the question is whether the animation industry will learn to adapt. The Japanese show signs of life, but the Americans are slowly withering away. There is still some promise out there for potential sparks of life. However, this is quickly spotted by some quick announcement of a failed trend. Will this industry ever recover? Only time will tell.
