digital distribution part of a series onecommerce online goods and services digital distribution ebooks software streaming media retail services banking dvdbymail flower delivery food ordering grocery pharmacy travel marketplace services advertising auctions comparison shopping social commerce trading communities wallet mobile commerce payment ticketing customer service call centre help desk live support software eprocurement purchasetopayvte digital distribution also referred to as content delivery online distribution or electronic software distribution esd among others is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio video software and video games the term is generally used to describe distribution over an online delivery medium such as the internet thus bypassing physical distribution methods such as paper optical discs and vhs videocassettes the term online distribution is typically applied to freestanding products downloadable addons for other products are more commonly known as downloadable content with the advancement of network bandwidth capabilities online distribution became prominent in the 21st century content distributed online may be streamed or downloaded and often consists of books films and television programs music software and video games streaming involves downloading and using content at a users request or ondemand rather than allowing a user to store it permanently in contrast fully downloading content to a hard drive or other form of storage media may allow offline access in the future specialist networks known as content delivery networks help distribute content over the internet by ensuring both high availability and high performance alternative technologies for content delivery include peertopeer file sharing technologies alternatively content delivery platforms create and syndicate content remotely acting like hosted content management systems however the term is also used in film distribution to describe distribution of content through physical media in opposition to distribution by analog media such as photographic film and magnetic tape see digital cinema basis a primary characteristic of online distribution is its direct nature to make a commercially successful work artists usually must enter their industrys publishing chain publishers help artists advertise fund and distribute their work to retail outlets in some industries particularly video games artists find themselves bound to publishers and in many cases unable to make the content they want the publisher might not think it will profit well this can quickly lead to the standardization of the content and to the stifling of new potentially risky ideas by opting for online distribution an artist can get their work into the public sphere of interest easily with potentially minimum business overhead this often leads to cheaper goods for the consumer increased profits for the artists as well as increased artistic freedom online distribution platforms often contain or act as a form of digital rights management online distribution also opens the door to new business models eg the open music model for instance an artist could release one track from an album or one chapter from a book at a time instead of waiting for them all to be completed this either gives them a cash boost to help continue their projects or warns that their work is not financially viable this is hopefully done before they have spent excessive money and time on a project deemed unviable video games have increased flexibility in this area demonstrated by micropayment models a clear result of these new models is their accessibility to smaller artists or artist teams who do not have the time funds or expertise to make a new product in one go an example of this can be found in the music industry indie artists may access the same distribution channels as major record labels with potentially fewer restrictions and manufacturing costs there is a growing collection of internet labels that offer distribution to unsigned or independent artists directly to online music stores and in some cases marketing and promotion services further many bands are able to bypass this completely and offer their music for sale via their own independently controlled websites an issue is the large number of incompatible formats in which content is delivered restricting the devices that may be used or making data conversion necessary impact on traditional retail the rise of online distribution has provided controversy for the traditional business models and resulted in challenges as well as new opportunities for traditional retailers and publishers online distribution affects all of the traditional media markets including music press and broadcasting in britain the iplayer a software application for streaming television and radio accounts for 5 of all bandwidth used in the united kingdom music the move towards online distribution led to a dip in sales in the 2000s when cd sales were nearly cut in half the smaller file size yields much greater internet transfer speeds the transition into the online space has boosted sales and profit for some artists it has also allowed for potentially lower expenses such as lower coordination costs lower distribution costs as well as the possibility for redistributed total profits these lower costs have aided new artists in breaking onto the scene and gaining recognition in the past some emerging artists have struggled to find a way to market themselves and compete in the various distribution channels the internet may give artists more control over their music in terms of ownership rights creative process pricing and more in addition to providing global users with easier access to content online stores allow users to choose the songs they wish instead of having to purchase an entire album from which there may only be one or two titles that the buyer enjoys the number of downloaded single tracks rose from 160 million in 2004 to 795 million in 2006 which accounted for a revenue boost from us397 million to us2 billion videos many traditional network television shows movies and other video content is now available online either from the content owner directly or from third party services youtube netflix hulu vudu amazon prime video directv slingtv and other internetbased video services allow content owners to let users access their content on computers smart phones tablets or by using appliances such as video game consoles settop boxes or smart tvs many film distributors also include a digital copy also called digital hd with bluray disc ultra hd bluray 3d bluray or a dvd books some companies such as bookmasters distribution which invested us45 million in upgrading its equipment and operating systems have had to direct capital toward keeping up with the changes in technology the phenomenon of books going digital has given users the ability to access their books on handheld digital book readers one benefit of electronic book readers is that they allow users to access additional content via hypertext links these electronic book readers also give users portability for their books since a reader can hold multiple books depending on the size of its hard drive tor books a major publisher of science fiction and fantasy books started to sell ebooks drmfree by july 2012 and baen books had already forgone drm previously video games digital distribution in video games online distribution is changing the structure of the video game industry gabe newell creator of the digital distribution service steam formulated the advantages over physical retail distribution as such the worst days since the 2000s there has been an increasing number of smaller and niche titles available and commercially successful like eg remakes of classic games which were before not commercially feasible the years after 2004 saw the rise of many digital distribution services on the pc such as amazon digital services desura gamestop games for windows live impulse steam origin direct2drive gogcom and gamersgate the offered properties differ significantly while most of these digital distributors dont allow reselling of bought games green man gaming allows this another example is gogcom which has a strict nondrm policy while most other services allow various strict or less strict forms of drm next important thing is that the digital distribution is more ecofriendly than physical optical disc is made of polycarbonate plastic and aluminum the creation of 30 cds requires the use of 300 cubic feet of natural gas 2 cups of oil and 24 gallons of water the boxes for cds are made from polyvinyl chloride pvc which increases the risk of cancer challenges this section does not cite any sources please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources unsourced material may be challenged and removed july 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message a general issue is the large number of incompatible data formats in which content is delivered possibly restricting the devices that may be used or making data conversion necessary streaming services can have several drawbacks requiring a constant internet connection to use content the restriction of some content to never be stored locally the restriction of content from being transferred to physical media and the enabling of greater censorship at the discretion of owners of content infrastructure and consumer devices application store online shopping cloud gaming comparison of online music stores content delivery network digital distribution in video games ebook electronic publishing electronic commerce film distribution film distributor internet pornography list of internet television providers list of mobile software distribution platforms streaming media video on demand uberisation vteebook digital distribution platformsactive amazon kindle archive of our own barnes noble nook fanfictionnet google play books hoopla digital ibooks store kindle direct publishing kindle store kobo lulu noisetrade overdrive inc playster pocketbook reader publiseer scribd smashwords wattpad wikibooks discontinued sony reader oyster pronoun vtemusic digital distribution platforms digital library music download online music store streaming media active 7digital 8trackscom amazon music anghami apple music baidu music bandcamp banditfm beatport bleepcom boomplay music cd baby classical archives claro msica deezer digitally imported ditto music djshop emubands emusic gaanacom google play music hdtracks hoopla icecast iheartradio itunes store jamendo joox juno records kakaomusic kkbox kugou lastfm line music live365 magnatune melon mixcloud moov murfie musicstation music glue mziiki napster netease music nimbit noisetrade onerpm overdrive inc pandora patari payplayfm playstation music playster qobuz qq music raagacom radiocom radicalfm radionomy rockmyrun roxi saavn sellaband slacker spinlet spotify soundcloud shazam tidal twine wimp youtube music discontinued amie street aupeo beats music blackberry world blinkbox music buymusic electric jukebox ghosttunes gomusicnow groove music grooveshark guvera internet underground music archive imeem imesh kazaa mixcrate mog mp3com music unlimited nokia store mixradio playnow arena pono pressplay puretracks rara rdio simfy songza spinner spiralfrog stardock central streamwaves style jukebox ubetoo wowloud yahoo music radiolaunchcast yahoo music unlimited zune marketplace vtesoftware distribution platforms and content delivery networks app store cloud gaming digital library online game store package manager software distribution streaming media activepersonalcomputer allmyapps amazon digital game store battlenet big fish games chrome web store digital river direct2drive dotemu gogcom gamehouse gameshadow gamersgate game jolt gnome software green man gaming humble store mac games arcade itchio mac app store macupdate metaboligamesplanet microsoft store msn games origin playism playster pogocom pokki steam uplay wildtangent video gameconsoles gamefly microsoft store nintendo eshop playstation now playstation store wii shop channel xbox store xbox live arcade mobile amazon appstore apple app store aptoide blackberry world cafe bazaar cydia fdroid gamersgate getjar google play handango microsoft store samsung galaxy apps slideme opera mobile store playster arcade allnet nesicaxlive eamusement discontinued club nokia desura gameagent gametap games for windows live games for windows marketplace impulse intel appup jumboplay kazaa ngage nokia download nokia ovi store onlive playnow arena stardock central triton ubuntu software center ubuntu app store vodafone live windows marketplace windows marketplace for mobile windows phone store yahoo games zune marketplace zylom vtevideo digital distribution platforms digital library streaming media video on demand free 56com 7plus 9now abc iview aparat acfun afreecatv all 4 arte boutique bbc iplayer bilibili blinkbox breakcom brightcove buzznet canalplay chicken pork adobo dailymotion daum dittotv facebook watch the film detective filmon flickr fotki france tv pluzz funimation funny or die funshion gogcom gyao hitchhike tv hoopla hotstar hunter tv iqiyi itv hub iwant le lightbox liveleak mango tv medicitv metacafe mixer my5 mytf1 vod myvideo naver neulion the newsmarket niconico noggin oneworldtv ora tv overdrive inc pandora tv picturebox films pluto tv popcornflix pptv putlocker rt player rumble rutube schooltube showroom sky go smashcasttv sohu sony crackle sony liv spirit show network spuul starlight networks steam streamworks international stv player svt play talktalk tv tank top tv tapp tv teachertube teaching channel telly inc theplatform toon goggles trilulilu tubi tudou tv uol tvigle tvnz ondemand tvplayer tvyo twitchtv uktv play ultraviolet vbox7 veoh vevo viddsee viewster viki vimeo virgin media player viu voddler vudu vqqcom vyrt wistia wuaki xfinity streampix xunlei kankan yahoo view youku youtube yupptv zattoo sports fox sports go nbl tv watchespn pornographic pornerbros pornhub pornmd pornotube redtube xhamster xtube xvideos youporn paid acorn tv animelab britbox cbs all access crave crunchyroll curiositystream dc universe disney fandangonow fandor the film detective fullscreen hbo now hillsong channel now hooq hulu icflix iflix kocowa mubi netflix now tv playstation video playster prime video rooster teeth first shahid showmax showtime shudder sky on demand stan starz vidangel watchtoku youtube premium live television directv now foxtel now localbtv playstation vue sling tv tvplayer youtube tv sports br live dazn eleven sports espn nbc sports gold ufc fight pass rental purchase amazon video google play movies tv itunes store movies anywhere nintendo eshop playstation store vudu microsoft store microsoft movies tv wrestling all japan pro wrestling tv big japan pro wrestling core club wwn chikaratopia czw studios ddt universe dragon gate network global wrestling network honor club new japan prowrestling world stardom world wwe network wwnlive discontinued azubu bbc store blip blogtv cinemanow daisuki dramafever fearnet filmstruck flixster google video hitboxtv imeem imesh intel appup joost justintv kazaa lovefilm megavideo muzutv nintendo channel nintendo video nokia store openfilm plus7 presto quickflix redbox revver seeso shomi sony entertainment network stage6 super deluxe touchvision triton trooptube twango total access impact wrestling vdio vessel viddler vidme vine vongo warner archive instant weshow windows media center wwe classics on demand yahoo screen vtesoftware distributionlicenses beerware floating licensing free and opensource free open source freely redistributable proprietary public domain sourceavailable compensation models adware commercial software retail software crippleware crowdfunding freemium freeware pay what you want careware donationware opencore model postcardware shareware nagware delivery methods digital distribution file sharing onpremises preinstalled product bundling retail software sneakernet software as a service deceptive andor illicit unwanted software bundling malware spyware trojan horse worm ransomware scareware shovelware vaporware software release life cycle abandonware endoflife longterm support software maintenance software maintainer software publisher copy protection digital rights management software protection dongle hardware restrictions license manager product activation product key software copyright software patent torrent poisoning 