Earlier in the month I sat down with Mochila CEO Keith McAllister and got the 1-hour version of what it is Mochila does. As best as I can sum it up, the company offers a-la-carte, multiplatform syndication. Together those words make it sound thoroughly uninteresting, but actually Mochila brings an intriguing approach to the new media market… at least once you get your brain wrapped around the concept.
Here’s how it works. Anyone can become a buyer or seller of content by joining Mochila’s network. (Sellers are vetted to make sure they’re selling legit material and no naughty stuff.) If you’re buying, you can choose text, photos, audio or video, and either pay money to redistribute the content – online or offline – or syndicate it with advertising. If you’re selling, you can make your content available on whatever terms you like. Mochila has a handy licensing system that lets you customize everything from price to embargo times to the specific publishers you’re willing to do business with.
Unlike wire services, Mochila is based on individual transactions, something even the smallest publishers will find feasible. Equally interesting, wire services like the Associated Press don’t see Mochila as a competitor, but are actually joining the Mochila network. According to a March 2006 article in The New York Times, Mochila had 10 publishers signed up to sell content a little more than a year ago. Today the company has more than 260 publishers in its network including the AP, Hearst and The Washington Post.
I love the idea of Mochila because it democratizes syndication the same way blogs have democratized media publishing. It also seems to have a good amount of support given both its existing publisher network and the money behind it. The only worry I have is that Mochila is ultimately going to find itself up against some serious heavyweights. The company talks about syndicating real, authored content, but most of its money is coming from shared ad revenues. Is Google or even Brightcove really going to sit still and let Mochila take over that market? Seems unlikely. And that’s without even mentioning newbies like Hiro.
Nonetheless, Mochila has some good things going. I’m looking forward to more news out of the company in the coming months.