THE DEEP DIVIDE.(Brief Article)

ONE INDUSTRY ISSUE HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY DIVISIVE FOR TWO DECADES: REVENUE SHARING. IN THE LATE '80S, RENTRAK CORP. PROPOSED THAT RETAILERS BUY PRODUCT AT STEEPLY DISCOUNTED RATES AND PAY A PERCENTAGE OF THEIR RENTAL REVENUE BACK TO THE STUDIOS. IT WAS A CONCEPT THAT MANY RETAILERS AND STUDIOS DIDN'T TRUST AT FIRST. AT THE TIME, THEY WERE DOING SO WELL THAT THEY DIDN'T NEED REVENUE SHARING. NO ONE WANTED TO SPOIL THE PARTY.

Since revenue sharing looked smarter, by the late '90s, some studios and major retailers decided it was the concept and not the middleman they want