Mashery

Remember that Steve Ballmer video where he danced around screaming “Developers!, Developers!, Developers!?” While forgiving the over-the-top nature of the delivery, there was no doubting the passion and the message behind the fireworks. Steve’s point was that Microsoft’s target, focus, and success hinged on developer buy-in of what Microsoft was selling. We agree wholeheartedly with that notion. Steve’s exclamation is still true today – developers are one of the keys to enterprise software traction, there is no doubt.

At Mashery, we believe the next big developer key that we will all be shouting is “Content!, Content!, Content!”

With a focus on content, Mashery is powering the infrastructure supporting the release of the new MTV Networks Content API. Through this API, MTVN is providing access to every music video in the MTV archive (plus all related metadata)! The API can be used to develop applications and mashups, including:

· Build a music video gallery of MTV, VH1, CMT or LOGO artists
· Create an application to send music video dedications to friends on Facebook, MySpace, Flux or any other social network
· Mine the MTV music video archive to create music applications
· Create a WordPress plug-in to dynamically pull music videos into blog posts

So, other than the super cool fact that the MTV archives are available and we can now start pulling Dire Straits videos into all of our applications, why is this important? We are fast approaching the day when all content is available online and this content is designed from its inception to be placed online. This next phase of web content will be driven by what we call the 3 A’s of massively available online content:

· Access – Big media companies like MTV Networks are driving content access vehicles. Easy access to this content facilitates incorporation (hello developers) into applications, mashups, and social media. Developers will provide and manage this access through APIs.
· Availability – Content must be highly available for efforts like the MTV Networks Content API to work as advertised. Down time or limited availability of content will not be tolerated. Initially, it makes sense that big media companies would make their content available; they are likely already operating at high availability levels (99.999% availability or above). As media companies (natural content providers) validate the content model, other industries will follow.
· Adaptability – Developers have been able to embed videos online for a long time. For the MTV Networks Content API, the big news is the adaptability of the content: Beyond just embedding videos, developers can now search, provide full metadata, control open content, and access to the entire MTV catalog. This adaptability of content is where the content providers, regardless of industry, can provide tools to make their content massively available.

Mashery is thrilled to be providing the infrastructure for the MTV Networks Content API, and we have more Content API excitement coming soon.