M+E Europe

CWMF: LinQ Takes a Deep Dive Into the Competitive Localisation Market

One of the constants in the $3 billion localisation market is that it’s always changing, according to Björn Lifvergren, co-founder and executive chairman of LinQ.

Lifvergren took a deep dive into the competitive landscape on 22nd March, during the sessionLocalisation Market – A Moving Target,” at the sixth annual Content Workflow Management Forum at the Cavendish Conference Centre in London and as a virtual event via the MESAverse, allowing for remote attendance worldwide.

The event was held in conjunction with the eighth annual Content Protection Summit Europe.

When he returned to the industry in January-February 2021, he “had no idea that we were going [through] one of the biggest-ever booms in the industry,” he told attendees and viewers. He had thought the biggest boom was in 2017, he noted.

What has happened in recent years, however, is that there’s been “a lot of challenges for the content holders,” who now “have more content than ever before” and are facing many challenges at the same time, he said.

In addition to the ongoing streaming war between the major players including Disney and Netflix, international broadcasters entered the streaming market also, and we have seen  “consolidation” among some vendors, he said.

Challenges have also been created for media language service providers (LSPs), he noted, pointing to the rates of freelancers increasing “dramatically” as one of those challenges.

There is also definitely a “talent crunch,” he said, noting how hard it is to find sub-titlers in the Netherlands specifically now.

Meanwhile, subtitling is a complex product that requires technical expertise, machine translation is not yet a viable option in his opinion, and there is no consensus on who should be paying for the training needed in the field, he added.

The company started LinQ Academy as a solution, he pointed out, noting it was developed to train people in subtitling, client management and other areas required in the localisation sectors.

Another LinQ solution is to stop seeing subtitle experts as freelance resources only, he said, noting it is a better idea to make at least some of them members of a company’s staff.

LinQ  started to employ translators on a “larger scale” than it had in the past, he said, projecting the company will employ 20-40 sub-titlers this year to handle multiple languages.

Subtitling is “not an art form,” he argued, saying those that define themselves that way are “shooting themselves in the foot a little bit” because we all know about “starving artists.” Meanwhile, the days of sub-titlers only picking the best jobs are “over,” he said.

He also introduced a new LinQ Media Group venture that he described as a “boutique” firm.

The company has about 25 clients now, he went on to say.

Also, the largest project it’s done to date required 35 languages, it has delivered more than 200 products, it has used 25 partners for projects to date, and more than 1,000 sub-titlers are registered in its database, he added.

The sixth annual Content Workflow Management Forum was produced by MESA in association with CDSA, the Hollywood IT Society (HITS), the Smart Content Council, the Content Localisation Council, and presented by Convergent Risks, with sponsorship by archTIS, NAGRA, Signiant, Whip Media, AppTek, BuyDRM, LinQ Media Group, OOONA, ZOO Digital, EIDR and Titles-On.

The eighth annual Content Protection Summit Europe was produced by MESA in association with the Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA), and presented by Convergent Risks, with sponsorship by archTIS, NAGRA, Signiant, and BuyDRM.