Discussion about the new digital media and entertainment world often suggests it is a battle between content creators (from artists to production companies) and distributors (from telecom to Apple).

While the entertainment and media labor unions have a toehold in the creators and other unions like CWA and IBEW have a foot in the telecom companies, none have much of a presence in another emerging crucial layer of the digital map: content managers like Heavy.com, the subject of this opinion piece in today’s Financial Times. These sites organize access to the multitude of sites producing content across the web and feed to targeted audiences. When successful these sites can attract their own ad dollars as the authors suggest.

Digitalization means the breakup of a world that had seemed stable to many over decades. Collective bargaining systems evolve slowly in reaction to technological change. The emergence of content managers represents yet another challenge to labor relations in the entertainment and media world.

FT.com / Comment & analysis / Comment – Media money will flow to content managers