Custom software for the media and entertainment industry

Finding custom software development services tailored for the media and entertainment industry can be challenging due to the broad scope of services and domains involved. At its core, the media and entertainment industry's mission is to inform, entertain, and communicate with users.

Custom software for the media and entertainment industry encompasses a wide range of sectors, including streaming and filmmaking, music, publishing, video games, sports and betting, social media, art, events, and content creation. Each domain requires specialized software development strategies to address specific challenges. Some solutions focus on consumer needs, while others help content creators. In this article, we'll have a look at different types of media and entertainment applications, explore the core characteristics they should have, see how to find a suitable vendor to develop software, and finish with development for an entertaining industry showcase.

Media and entertainment software solutions

The following categories don't cover all possible media and entertainment software types as there are many of them. We've chosen those that represent common solutions, both custom and out-of-the-box.

Cloud-based solutions

These technologies are primarily used for data storage and computing needs. They help companies to store big amounts of data without the need to have their own servers and deal with their restrictions. One of the most popular cloud solutions is AWS by Amazon and Google Cloud. It offers ready solutions which makes it popular both among big enterprises and smaller businesses. For example, AWS is the platform of choice for major enterprises such as Netflix, Formula 1, FOX, Peacock, and Untold Studios. Google Cloud is trusted by Forbes, The New York Times, Sky, and Vimeo.

Streaming and publishing platforms

In addition to storage facilities, media and entertainment software development services include building platforms where the content is published and streamed. Development might require web development, UI/UX, IoT, and mobile development skills, depending on the project scope.

Management software

Storing and publishing content is one side of the coin; scheduling content is another. The media industry often requires regular and timely posting. Therefore, to orchestrate the process smoothly, media holdings need robust and convenient management tools. There are plenty of out-of-the-box solutions. However, industry-specific needs might require custom media company software development to improve the processes of a particular media holding. Of course management software is important in the entertainment industry, too. For instance, video game creation demands secure access and collaborative environments for multiple teams to work efficiently.

Content creation software

For high-quality audio and visual content, post-production editing and design are essential. Even basic programs offer audio and video formatting tools, cutting features, assembly options, and effects. Popular software in this category includes OBS Studio, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Apple Final Cut Pro.

Social media applications

Social media platforms create their ecosystems offering diverse opportunities from communication to business. Besides messaging and content sharing, modern apps provide features like virtual reality, advertising, e-commerce, and various microservices within a single app. An average person actively uses 6.7 social apps monthly for various purposes. Therefore, to create an app that will be competitive on the market, developers have to be knowledgeable in creating different types of media and entertainment software. Leading platforms today include Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

Media analytic software

This software helps companies analyze their content success and track trends in user behavior. Usually, media analytic tools collect and measure data, including session time, number of likes, comments, shares, etc. Some tools use AI for predictive analytics to refine business strategies. Among ready solutions are such analytic tools as Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, Qlik Sense, Looker, and many others. In case a company doesn't find an out-of-the-shelf tool suitable on its own, custom media company software development can help integrate existing tools into preferred interfaces.

What characteristics are important in media and entertainment software?

Apart from choosing which software type to develop, it is also important to have specific requirements for software quality in mind. These requirements can be general or product-specific, but most importantly, they allow your product to remain competitive in the long run. There are a few to keep in mind:

UI/UX design

When you introduce a new app, it should be eye-catching and intuitive to use. It should strike a balance between familiarity and uniqueness, with simple navigation that does not intimidate users but rather engages them with distinctive illustrations and animations.

Scalability

Software should be able to handle large user loads. Every media or entertainment app starts as a startup and scales over time. The app doesn't need to offer all features from the start, but it should have clear code to ensure further development. It's common for companies to change vendors, but if the previous vendor didn't develop the software with scalability and maintainability in mind, the only solution might be a complete rewrite. That's why Ronas IT developers care so much about always delivering clear code.

The case of improving a previous vendor's code is featured in one of our latest articles: How to improve app performance: UI/UX design and tech advice from Ronas IT team.

Payment options

Often, media and entertainment applications provide users with the option to subscribe for premium content access. When developing such a product, consider allowing users to pay with their preferred method, whether it be cryptocurrency or a PayPal wallet. Offering various payment options can attract more users and enhance sales through increased convenience.

Integrations

As the media and entertainment sphere produces a lot of content, there should be an opportunity to share it with other people, including those who may not be users of the product. Therefore, media or entertainment software development should include integrations with social media platforms. For example, the Spotify music streaming app allows for adding songs to your Instagram stories. Usually, integrations are done with APIs, which are a set of tools allowing apps to interact with each other.

Personalization

The more customization a product allows the better experience it provides to users. Moreover, modern users are so accustomed to intelligent recommendations that they wouldn't use apps without them. Nowadays, we see personalized content everywhere, from news feeds and YouTube videos to Netflix movies and Storytel audiobook recommendations. Personalization is built upon several factors, including collecting user behavior on the platform such as time of watch, title and genre preferences, other users' choices, and devices used.

Feedback mechanisms

User feedback enhances the platform's trustworthiness across various levels. It encompasses feedback regarding platform content, where users share opinions and participate in feedback surveys to enhance user experience. This enables developers to timely address bugs and enhance the application to align with the target audience's expectations. Reviews on content also play an important role in delivering improved quality to users.

Multiplatformity and modes

Think about this - you've made an entertainment app that your users really like. They often watch their favorite shows on their phone. But then, the phone's battery runs out and it needs recharging. Sadly, there's no website they can use to keep watching from their laptop. This makes it clear how important it is to let your users get to your platform from any device, at any time.

In essence, media or entertainment software should be available on various platforms — ideally, the more, the better. Imagine the convenience of streaming videos on a Smart TV at home without an HDMI cable, watching series on your laptop or tablet while on vacation, and catching up on episodes offline during a plane journey. Offline access to content is provided by enabling users to download it to their devices. For instance, Spotify allows users to download up to 10,000 songs for offline listening.

Choosing a vendor for entertainment and media software development

A question might arise of how to identify a custom software development company that is able to provide entertainment app development services as those mentioned above. There are a few things that you can check while searching for a business partner:

Portfolio

To ensure alignment with your vision and access the best design options, review the vendor's portfolio, typically available on their websites on the Cases page. And if we speak of UI/UX design that you'd like to check, you can visit Behance or Dribbble accounts of the company and see samples of what you might get as a result of custom software development.

Reviews

There are few reliable platforms that provide ratings of software development companies based on their specialization and customer feedback. To name a few, among the most popular resources are Clutch, DesignRush, Goodfirms, and Upwork.

Expertise

One can't be an expert in everything, so clients surely don't have to check the details of every entertainment app development company tech stack. However, there can be some useful actions. For example, should a company want to develop a website, one can look at the web development experience of the company — were their clients satisfied, how many projects did they complete? Basically, it's good to check the relevance of the services a software company proposes align with its real expertise.

Budget

Make sure that when proposing a custom software solution for your idea a company discusses the approximate costs and makes sure that prospective entertainment app development won't exceed the expected budget. For instance, before the start of the project, Ronas IT managers give a rough estimate of custom software development, UI/UX design, and manager's work based on our hourly rates.

Longevity

Not saying that only "ancient" companies deserve one's attention, but it is safer to work with a company that has been around for a while. If a company is able to stay in the industry, it means that it has projects and clients who are happy with its services. In addition to the good quality of an entertainment app development, longevity promises that your product will receive support once it needs updates and upgrades even years after deployment.

Relevance

A software company may not offer industry-specific entertainment app development services. Still, it's good to check if there were relevant projects in the entertainment industry developed by the company. Having completed relevant projects, a vendor's team most likely has ready-to-implement features and has solved problems associated with media and entertainment software development.

Developing an entertaining app: OddsCrowd case

One of our representative experiences in developing an app in the entertainment field was creating the OddsCrowd platform for the community of bettors. The company wanted to introduce both web and mobile custom software solutions to users for better accessibility.

Its purpose is to provide users with regular updates on ongoing and upcoming sports games, ratings, and betting pick stats from various sources. Users can engage in forecasting, and purchase forecasts from those they trust, while OddsCrowd earns a 5% commission from transactions, and users can earn through competitions on the platform for the best forecasting.

Task

As an application that constantly uploads updates and provides various types of information to users, our Ronas IT dev team had to create an app with adaptive design and high performance. The deadlines for the web platform and mobile app development have always been tight, aiming to be on time for the Super Bowl. This illustrates the benefit of introducing an entertainment app during a major event and high demand.

Design

We were lucky to have a client with a clear vision of the product and self-made wireframes that we only had to polish. An important goal was to wisely arrange a vast amount of information provided by the app.

The design also had to fit in brand colors and align with the OddsCrowd logo style. However, it is important to note that we do not expect a specific vision from our clients and are always happy to assist in case of any hesitations.

Special features

To improve UX and analytics, we have implemented several features in our mobile app development process:

Deep Links

This technology redirects a user who has opened a link on the website page to the same page in the application. Its purpose is to create a seamless experience across different platforms, regardless of whether a user has already installed the app on their smartphone or not.

Firebase Dynamic Links

These smart links enhance UX on various platforms, allowing users to transition from a web app to maintain their current page after app installation.

Firebase Analytics

As we've discussed earlier, analytics provides media and entertainment software owners with insightful information about user behavior and aids in planning future development strategies. There are various ready-to-use tools available for tracking app screen visits, with Firebase Analytics being one of them. Through it, Oddscrowd can monitor the time users spend on specific screens and track conversions to partner websites.

Technologies used

In terms of tech stack choice in entertainment software development, we prefer to use the most popular frameworks with a strong dev community and regular updates.

Web platform. For building a web platform, we used PHP Laravel framework, which was the top choice for backend among developers according to Goodfirms research in 2023, and we used Vue.js and Nuxt v2 frameworks for frontend development which are also good for improving search engine optimization.

Mobile app. Our preferred choice in mobile development is the React Native framework, which offers several advantages, such as simultaneous development for Android and iOS and compatibility with app stores for both operating systems. Beyond time efficiency, React Native also provides clients with cost-saving opportunities in maintenance. Overall, this framework offers enhanced flexibility and similar opportunities as native languages but with faster development.

Outcomes

For both web and mobile applications, custom software development was consistently completed on time for the Super Bowl. OddsCrowd has been using the application developed by Ronas IT for over five years, which, we hope, speaks volumes about its quality.

In conclusion

Developing for the media and entertainment industry requires extra attention to every aspect of user experience, from crafting UI/UX design to engineering recommendation algorithms. Leveraging a specialized experience team facilitates smoother creation within the domain. With over 17 years of expertise, Ronas IT professionals are ready to develop web and mobile applications that suit your vision and meet your users' needs. To discuss our collaboration opportunities, just drop a few lines in the form below.