Media file distribution is be controlled by encrypting the media file by an application executed on a mobile device of the media file owner. The media file is encrypted using a media file encryption key. The media file encryption key is then separately encrypted using a public key of each intended recipient, and the encrypted media file encryption key is appended to the encrypted media file. Accordingly, only intended recipients will have the complementary private key to allow decryption of the encrypted media file encryption key, which once decrypted can be used to decrypt the encrypted media file itself.