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As a pretty committed Medium writer, I've been impressed by their platform and how it has worked for my purposes. Very similar to SoundCloud. I haven't ever rea

As a pretty committed Medium writer, I've been impressed by their platform and how it has worked for my purposes. Very similar to SoundCloud. I haven't ever really figured out how either intended - or will eventually - turn a profit. I'm quite familiar with the "value gap" argument and the acrimonious relationship between, ahem, content and tech heavyweights in the US. >So, we are shifting our resources and attention to defining a new model for writers and creators to be rewarded, based on the value they’re creating for people. And toward building a transformational product for curious humans who want to get smarter about the world every day. It is too soon to say exactly what this will look like. Oh, I've got a guess, and it certainly doesn't involve me getting paid more per view or read than I do via Spotify or any other "Artistic Content as Commodity" platform. Medium has been a decent trade-off: They don't charge me, and I don't expect anything but "exposure" in the grand sense. Not surprised this isn't exactly rolling in dough as a business model, but I'll stick around to see how they fare. https://medium.com/@6StringMerc/media-analytics-prtsc-beer-december-2016-edf3d2e76ed0#.ejkxri9vi https://medium.com/@6StringMerc/media-analytics-prtsc-beer-d...

lancewiggs 10y ago
You are helping them build their business by providing your content for free, as did contributors to Huffington Post. How do you feel the balance of compensation is, and how do you feel about your control - or lack of - of your own content?
- 6stringmerc 10y ago
  As with Huffington Post, the hosting platform of Medium also sets an expectation floor for audiences / readers that the format will likely be to their preference. Thus the chicken-or-the-egg syndrome somewhat: Do they come to Medium for my Content, or did they discover my Content because it is on Medium? I think both avenues are realistic. Equal? I dunno, really I don't, and I think that's the secret sauce too a "community" of getting people to latch on and stay in it (e.g. Facebook). I think the balance of compensation is fine for my purposes. I don't recoup the $19.99 annual fee via DistroKid that gets me into iTunes, Spotify, etc, so I'm generally a skewed perspective. In practical terms though - and this I truly believe is important - I think less than 1% of the Content Creator Population in any given Commercial Art Enterprise in the United States earns a Middle-Class Living (Wage + Benefits). Basically I think it's unfair in Modern Times to think that Musicians and Writers really had a lot of opportunities to make a good living before technology came around. Of course I'd like that to change, and maybe Spotify and Medium can play a role in that, but breaking the grip of RIAA and AP/Reuters isn't exactly an overnight proposition.
  - thoughtpalette 10y ago
    Thanks for calling out DistroKid, that seems like a great service. Going to pass it along to some musical colleagues.
coldcode 10y ago
I would use Medium but the apparent (I can't find anything) inability to show previous/popular posts alongside the content keeps me on my own platform. My content is still useful long after I wrote it but on Medium it seems to vanish.
type0 10y ago
> Medium has been a decent trade-off: They don't charge me, and I don't expect anything but "exposure" in the grand sense. Reminds me of this comic: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/exposure http://theoatmeal.com/comics/exposure in the grand theme of the flawed "sense". I'm aware that it kinda makes no sense.

lancewiggs 10y ago

You are helping them build their business by providing your content for free, as did contributors to Huffington Post. How do you feel the balance of compensation is, and how do you feel about your control - or lack of - of your own content?

6stringmerc 10y ago
As with Huffington Post, the hosting platform of Medium also sets an expectation floor for audiences / readers that the format will likely be to their preference. Thus the chicken-or-the-egg syndrome somewhat: Do they come to Medium for my Content, or did they discover my Content because it is on Medium? I think both avenues are realistic. Equal? I dunno, really I don't, and I think that's the secret sauce too a "community" of getting people to latch on and stay in it (e.g. Facebook). I think the balance of compensation is fine for my purposes. I don't recoup the $19.99 annual fee via DistroKid that gets me into iTunes, Spotify, etc, so I'm generally a skewed perspective. In practical terms though - and this I truly believe is important - I think less than 1% of the Content Creator Population in any given Commercial Art Enterprise in the United States earns a Middle-Class Living (Wage + Benefits). Basically I think it's unfair in Modern Times to think that Musicians and Writers really had a lot of opportunities to make a good living before technology came around. Of course I'd like that to change, and maybe Spotify and Medium can play a role in that, but breaking the grip of RIAA and AP/Reuters isn't exactly an overnight proposition.
- thoughtpalette 10y ago
  Thanks for calling out DistroKid, that seems like a great service. Going to pass it along to some musical colleagues.

coldcode 10y ago

I would use Medium but the apparent (I can't find anything) inability to show previous/popular posts alongside the content keeps me on my own platform. My content is still useful long after I wrote it but on Medium it seems to vanish.

type0 10y ago

> Medium has been a decent trade-off: They don't charge me, and I don't expect anything but "exposure" in the grand sense. Reminds me of this comic: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/exposure http://theoatmeal.com/comics/exposure in the grand theme of the flawed "sense". I'm aware that it kinda makes no sense.