3 ms·

The tragic part (for authors, publishers, the writing industry in general) - is that there is absolutely no way to apply DRM to a book, and the electronic dupli

The tragic part (for authors, publishers, the writing industry in general) - is that there is absolutely no way to apply DRM to a book, and the electronic duplicate of it (scan) is a 100% faithful replica. Steve Jobs was absolutely correct when he said to the publishing industry that if they didn't immediately create a low-price, convenient, electronic version of their environment to compete with those that didn't care about copyrights, that they would soon find themselves in the same place the music industry did. Books are also much, much smaller than music, and so, it's pretty trivial to get all the books that you'll ever be able to read in a relatively small download. Publishing industry is shooting themselves in the foot if they don't examine what happened to the music industry and start making adjustments, and soon.

jonnathanson 13y ago
The fallout is going to be worse here than it was for the music industry. At least the music industry had the convenient escape hatch of huge concert revenues to make up for the loss of CDs. The publishing industry has no such equivalent. Authors go on book tours, sure, but those tours are not exactly raking in the dough for themselves or their publishers; they're just marketing expenditures designed to sell more books.
- dkokelley 13y ago
  I'm going to disagree here. Music makers have a way to convey the work in slightly different mediums (CD sales and live concerts, not including externalities like merchandising and music licensing). Book publishing has similar paths to monetization. While a live book reading probably won't generate as much revenue as a live music performance, books can be adapted to the screen. The stories are now acted out in a movie. Granted, not all books get turned into award-winning movies, but not all bands become huge-venue concert successes. I think it's a fair comparison.
  - ghshephard 13y ago
    100% of bands have a way of making significant money beyond records sales - In fact, for many of them, most their annual income comes from touring/T-Shirt Sales/Posters - not the selling of their actual CDs. I have some local bands in the Bay Area that I've spent a couple hundred dollars on in the last 5 years, that only have one or two CDs (which they probably got $3-$4 in income from). Take a cover band like Super Diamond - They have a single CD, and frequently pack the venues they tour. I don't even want to think about how much money I've spent on them in the last 10 years.... With Book Sales - the equation is the exact opposite. 95% of Authors revenue comes from Book Sales - not movie rights/public readings/etc... If they let the digital market get away from them, it's going to kill them in a way that the music industry was able to find alternate revenue streams from.
    - dkokelley 13y ago
      Well now we are getting into revenue models as it applies to creators/publishers/record labels/etc. For some bands, the only money they make is from merchandise sales, because the record label contract dictates that the CD sales go to the label. That doesn't mean there isn't money in the albums. Likewise, book authors may not get movie rights, but someone in the industry does. I'm looking at the equation from an industry overview perspective. The music industry sells music AND bands. (You don't buy merchandise because you like a song. You buy because you like the band.) the book industry sells stories and characters. Actually, I'm selling myself a little short here, because I'm only considering the fictional book publishing industry. If we include nonfiction categories, the alternative revenue possibilities open up even more. For instance, book authors get speaking engagements with fees that would put some bands to shame.

jonnathanson 13y ago

The fallout is going to be worse here than it was for the music industry. At least the music industry had the convenient escape hatch of huge concert revenues to make up for the loss of CDs. The publishing industry has no such equivalent. Authors go on book tours, sure, but those tours are not exactly raking in the dough for themselves or their publishers; they're just marketing expenditures designed to sell more books.

dkokelley 13y ago
I'm going to disagree here. Music makers have a way to convey the work in slightly different mediums (CD sales and live concerts, not including externalities like merchandising and music licensing). Book publishing has similar paths to monetization. While a live book reading probably won't generate as much revenue as a live music performance, books can be adapted to the screen. The stories are now acted out in a movie. Granted, not all books get turned into award-winning movies, but not all bands become huge-venue concert successes. I think it's a fair comparison.
- ghshephard 13y ago
  100% of bands have a way of making significant money beyond records sales - In fact, for many of them, most their annual income comes from touring/T-Shirt Sales/Posters - not the selling of their actual CDs. I have some local bands in the Bay Area that I've spent a couple hundred dollars on in the last 5 years, that only have one or two CDs (which they probably got $3-$4 in income from). Take a cover band like Super Diamond - They have a single CD, and frequently pack the venues they tour. I don't even want to think about how much money I've spent on them in the last 10 years.... With Book Sales - the equation is the exact opposite. 95% of Authors revenue comes from Book Sales - not movie rights/public readings/etc... If they let the digital market get away from them, it's going to kill them in a way that the music industry was able to find alternate revenue streams from.
  - dkokelley 13y ago
    Well now we are getting into revenue models as it applies to creators/publishers/record labels/etc. For some bands, the only money they make is from merchandise sales, because the record label contract dictates that the CD sales go to the label. That doesn't mean there isn't money in the albums. Likewise, book authors may not get movie rights, but someone in the industry does. I'm looking at the equation from an industry overview perspective. The music industry sells music AND bands. (You don't buy merchandise because you like a song. You buy because you like the band.) the book industry sells stories and characters. Actually, I'm selling myself a little short here, because I'm only considering the fictional book publishing industry. If we include nonfiction categories, the alternative revenue possibilities open up even more. For instance, book authors get speaking engagements with fees that would put some bands to shame.