Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
People said that iTunes and similar distribution models would end the traditional music business because musicians would be able to record and distribute their own music without having to go through a record company.
But in practice this has only happened at the margins, and often with bands that became known when they were traditionally published. In the vast majority of cases, consumers are still buying music produced by traditional record companies in the traditional way.
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A key difference here, though, is that in the e-Book world, you either "go indie" or you get your books set at 9.99 for eternity, or so it seems. The music industry adapted to the iTunes model and stopped insisting that $12 for a CD was the ONLY way to buy a song you wanted.
Maybe book publishers will wise up, too. But if more and more people say "why spend $10 per e-Book when I can buy $2.99 indie books that are just as good in many cases", the authors may have to make an uncomfortable choice.
I mean, what's the latest King eBook selling for? $20? And a Philip K. Dick collection of 16 stores for $21? No thanks.
So it's not quite the same as the iTunes-not-killing-the-music-industry thing. iTunes didn't KILL the music industry, but it did force some major changes. We'll see if book publishers are more resistant to that change...