Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
And the only reason they *chose* to do away with DRM was they were tired of Apple's one-price-fits-all policy and wanted a counter to Apple's iTunes domination. So they went DRM free with Amazon to allow them to window prices; high at release, lower over time. They *wanted* discounting.
In ebooks, the BPHs (alleged) "fear of Amazon" drove them into a conspiracy with Apple to raise prices and stop discounting.
Sorry, but I don't see the parallel. I don't think selling three minute disposable-music singles has much to teach us about selling digital novels. For starters the demographics and consumption modes are totally different. To say nothing of the revenue streams for the two industries. (I don't think many authors are going to sell out stadiums for readings of their latest book.)
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One of the big problems for authors is the "single income stream" nature of books. We can sell audio, print or ebook, but we can't play local pubs. We can't get an opening act. When we are on the radio, we're generally delivering a rather quick pitch about our book--whereas a musician can actually play, sing, or offer a sample of music played on either side of an interview.
The dynamics are quite different and as such, I think the whole DRM idea is different as well. I'm not saying DRM is good or bad, but many readers read once and are done. Sure there are also many readers who keep a library and take it everywhere. But the income streams are quite different for an author when comparing income possibilities of a musician. The delivery may not be all that different when comparing an ebook to an MP3 song/album, but many other pieces of the equation are quite different.
Thank you for bringing that up. It often gets lost in the comparison and while it may not be important to readers, it is very important to authors.