Quote:
Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom
I find all of this totally illogical. Everyone is ignoring price fixing because bad practices associated with a monopoly may occur. Is there any indication that if those bad practices occur, the DOJ would not be all over it? I am so against the Big Publishers. It used to be I went into the bookstore, and picked books based on their marketing agreements with the publishers. Now, I never shop in bookstores. I pick books based on bestseller lists, which contain some indie publications, and recommendations I see on the web, including here.
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Every other profession has undergone significant changes due to globalization and the financial crisis. Newspapers have folded one after the other. I currently read the Chicago Tribune digitally. I buy songs one-by-one--very few albums anymore. In the past decade, I have changed where my money goes based on overall changes in the economy (buying digital classes, borrowing digital library books). Things aren't going back. I am not buying the new bestseller at $14.99, because I haven't read the last bestseller yet.
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Well said. Yes, publishers actually provide an important service, but these big publishers in particular seem completely unable to adapt to the digital age. And all their maneuvers seem solely aimed at retaining an antiquated status quo, showing they have learned nothing of what happened to the music industry.
Personally, I would have no problems seeing them disappear for good, their business model is deleterious to both readers and authors (and alternatives, especially self-publishing with support from smaller, nimbler editors for a set fee rather than a percentage of revenue, shows great promise).