Quote:
Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks
Yes, it's up to us authors. And just how does this guy propose to pay us? I hear that 10 pounds a month, but is there an actual infrastructure for payment? Or am I just supposed to trust some pirate after I turn over my stuff. *Nods* Sound believable. Uh-huh.
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I don't think you'd need to fear
that. If the proposed scheme comes to pass, it won't be with those guys, it'll be set up by a more legitimate company (like this iOS-only startup
Oyster, only bigger). What I would fear if I were an author would be the Spotify/Pandora-effect -- that the money an individual author gets out of this is a few cents a month.
Flat-rate doesn't really work if its not limited (two books per week, for example); all the music flatrate services are making money only by paying the actual artists a mere pittance. Sure, if you're Kanye West, a tenth of a cent for a song adds up, but not if you're some mid-range artist.
Why? That's exactly what makes unlimited flat-rates so enticing for consumers: you pay a little, get a lot and can feel good about compensating the artist while in reality only compensating a particular company.
Matt