Unlocking the Gates of Alexandria: DRM, Competition and Access to E-Books

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by conan50

I fully expect we will see a transition to ebook subscription services similar to the rise of music subscription services, on a much larger scale than current ebook subscription services. Ownership and DRM of ebooks will mean less over time. DRM has probably somewhat slowed the demise of print books, which may have been the ultimate goal of publishers, but change is upon them whether they want it or not.

A subscription service, though, can only work in association with strong DRM; without DRM, or with DRM that's easily removed, it's not a book subscription service, it's a book giving-away service.

I'm not at all sure, personally, that book subscription service are a viable business model. I really don't think there are a sufficient number of people who read enough books to make them economically viable, except possibly in some specialist genres such as romance.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm not at all sure, personally, that book subscription service are a viable business model. I really don't think there are a sufficient number of people who read enough books to make them economically viable, except possibly in some specialist genres such as romance.

I'm not sure not having people who "read enough books" will be a hindrance to such a business model. They just need enough people willing to pay a certain fee to have a plethora of books available for them to read. It's not like all books that are sold get read anyway. Why would this be any different?

[darryl]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Can you elaborate on what revenue stream you believe an author has that is the equivalent of concert performances for a musician?

What I'm not sure about is how many average authors have significant income from live performances. Certainly not all musicians perform live. And often things like concert tours are more promotional events and not focused on making significant revenue. This excludes, of course, your superstar performers. Also, apparently some authors get paid for appearances, school visits etc. As I said, I really haven't formed a final view on this one.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Piracy is certainly not an existential threat to the publishing industry, but that doesn't mean that it's not a significant issue. It is the publisher and/or author's choice whether or not to use DRM; the market will, in the long term, decide whether or not it's an acceptable thing. I can't see a viable library lending model that does not involve DRM, though, to give but one example.

I am intrigued at developments in Germany which may result in at least one of our Big 5 publishers going drm free in the not so distant future. The results will be interesting enough just in Germany even if this development doesn't spread. Some of the posts in this thread are about drm actually stopping some people from breaching copyright (being those who for whatever reason don't go further and learn to remove it). If this group is large enough then selling them books without drm could be a disaster for the industry. Personally I suspect that people will go on buying their ebooks as usual from Amazon or Kobo or whatever ecosystem they belong to so long as those ecosystems continue to cater well for their needs. Though there are some indicators towards this being the case, none of us can be certain unless and until it actually happens.

Library lending is a difficult issue, and I don't have the answers. Currently, drm is no more effective for library books than for purchased books, yet Overdrive, 3M etc seem to be surviving and even prospering, and there does not seem to be a large piracy problem. Once again, if even the minimal obstacle of drm is removed, will this destroy the model of library lending?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm not sure not having people who "read enough books" will be a hindrance to such a business model. They just need enough people willing to pay a certain fee to have a plethora of books available for them to read. It's not like all books that are sold get read anyway. Why would this be any different?

Because I'm not at all sure that there are sufficient people who read books in the numbers (eg say 10+ books a month) which would make a subscription system commercially attractive. Time will tell.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by conan50

Traditional publishers often give authors advances, so they would not be wholly at the mercy of book sales. Also ebooks are only a portion of the sales, print book, audio book, books sold at signings, movie rights for some books, and for some authors there are speaking engagements. I don't know if these will add up to live concerts for musicians, but some authors probably do quite well despite any potential ebook thefts.
I fully expect we will see a transition to ebook subscription services similar to the rise of music subscription services, on a much larger scale than current ebook subscription services. Ownership and DRM of ebooks will mean less over time. DRM has probably somewhat slowed the demise of print books, which may have been the ultimate goal of publishers, but change is upon them whether they want it or not.

Authors have traditionally had quite a few different revenue streams - selling to magazines, scripts, etc. The vast majority of musicians typical realized much of their revenue from sources other than record/cd sales long before digital music and electronic piracy ever came about. You had to get past the first record contract to make the big bucks and that was pretty rare. There are a lot of parallels between the music industry and publishing industry.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A subscription service, though, can only work in association with strong DRM; without DRM, or with DRM that's easily removed, it's not a book subscription service, it's a book giving-away service.

I'm not at all sure, personally, that book subscription service are a viable business model. I really don't think there are a sufficient number of people who read enough books to make them economically viable, except possibly in some specialist genres such as romance.

But we don't have strong drm now. What we have is drm that can be easily removed. But book subscription services exist, and are currently working, at least to some degree. They are not "book giving away" services, though they may perhaps be de facto sellers of books at a discount. At this time I think Kindle Unlimited seems to be the only subscription service with a viable business model. The other services seem to be paying publishers as much or almost as much for a loan as for a sale. Their viability therefore depends on people paying for subscriptions that they don't use at all or use very sparingly.

I share your doubts about the viability of the subscription model as it stands, with the exception of Kindle Unlimited. I agree with Diap Dealer's reply on this point. Economic viability is different for the reader and the supplier of the service. It is possible to structure a subscription service to be good value for the reader and still make a profit for the service provider, but it is by no means easy. Amazon has an enormous advantage in its supply of very reasonably priced self-published and Indie published book, which means, unlike the other subscription services, it is not a hostage to the Big 5. And the absence of large numbers of Big 5 titles don't seem to be harming Kindle Unlimited too much. The question marks over Kindle Unlimited relate to the level of payments to its authors and the longer term retention of their books in the program. I think it is becoming very apparent that the viability of the other subscription services is going to depend heavily on the extent to which the large publishers are prepared to embrace this business model and provide books at viable prices.

[Barcey]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm not sure not having people who "read enough books" will be a hindrance to such a business model. They just need enough people willing to pay a certain fee to have a plethora of books available for them to read. It's not like all books that are sold get read anyway. Why would this be any different?

The markets are different and the value is different. If I want a plethora of books they're already via the public libraries. Yes I have to wait for the new releases but the subscription services don't have those anyway.

A higher percentage of the population watch movies and television than read books. A lot higher percentage of those people see a value in a $10 per month charge versus the movie channel bill they're already paying or the inconvenience of renting every week.

When I look at my own family and friends I see nobody that would get value in an eBook subscription service but most of them get value from Netflix.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Barcey

When I look at my own family and friends I see nobody that would get value in an eBook subscription service but most of them get value from Netflix.

But that just means you or your family aren't the target demographic, that's all. I'm probably not either. What I'm saying is that there's "readers" ... and then there's "buyers of bestsellers who might/might not read them". Book clubbers who want to "talk the talk" may very well have the disposable income to pay for an "all access pass" whether they use it or not.

I pay for three different premium tv/movie streaming services. I typically only watch one with any regularity, but that one switches from time to time. It doesn't make financial sense for me to keep all three going at all times, but I do anyway. I'm positive I'm not the only one who doesn't come remotely close to getting the full value of their monthly entertainment expenditures. And I see an ebook subscription as a frivolous entertainment expenditure that just may fly.

The times they are a changin'. It needn't make sense to everyone to work.

[conan50]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A subscription service, though, can only work in association with strong DRM; without DRM, or with DRM that's easily removed, it's not a book subscription service, it's a book giving-away service.

I'm not at all sure, personally, that book subscription service are a viable business model. I really don't think there are a sufficient number of people who read enough books to make them economically viable, except possibly in some specialist genres such as romance.

Look at what is happening with music and movies. Subscriptions services are the future as with Netflix, Spotify, and such.
I agree DRM will be solidly baked into any ebook subscription service.
I'd like to see something along the lines of:
$4.99 for 5 books a month.
$9.99 for 10 books a month.
$14.99 for unlimited books each month.

[conan50]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I pay for three different premium tv/movie streaming services. I typically only watch one with any regularity, but that one switches from time to time. It doesn't make financial sense for me to keep all three going at all times, but I do anyway. I'm positive I'm not the only one who doesn't come remotely close to getting the full value of their monthly entertainment expenditures. And I see an ebook subscription as a frivolous entertainment expenditure that just may fly.

The times they are a changin'. It needn't make sense to everyone to work.

You may be getting a better value than you realize if you consider the costs of buying all those movies and shows individually.
I quit buying movies and music over the last year. I subscribe to Netflix, and rent the occasional movie. In 5 years most people will not even own DVD Players. I subscribe to Slacker Music and have my music collection stored in the cloud. Does anyone use CD players anymore?
Streaming services and the digital format is here. Netflix was smart enough to invest in it, now others are waking up to it. Apple has got on board with music streaming and in a few months will have their own video streaming service. Ebooks can't be far behind, I'm thinking of a broadly appealing service, not what is now available.
I would subscribe to an ebook service that offered me a large selection of quality ebooks, say 5-7 ebooks a month in the $4-$6 price range. But I'm not interested in any service above that price. I think it's doable and someone will be smart enough to do it soon I think.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by conan50

Does anyone use CD players anymore?

Yes. As a classical music aficionado, I get far better sound quality from my extremely good quality CD player and HiFi system than from digital music. I buy all my music on CD. I'm not aware of any digital download service that sells music that's as good a quality as you get from a CD; most sell 128kbit or 160kbit MP3s, which are nowhere near as good. Probably doesn't matter for pop music that's going to be listened to on crappy earphones, but the difference is blindingly obvious on a decent HiFi system.

[conan50]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes. As a classical music aficionado, I get far better sound quality from my extremely good quality CD player and HiFi system than from digital music. I buy all my music on CD.

Man you should be using vinyl :-)
Slacker Radio is streaming at 320 kbps, but whether that sounds a great deal better than at 128 kbps I can't say for sure :-)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by conan50

Man you should be using vinyl :-)
Slacker Radio is streaming at 320 kbps, but whether that sounds a great deal better than at 128 kbps I can't say for sure :-)

You probably wouldn't hear a difference in earphones, but you sure as hell would on a decent audio system. The 128k version would sound "muffled" by comparison, with all the high frequencies disappearing.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes. As a classical music aficionado, I get far better sound quality from my extremely good quality CD player and HiFi system than from digital music. I buy all my music on CD. I'm not aware of any digital download service that sells music that's as good a quality as you get from a CD; most sell 128kbit or 160kbit MP3s, which are nowhere near as good. Probably doesn't matter for pop music that's going to be listened to on crappy earphones, but the difference is blindingly obvious on a decent HiFi system.

I have a partial hearing loss and the difference goes over my head......or through my head.
Apache

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by conan50

You may be getting a better value than you realize if you consider the costs of buying all those movies and shows individually.

But that's what I mean. I'm not getting a better value. For months at a time, I'll only use one of the services. Then I'll switch to a show on one of the other services and stick with that service for months (ignoring the others). If I wanted value, I'd cancel the services I wasn't using and keep re-upping the one I want to watch. But that's too much of a pain in the butt. Plus, I like knowing the choices are always there even if I rarely utilize them.

I'm not a heavy TV watcher; I tend to watch 3 hours (usually a series) or so from Mon-Fri.