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King Eliminates Publishers, Is Music Next?
Earlier today, novelist Stephen King launched an experiment by placing the first chapter of "The Plant" online, in which readers are to use the honor system and pay $1 to read it, and subsequent chapters.
So far it appears that the majority of readers were abiding by the new system and paying the $1 that King is asking for. According to statistics thus far, it apeears that about 75% of those that have taken this opportunity have payed Mr. King for this one chapter, who said that he will release two chapters under the experiment. However, he has threatened to stop the experiment if there is not enough participation in paying him for his time; he stated that if paying customers drop below 75% then he will stop releasing chapters.
How does this equate to the digital audio revolution? Well, if the experiment deems itself successful, then it will be the first time that a major author has not utilized a publishing company in order to make money from their works. The very same could hold true for the music industry in this time of digital audio. Imagine bands connecting directly with fans and consumers, just as King has, and eliminating the middle-man; remove the record labels from the picture and the two scenarios will be quite similiar. Since Napster is such a big hit, though offers no compensation for artists, this could prove to be an alternative means for bands to make back the money that they feel they would miss because of MP3, and digital audio in general.
Simon and Schuster, the publisher that King uses, is definitely keeping an eye on this because it could spell disaster for their future. On a side note, I imagine that the recording industry is somewhat eyeing this as well, because if it DOES take off, then it means that consumers might be willing to pay for music in the same way. No matter what, this is an important experiment for the future of products not normally sold digitally. If King is successful in eliminating the need for a publisher, then musicians might very well be able to do the same.
"I think the publishers might heave a sigh of relief if it doesn't work," King said. "But I think we've got a chance here to change the way people think about stories."
User Comments
(These do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of this site)
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spyed
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Date: July 24, 2000 @ 6:59 PM
errr what happens if the experiment fails?
What does THAT mean for digital music?
Luckily for us there's no clear definition.
It's also a bit unfair... users have to spend time in front of their computers reading, or reading crappy copies of printed digital works?
No die hard readers want that. they want a physical book. It's unfair to ask all those who download it to pay the $1... what is fair is asking all those who read it to pay $1... and how do you know they've read it?
Generally I just don't like the concept. Maybe I don't know enough about digital books.. but I DO know that none of my friends own those cool "microsoft readers." |
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jark
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Date: July 24, 2000 @ 7:04 PM
That is just untrue...the book is in the PDF format, which is far from a "crappy" format. It is printable, and not secure whatsoever, therefore they could share it with as many people as they want.
You cannot speak for what diehard readers want seeing as you are not qualified to speak on their behalf. Somehow I think Mr. King is FAR more qualified than yourself.
If this fails then that does not mean anything, one way or another; digital music enthusiasts are of a completely different age group than those that buy books. It may mean something, it may not...that is all for time to tell.
--[ jark ]-- |
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jark
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Date: July 24, 2000 @ 7:06 PM
King is a smart man; the singlemost supported author ever. He has sold more books than anyone in the history of publishing. Given that, I think he knows what he is getting himself into. But I guess only the future will be able to tell us that...
--[ jark ]-- |
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pressf8
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Date: July 24, 2000 @ 7:50 PM
I think the Bible is still the most published book in the world, Jark :)
Brian
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pressf8
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Date: July 24, 2000 @ 7:54 PM
This is an idea very simmilar to those put forth in the article "The Street Performer Protocal" (which is on screwmetallica.org) which basically describes how artists could stil make a living in a world without copyrights (or copyright enforcement). Basically their idea is that of an escrow system. The artist releases samples of their work and take donations to release more--when the donations have reached X dollars (say $100,000) the artists then releases his music into the public domain for paying people as well as non-paying people alike--the idea being that people will always support the arts--and this gives people to enjoy all art and support their favorite artists in a sort of "patron" like way. Very interesting stuff, stop by and read it :)
http://www.screwmetallica.org/articles.htm
Brian
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jark
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Date: July 24, 2000 @ 8:20 PM
Yes, and not published by any ONE individual either. Note what I said was: "the singlemost supported author ever."
--[ jark ]-- |
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spyed
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Date: July 25, 2000 @ 2:24 AM
NOTHING you print or read on your computer screen compares to a physical book to most readers.. the only thing that comes close is the microsoft reader (which rocks imho) but most people don't have one. And actually I do qualify as reading is pretty much the only thing I do entertainment-wise. |
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jark
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Date: July 26, 2000 @ 5:16 AM
The files are is Adobe Acrobat format and therefore easily to print out. If your screen is too unwieldy to read from, then print the chapter out and read it on what you're used to reading it on; good old fashioned paper.
--[ jark ]-- |
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