Supplying demands smartly in the digital publishing world
Hugh McGuire writes of a real-world piracy vs. availability issue today on the The Book Oven blog. Hugh is very smart. He’s the driving force behind LibriVox, which has quickly become the #1 place for audiobooks in the public domain.
The story he tells today is of a friend of his who gets excited about a new movie release. But the studio won’t let him watch the movie right now. No, they want him to wait. See if you can guess the ending. Yep. He doesn’t have to wait, as the movie is available, just not in a way that’s controlled by the studio. Which begs this question of the studio: Why they hell not?
But Hugh tells the story admirably, so there’s no need for me to sully it. I will leave you with this manifesto of sorts he wrote at the end of the piece:
If there is demand, there will be supply. In the digital world, media is infinitely copiable & distributable at roughly zero cost Media companies have long built their business around a restricted supply If demand exceeds restricted supply in the digital world, someone — not necessarily the owner of the good — will meet that demand by making & distributing infinite copies at zero cost Trying to stop # 4 is like trying to stop water going down hill If restricting supply is no longer a viable business, then something else must be When supply is unlimited, other factors drive the choices people make Those drivers include: ease, quality, curation, attention, service, connection Media companies – including book publishers – should stop thinking about business based on phony restricted supply Media companies – including book publishers – should start thinking about how to build business around the actual drivers that will bring their customers to them (see #9 above), instead of sending them to the pirates
From this moment forward, publishers no longer have control over their distribution of digital assets. Once it’s made available in digital form, it’s out. The best a publisher can do is understand and embrace this. For the djinn will not go back in the bottle. Adapt, or die.
