(no subject)

[beccaelizabeth]

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/07/results-of-free.html
is interesting cause now someone has proper numbers to prove that giving stuff away for free results in selling more of that exact same stuff. Read book online, sell more of that book. Many people do not believe this, but a 40% rise is really not ambiguous.

Similar for TV / downloads / DVDs?

I understand people wanting to be paid for their work. Is important and fair and that good stuff. But current models aren't all keeping up, sort of thing.

Comments

[shahar-amar.livejournal.com]

That's very interesting.

I never understood how it hurts sales of aproduct, if online downloads make it available to a wider audience. Sure, some people won't pay for things tehy get for free, but who's to say they would buy it anyways? Personally I like to have a hard copy of things I really enjoyed, be it CD's, books or DVD's.

Not all music, movies or tv shows are available around the globe at the same time and sometimes they are horribly dubbed or aired on a weird schedule. But through internet reccomendation I got in contact with a lot of things I'd otherwise never have heard of. For example Doctor Who isn't a fixture in German television, Torchwood has never been shown. The US are a couple of weeks behind Great Britain in their schedule. I think a real fan will always buy the DVD's when they come out, or as soon as he/she can afford them.

In a way publishing houses, production companies/tv stations and record companies have never realized, how global we really have become. People know when a musician has already released five albums in his home country and want them available in their country as well. Or that a tv series is not "brandnew", but on its third season at home. Yet these businesses tend to be surprised when people don't just accept their rules.

I think examples like Gaimans and those of some musicians show, that you can adapt to new technologies and still make your cut.

[anne_d]

I know I've bought a lot of CDs because a friend bootlegged one album for me - I liked it, I bought everything else by that group or artist.

I too prefer hard copies - The monitor is too hard to read for long periods, with the office chair and the bifocals. Besides, I like to read in bed. Also, if I'm listening to music, it's usually while I'm doing chores, and a portable CD player is much more practical than the wimpy little PC speakers.

Anne, feeling rather geezerly