I wanted to say this... (aside from many of the points made above)
1st - in the early days of radio... people had their doubts.... but it became a way for musicians and record labels to get people interested in their songs and eventually sell them a record or every record the band ever made...then a tape...then a CD... then an mp3 of all that content.......there was also "piracy" in the days of radio as well.... people would record a tape of their favorite songs from the radio that the DJs were "sharing" and the radio stations were making massive amounts of money via advertising off the backs of "these hard working bands and record labels".... yet even with people making their own tapes from the radio.... BILLIONS of tapes were sold... even when napster was at its peak... BILLIONS of CDs were still sold.... so the original content producers were still making a living doing something they love and everyone down the line was getting a cut of it as well...
2nd - overall and in general... authors and publishers (bands/record labels/script writers/movie producers etc)... are going to make MORE money with their books being shared than they would without their books being shared... either via the radio/library/internet/word of mouth/book swap etc......especially the authors who produce REALLY GOOD CONTENT....it will go viral...worldwide..... I think some authors (esp older than 40 or 50ish in age) have limited thinking... they are thinking too small.... this is a GLOBAL economy and a GLOBAL world now.... times have changed... dont fight the changes.. embrace them and roll with them...you can still grow a wide fan base and profit very much if you do roll with the changes in the right way..... or you can become jaded, bitter and upset and will get run over....
3rd - people love the portability of ebooks... but NOTHING is like having a real book in your hands... and having an ebook stored on a ereade/tablet is very "cool"... but having a REAL book on your coffee table.... thats even cooler..... now multiply that x 10 if you have a complete series of an author on a book shelf.... people love to collect, you see....
4th - I firmly believe that many pirated books/movies and so on....go unread and unwatched.... even an mp3 that is pirated often times will be listened too only a handful of times... is this true in every case.. NO... its not... but there is a very large % of pirated stuff... I would estimate say 40-65%... that is pirated stuff that the downloader is either never going to use/read/watch.... or WOULD NEVER BUY IT IN THE 1ST PLACE had it not been shared online.... so is it truly a "lost sale" to the original content provider/author/band.... NO.... a sale that was never going to be a sale in the 1st place...is still the same...a no sale/no profit situation.... BUT... of the % that pirated/shared content it is viewed/read/etc.... that has a large potential to become a sale, when the person likes the content they buy it......and even an increase in future sales.... due to them becoming a fan/collector of that author/band etc... so they can display it on their coffee table or shelf... tell a friend about it... or buy it as a birthday gift for someone they know... and or buy tickets to a concert of that band... or go to see the author at his book signing and buy a book there... and so on... you get the idea.....there are many ways to make a buck....
5th - think of big authors/bands and so on... people who outsell you by MILLIONS of books.... they are still making MILLIONS of dollars.... just look at the income these people make... even though their content is shared online thousands of % more than the lowly 1st book of some unknown novelist.... or some band just starting out.... so we know there is still HUGE profits to be made out there...bc the people whos stuff is getting shared the most are still buying mansions and sports cars... and their wives are still getting half of a a very large pie in the divorce... (LOL)
lastly.....I just wanted to also point to another big roll with the times guy who just made MORE MONEY rolling with the times than being against the grain.... case in point... Louie CK... smart and creative.... if only everyone could think outside the box and think bigger/global...
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Louis-C- ... 28358.html
http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/14/2635 ... on-theatre
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/1 ... 52506.html
and I would venture to guess that his TV show has more viewers now, his live shows will get more tickets sold and his future ventures will also sell very well...
1st - in the early days of radio... people had their doubts.... but it became a way for musicians and record labels to get people interested in their songs and eventually sell them a record or every record the band ever made...then a tape...then a CD... then an mp3 of all that content.......there was also "piracy" in the days of radio as well.... people would record a tape of their favorite songs from the radio that the DJs were "sharing" and the radio stations were making massive amounts of money via advertising off the backs of "these hard working bands and record labels".... yet even with people making their own tapes from the radio.... BILLIONS of tapes were sold... even when napster was at its peak... BILLIONS of CDs were still sold.... so the original content producers were still making a living doing something they love and everyone down the line was getting a cut of it as well...
2nd - overall and in general... authors and publishers (bands/record labels/script writers/movie producers etc)... are going to make MORE money with their books being shared than they would without their books being shared... either via the radio/library/internet/word of mouth/book swap etc......especially the authors who produce REALLY GOOD CONTENT....it will go viral...worldwide..... I think some authors (esp older than 40 or 50ish in age) have limited thinking... they are thinking too small.... this is a GLOBAL economy and a GLOBAL world now.... times have changed... dont fight the changes.. embrace them and roll with them...you can still grow a wide fan base and profit very much if you do roll with the changes in the right way..... or you can become jaded, bitter and upset and will get run over....
3rd - people love the portability of ebooks... but NOTHING is like having a real book in your hands... and having an ebook stored on a ereade/tablet is very "cool"... but having a REAL book on your coffee table.... thats even cooler..... now multiply that x 10 if you have a complete series of an author on a book shelf.... people love to collect, you see....
4th - I firmly believe that many pirated books/movies and so on....go unread and unwatched.... even an mp3 that is pirated often times will be listened too only a handful of times... is this true in every case.. NO... its not... but there is a very large % of pirated stuff... I would estimate say 40-65%... that is pirated stuff that the downloader is either never going to use/read/watch.... or WOULD NEVER BUY IT IN THE 1ST PLACE had it not been shared online.... so is it truly a "lost sale" to the original content provider/author/band.... NO.... a sale that was never going to be a sale in the 1st place...is still the same...a no sale/no profit situation.... BUT... of the % that pirated/shared content it is viewed/read/etc.... that has a large potential to become a sale, when the person likes the content they buy it......and even an increase in future sales.... due to them becoming a fan/collector of that author/band etc... so they can display it on their coffee table or shelf... tell a friend about it... or buy it as a birthday gift for someone they know... and or buy tickets to a concert of that band... or go to see the author at his book signing and buy a book there... and so on... you get the idea.....there are many ways to make a buck....
5th - think of big authors/bands and so on... people who outsell you by MILLIONS of books.... they are still making MILLIONS of dollars.... just look at the income these people make... even though their content is shared online thousands of % more than the lowly 1st book of some unknown novelist.... or some band just starting out.... so we know there is still HUGE profits to be made out there...bc the people whos stuff is getting shared the most are still buying mansions and sports cars... and their wives are still getting half of a a very large pie in the divorce... (LOL)
lastly.....I just wanted to also point to another big roll with the times guy who just made MORE MONEY rolling with the times than being against the grain.... case in point... Louie CK... smart and creative.... if only everyone could think outside the box and think bigger/global...
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Louis-C- ... 28358.html
http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/14/2635 ... on-theatre
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/1 ... 52506.html
and I would venture to guess that his TV show has more viewers now, his live shows will get more tickets sold and his future ventures will also sell very well...