One of the themes that came across most strongly at TOC 2009 was that we publishers all need to think a lot, lot harder about what Readers – with a Capital ‘R’ – want. And we need to get to know them, like, really, really fast. I used Michael Cader’s simple but brilliant words from an interview in the FT last year in my TOC keynote: “[Publishing] is still a book business… and it needs to become a reader business.” It’s when I read about new businesses like Spotify that this hits home hardest.
Today’s dotcoms start with what consumers might actually really like / want and then work back; they don’t start with how to sustain an ancient and creaking business model and then try to continue to foist this upon unwilling and suspicious consumers. Then we, the ancient and creaking old world businesses, have to scramble to work out how to react.
So, what is Spotify? Well, it might just be the service that creates the tipping point at which consumers of music decide that online streaming is the best way to access the tunes they want to listen to. Forget downloads, forget which format / device to adopt, forget DRM… most importantly, forget paying for it. It’s just a huge online database of tunes (for which Spotify have cleared the rights through licensing deals with the labels) into which consumers can plug and play (via online streaming) any tune they want, any time, any place, via their computer or mobile phone. For free. It looks and feels a bit like iTunes, with the ability to create playlists and share tastes with friends. But – did I mention? – it’s free. And legal. It’s amazing.
How does Spotify’s business model work? It’s advertising funded. This is the only catch from a consumer perspective, but Spotify has an answer to that, too. if you don’t like the sound of advertising interrupting your listening every 20 minutes or so, you can pay a low monthly subscription (£9.99) to access the service advertising-free.
The central question it poses and which publishers need to be considering now before the same business model is applied to books, is, how much does ownership matter when it comes to content? And what will the commercial shape of the deal between a Spotify-for-books and publishers need to be to sustain such a model? For the music labels, I can imagine there is a sense that artists need to be represented in Spotify, just as they need to be represented on the radio; if the revenue from the Spotify deal doesn’t cover the lost revenue on downloads this is something they must live with to ensure their artists get ‘airtime’, that their music gets promoted and shared, that the buzz gets generated and that hopefully, just hopefully, some people will still want to download and ‘own’ the single or the album, and, if not, that the artist might still be able to make a living from touring or merchandise.
But how would this translate to books? I don’t know that we have the answer to that right now, but we better start thinking about it, pronto.
5 Comments
Anyone know how artists are compensated in the Spotify model? I’m assuming there’s a royalty collection point (similar to ASCAP or BMI) for the musicians but maybe they’re just looking at it as promotion for gigs, CD’s (?!) and t-shirts.
I had the same thought Don did (great minds and more!), but also had a rashy-type reaction to the article. It presumed so much about what music lovers want. I’m a radio person and I’m not ashamed to admit it! Other human in the household is an album person. Other friends are mix of this and that, so the suggestion that one service will solve all problems rubbed me the wrong way. For someone like me, if the music they have matches my taste (a problem most radio programming has yet to resolve
), this is a great service, but I see it as part of a mix of solutions rather than *a* solution. Ownership matters very much in some instances, not so much in others.
I think about the constant drum-beat of “Netflix for books” models. None are, because they don’t do what Netflix does, which is to pay both for content and engage in revenue sharing with copyright holders. If done right, this type of thing might very well create that elusive Netflix model in a way that makes readers happy while making sure that publishers/authors get their fair share.
(I like how you’re looking at this from a book perspective because there’s possibility in the model!).
I don’t think Spotify is assuming anything about what *all* music lovers want; nor indeed am I. I think they are simply adding a very intriguing, new, additional way for music lovers to consume music. Any single consumer may enjoy streaming a certain amount of music while at the same time feeling the need to download and ‘own’ other tracks or even buy the old fashioned CD. I do think many people are beginning to hone at least a two-tier approach to their consumption of media: stuff they just want access to and stuff they want to own. The easier and more accessible the access-only model the more focused I think the need-to-own list becomes.
We’ve just started to listen to Spotify in our offices. As far as I’m concerned I could never buy an album again.
Everything I’ve searched for is there. We don’t mind the ads (which are rare.)
I was going to buy the new PJ Harvey album, but it’s not that great, so I won’t.
Hard to see how this will not hit CD sales (?)
I even use it for stuff I’ve already got on CD as I can’t be arsed putting the CD in the machine (and finding it first)
my name is jane and i work at ruby memorial hospital in morgantown, wv. i was driving to work today, 5/20/09, and noticed some type of book in the middle of the road near the morgantown airport. i turned around and stopped traffic to pick it up. it was a yearbook. it has the name Sara E. Lloyd on it, and it is from 1999, James Wood High School in Winchester, VA. I was not sure how i would find the owner of the book, but started googling and discovered this site. i believe this yearbook belongs to you!
let me know how i can return it to you. thanks!
jane riffle
(724)415-9487
yankeejane2000@yahoo.com
ps – i felt like i was solving a mystery and it was quite exciting..lol. i also noticed that michael bhaskar spends time looking at eBooks and likes sci-fi (per digitalist blog). my brother is a sci-fi/mystery writer and he has written several eBooks! his name is Matthew L. Schoonover. if you google his name you will find that he is from texas (we were born and raised down there) and his first book listed is titled “Warping the Mind (Arbiter Series Book 1)”.
looking forward to hearing from you and returning your yearbook! sadly, the back cover is torn off, but i do have it. it appears that part of a page is missing.
take care,
jane.