"In spring 2011, I finished writing the book “Free Ride: How Digital Parasites Are Destroying the Culture Business and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back,” a pessimistic, intentionally provocative look at the future of the media business in the digital age. Exactly five years later, I’d like to look back at what I got right, what I got wrong, and - far more important - what companies that create original content can learn from both my predictions and my mistakes. My thesis was that the media business is in trouble mostly not because of its failure to adapt (although that’s certainly a problem) but because too many Internet businesses are free-riding, in economic terms, on its investments. It’s awfully hard to sell music, whether on $15 CDs or $10-a-month subscription services, when companies can make it available for free without investing in it.
Generally, I still think that's true. On the other hand, original “tele...
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"In spring 2011, I finished writing the book “Free Ride: How Digital Parasites Are Destroying the Culture Business and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back,” a pessimistic, intentionally provocative look at the future of the media business in the digital age. Exactly five years later, I’d like to look back at what I got right, what I got wrong, and - far more important - what companies that create original content can learn from both my predictions and my mistakes. My thesis was that the media business is in trouble mostly not because of its failure to adapt (although that’s certainly a problem) but because too many Internet businesses are free-riding, in economic terms, on its investments. It’s awfully hard to sell music, whether on $15 CDs or $10-a-month subscription services, when companies can make it available for free without investing in it.
Generally, I still think that's true. On the other hand, original “television” programming is flourishing on Amazon and Netflix, although mostly because those companies need marquee content to attract subscribers. What’s most interesting to me, though, is how an issue that once affected only established media companies is now also hurting online startups. Five years ago, creators that complained about having their work distributed on YouTube without their permission were seen as Luddites or crybabies. Now, tech-savvy creators who make a living on YouTube worry about how their videos are “freebooted” on Facebook. Five years ago, startups like The Huffington Post enjoyed a “free ride” on the reporting of established newspapers; now newer startups are making it harder for the Huffington Post to make money on its original reporting. The rhetoric has changed, but the essential problem hasn’t: It’s hard for creators of any size to invest in original content if it can be distributed for free by others that don’t bear any expenses. I'll also discuss how this problem will evolve in the future, and how smart companies can minimize it."
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