New investment model? Treat bands like startups? Writers, too?
“Under the Polyphonic model, bands that receive investments from the firm will operate like start-up companies, recording their own music and choosing outside contractors to handle their publicity, merchandise and touring..” – New York Times.
Detail: Polyphonic’s founder is Brian Message, who manages the Radiohead rock band (photo)—itself an experimenter.
The TeleRead take: So would this biz model work for some writes and books (both e-books and the paper variety), and if so, what kinds? Best criteria to be used? Granted, e-books cost less to produce than p-books. But certain expenses, such as good editing, won’t decline. Plus, e-books, too, need promo—which can be pricey.
Technorati Tags: Radiohead
July 22nd, 2009 at 7:38 am
Although I think the idea can work, it won’t work in the present service model… IOW, writers are going to have to do more than just write, they won’t be able to afford hiring others to do all the service-work provided by a traditional publisher.
Fortunately, with the web and web services, many of those promotional services are more easily done on your own than ever before. Methods and tactics would change, but I believe it can be just as effective in the long run. (Disclosure: I essentially do all of my own service work, with occasional assistance in editing, and only an essentially-zero promo budget has kept me from going further.)
July 22nd, 2009 at 2:00 pm
As a writer, I love this idea. But then, I’m a control freak.
July 22nd, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I am doing something very similar. We’ve opened negotiations with a major manufacture who is reaching the same audience we are striving for. By cross promoting we both reach our goal. They would be title sponsors with exposure on our website as well as the front cover and back cover of the novel.