Comments on: A real business model: Dailylit’s Pay-Per-Read http://eoinpurcellsblog.com/2007/10/15/a-real-business-model-dailylits-pay-per-read/ It's that simple -- and that hard. And that inescapable. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:44:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Joseph Devon http://eoinpurcellsblog.com/2007/10/15/a-real-business-model-dailylits-pay-per-read/#comment-36440 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:36:05 +0000 http://eoinpurcellsblog.com/2007/10/15/a-real-business-model-dailylits-pay-per-read/#comment-36440 I think Radiohead was closer to the right track, although they might have missed the point (or not have cared about creating a stable business model in the first place and only been hunting for PR). Anyway, to just let people set their own price is ridiculous. Free Markets don’t mean turning everything into a giant “Need a penny, take a penny” jar. Technically it needs to be a constant negotiation. Radiohead needs to be taking all the data they’re receiving and making counter-offers to the public in order to reach a price that best reflects the value of their work. Granted, the notion of Radiohead manning their website at all hours to do this is rather silly, but it seems that setting up a program to sift the data constantly isn’t such a big step. It’s basically how Google AdWords functions. They seem to be doing okay.

]]> By: Adam http://eoinpurcellsblog.com/2007/10/15/a-real-business-model-dailylits-pay-per-read/#comment-36434 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:15:01 +0000 http://eoinpurcellsblog.com/2007/10/15/a-real-business-model-dailylits-pay-per-read/#comment-36434 Eoin — so you think the Radiohead exercise is like advertising on TV or on the Tube. Something which will always only make sense for big books and big name authors. I would say that making an effective web-sampling strategy is pretty much comparable to having four colour jackets on hardback books. Whoever pioneered that move 50 years ago has been emulated by millions of editor/designers and a lot more books have been sold. In three years time we will know who is right about that!

]]> By: eoinpurcell http://eoinpurcellsblog.com/2007/10/15/a-real-business-model-dailylits-pay-per-read/#comment-36431 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:51:58 +0000 http://eoinpurcellsblog.com/2007/10/15/a-real-business-model-dailylits-pay-per-read/#comment-36431 Adam,

I think it is generalizable I just think the return will be paltry for anyone not of the level of Radiohead, just like software contributions attract little revenue except to the top designers, this remains a pull down service too so promotion and marketing become even bigger deals for the band/author/software developer. If you don’t make noise to get people to come to your site, you don’t get downloads and you don’t get revenue that is why only the biggies will benefit. So yeah its a model that will work for big publishers with big names, but for independents and smaller outfits its the same old same old!

Eoin

]]> By: Adam http://eoinpurcellsblog.com/2007/10/15/a-real-business-model-dailylits-pay-per-read/#comment-36426 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 07:20:26 +0000 http://eoinpurcellsblog.com/2007/10/15/a-real-business-model-dailylits-pay-per-read/#comment-36426 Not so sure that you are right that the Radiohead process is not generalisable. But I agree that they are taking advantage of their established position and its not so easy to see how new bands will get to be Radioheads without the labels.

On the other hand the Radiohead strategy is brilliant for promotion (whether or not the business model for selling and product innovation is sustainable) and book publishers should be using the web for content promotion more than they are. See
http://exacteditions.blogspot.com/2007/10/radiohead-strategy-and-publishers.html

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