ENTRIES TAGGED "free economy"

Artist Brand Building: An Idea Born from Free Debate's Middle Ground

Two analysts with opposing views of free models both see a way for traditional content companies to adapt: help creatives build their personal brands.

Will Magazines Go Free?

Jennifer Armor, audit manager at Verified Audit Circulation, makes the case for free magazines. From Folio: Because of the increasing price of paper and postage, Armour said, the cost of acquiring and keeping paid circ is becoming too high compared to the revenue it generates, and therefore, consumer publications will eventually move to a controlled circ model. Only magazines with…

Essential Points in the Free Debate

The signal to noise ratio around free models is obscuring a number of key points. Here's a few worth discussing.

"Dilbert" Embraces User-Generated Content

"Dilbert" creator Scott Adams and his distributor, United Media, are supporting user-generated content through Dilbert.com. Visitors can rewrite captions and redistribute the results, and the full "Dilbert" archive will eventually be available for free. From Webware: I asked Adams why he and United Media are opening up the Dilbert intellectual property like this, and he sent me a response…

Industry Questions Raised by "Potter" Encyclopedia Suit

Updated 4/17/08 Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling testified earlier this week against a publisher that wants to release the unofficial Harry Potter Lexicon, a print adaptation of Steven Vander Ark's popular Potter encyclopedia site. From the New York Times: … Ms. Rowling said the proposed Lexicon book flouted her plans to write her own encyclopedia and donate the proceeds to…

Free Doesn't Work for Every Company

Hank Williams of Why Does Everything Suck? does an informal economic critique of Chris Anderson's "things tend to free" hypothesis: "Some of you will argue that Google does fine based purely on advertising. But just because one company can commoditize everyone else's work and make pennies on things that used to generate dollars, is that sustainable across the whole…

How Do Publishers and Authors Get Paid in a "Free" World?

Kevin Kelly's eight generatives are a jumping-off point for author/publisher payment in a free system.

BitTorrent as a Book Publicity Tool

The author and publisher of two new Mac books posted both titles as free downloads on BitTorrent.

Are You Ready for Free?

Free is popping up everywhere. Here are a few resources that will help you explore this growing trend.

Roundup: Jeff Bezos and Chris Anderson at BEA, the Value of Evergreen Content, Bonus Features and Ebooks

Chris Anderson to interview Jeff Bezos at BEA; Fad-free books boost one publisher's bottom line; Bonus material coming to ebooks.