I think that Seth Godin candidly sums up the value of “free” quite accurately:
"Should we want free to be the future? Who cares if we want it? It is."
"How will this new business model support the world as we know it today? Who cares if it does? It is. It's happening. The world will change around it, because the world has no choice. I'm sorry if that's inconvenient, but it's true."
No matter what Chris or Malcolm or anyone else may argue regarding the concept of “Free,” it doesn’t really matter since they are not the ones determining the outcome. The outcome/future is already being determined by a progressive digital society who has declared “why pay when we can get it for free.”
I think that the real issue at hand is working around these parameters. Given the fact that we are moving towards a “Free” market, how can journalists, content providers and all business alike for that matter adapt their models to fit the current landscape.
Anderson’s blurb on paying people to get other people to write for free makes me think of the Yelp model:
“If so, leveraging the Free—paying people to get other people to write for non-monetary rewards—may not be the enemy of professional journalists. Instead, it may be their salvation.”
Somewhere down the chain, the incentives go from monetary to non-monetary (attention, reputation, expression, etc).”
Yelp uses “free” to its advantage and in turn generates plenty of word of mouth. While I don’t know all of the specifics, I do know this much: Yelp hires community managers to throw free events (sponsored by local vendors) and build relationships with their members, who in turn, write reviews (for free). In fact, you can hardly keep the Yelp “elite” squad (active Yelpers) quiet – they review everything and talk A LOT! What are they getting in return? Maybe it’s the satisfaction that others make decisions based on their advice? Or that their reviews might show up in organic search results? Or the occasional free party? Regardless, Yelp is paying minimal staff to manage a community who is doing the writing for them, gratis.
I don’t think this is a lost cause for the editorial community, but as both Chris and Seth mention, they will need to be creative about monetizing their resources and developing a price model that can withstand the “free” wave. Newspapers might not be able to sell their papers, however, perhaps they can leverage sponsorships (getting brands to sponsor sections in non-advertising/intrusive ways). Musicians may not score big with CD sales, but the added exposure that comes with free music may indeed boost their concert ticket sales (after all, there’s something to be said about seeing a live performance, even if you can listen to it on your ipod for free).
As Chris mentions,
“To musicians who believe that their music is being pirated, Anderson is blunt. They should stop complaining, and capitalize on the added exposure that piracy provides by making money through touring, merchandise sales, and “yes, the sale of some of [their] music to people who still want CDs or prefer to buy their music online.”
If this kind of residual model doesn’t fit a particular brand, then that business /journalist/musician/etc. must create a value so unique, that their users simply can’t go elsewhere to achieve the same quality or level of convenience.
As Seth puts it,
“People will pay for content if it is so unique they can't get it anywhere else, so fast they benefit from getting it before anyone else, or so related to their tribe that paying for it brings them closer to other people.”
For instance, I am crazy enough to pay a ridiculous monthly fee for Showtime, because I love the shows Weeds and Nurse Jackie. Sure, I can probably find these episodes somewhere out there on the web, however, I want to watch them right when they air. And I want the quality to be perfect. And I don’t want to search and search for a site that can distribute premium channel content for free (mainstream sites like Hulu do not). In fact, Hulu has actually started charging for these episodes (in conjunction with Showtime) – looks like they both read Chris’s book and are getting a head start.
While it is what it is, I hope that quality doesn’t suffer as a result of this movement. It would be a shame if the best writers/musicians/journalists etc. are put out of business because the stage opens up for the rest of the world (less talented/quantity over quality). Then on the other hand, maybe “free” will actually stimulate the economy, giving others who may not necessarily have had the chance, an opportunity to shine (think American Idol, etc). "In a world of free, everyone can play (Seth Godin)."
At the end of the day, whether we agree with it or not, it's either sink or swim. The content/story-telling industry needs to quickly modify their business model if they want to stay afloat. They must reinvent their business to keep up with the changing times. Otherwise, their future might look as gloomy as some of the “free” economy adversaries predict.
