This topic is one of the arguments used in the piracy of anime and manga too.
Only now have some studies slowly been started.
I don't have much time to talk about it now, but I will post more later.
Piracy as Promotion
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Hachimitsu
- Formerly Wilma
- Posts: 942
- Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2005 1:36 pm
- Location: Canada
- Contact:
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Hachimitsu
- Formerly Wilma
- Posts: 942
- Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2005 1:36 pm
- Location: Canada
- Contact:
One of the questions ihave on offering it for free, are books able to be sold through regular venues? I think so. Also for famous authors, like Neil Gaiman, when they release new work, there will be some kind of press or promotion.
The only way I can think of releasing something for free as promotion through an e-reader fomat is when buying a well known or profitable book, possibly offering a choice of a lesser known author as a freebie. I do not think new authors or aithors that are not well known can get away with offering books for free, since some simply cannot afford it. Also offering it for free can lead to a devaluing effect on the work and even the author.
For anime, much of it is not able to get on television anymore, so the only way to veiw/sample any current anime before buying the dvd is to watch it online. Cable comapanies don't want to buy anime as they only get advertising revenue, while with their own orginal productions they get profits off of merchandising, DVDs etc. (Adult Swim even tanked their highest rated show becuase it was an anime and it was during their severe reduction/cutoff of anime in their programing). Several companies have legal online streaming sites, with subtitles only as dubbing is far too expensive for an online audience. Then there are illegal downloading which is pretty high. I have heard out of all pirated entertainment, Anime is the highest.
Offering anime for free through online streaming I honestly do not know if that is working. There are buffering and quality issues and I have not seen eny repoirts as to how much DVD sales have ben helped or hindered with online streaming.(Anime licencing companies are very secretive.) For illegal downloading, I will say I have bought at least 2 series on DVD because of it. (These shows were not aired in Canada at all.) I mainly stuck with downloading since I could view it when I wanted at good quality and didn't have to worry about buffering, or losing my internet connection mid view.
Considering the primary audience for anime is primarily teenagers who don't have a ton of money, downloading and streaming has lead to an attitude of entitlement from much of it's target audience. I don't know how DVD figures have been affected as Anime has been dropped from television, but I do know even episode order and hiatus made a serious impact on DVD sales while the programs were aired on television. I honestly don't know how online anime consumption can fill the hole that the loss of tv distribution created (not to mention the feeling of entitlement that online consumption has helped create).
For books I have never really encountered people who felt they were entitled to books for free, but looking the other way on piracy and counting it as promotion may have a negative affect on potential book buyers over time. But then the argument can be said, that anyone who would buy the book or DVD etc., was going to purchase the item anyway, and a person who consumes an item for free is a new potential customer. Which I think can also be a fair argument depending on the age of the primary audience.
I personally approach my anime consumption as that since if I like what I have sampled (through downloading) I will buy it, just like when it was avialable on TV. But many don't purchase after downloading, due to feeling entitled to free entertainment, they download and don't buy as the quality can be the same or considered better.
Again, until some concrete studies come out, arguments either way on piracy as promotion can be considered justifiable. I don't think anyone has been able to answer how creators can be conpensated for their work, and I think that is a giant problem with the piracy as promotion idea. I think only several studies can answer that question and I don't think many executives in the entertainment industry don't want that question answered for fear of having to change their business model.
The only way I can think of releasing something for free as promotion through an e-reader fomat is when buying a well known or profitable book, possibly offering a choice of a lesser known author as a freebie. I do not think new authors or aithors that are not well known can get away with offering books for free, since some simply cannot afford it. Also offering it for free can lead to a devaluing effect on the work and even the author.
For anime, much of it is not able to get on television anymore, so the only way to veiw/sample any current anime before buying the dvd is to watch it online. Cable comapanies don't want to buy anime as they only get advertising revenue, while with their own orginal productions they get profits off of merchandising, DVDs etc. (Adult Swim even tanked their highest rated show becuase it was an anime and it was during their severe reduction/cutoff of anime in their programing). Several companies have legal online streaming sites, with subtitles only as dubbing is far too expensive for an online audience. Then there are illegal downloading which is pretty high. I have heard out of all pirated entertainment, Anime is the highest.
Offering anime for free through online streaming I honestly do not know if that is working. There are buffering and quality issues and I have not seen eny repoirts as to how much DVD sales have ben helped or hindered with online streaming.(Anime licencing companies are very secretive.) For illegal downloading, I will say I have bought at least 2 series on DVD because of it. (These shows were not aired in Canada at all.) I mainly stuck with downloading since I could view it when I wanted at good quality and didn't have to worry about buffering, or losing my internet connection mid view.
Considering the primary audience for anime is primarily teenagers who don't have a ton of money, downloading and streaming has lead to an attitude of entitlement from much of it's target audience. I don't know how DVD figures have been affected as Anime has been dropped from television, but I do know even episode order and hiatus made a serious impact on DVD sales while the programs were aired on television. I honestly don't know how online anime consumption can fill the hole that the loss of tv distribution created (not to mention the feeling of entitlement that online consumption has helped create).
For books I have never really encountered people who felt they were entitled to books for free, but looking the other way on piracy and counting it as promotion may have a negative affect on potential book buyers over time. But then the argument can be said, that anyone who would buy the book or DVD etc., was going to purchase the item anyway, and a person who consumes an item for free is a new potential customer. Which I think can also be a fair argument depending on the age of the primary audience.
I personally approach my anime consumption as that since if I like what I have sampled (through downloading) I will buy it, just like when it was avialable on TV. But many don't purchase after downloading, due to feeling entitled to free entertainment, they download and don't buy as the quality can be the same or considered better.
Again, until some concrete studies come out, arguments either way on piracy as promotion can be considered justifiable. I don't think anyone has been able to answer how creators can be conpensated for their work, and I think that is a giant problem with the piracy as promotion idea. I think only several studies can answer that question and I don't think many executives in the entertainment industry don't want that question answered for fear of having to change their business model.
